Page 163 of Shamed
Cam lets out a loud whoop. “It’s about motherfucking time they admitted you were innocent!”
“That’s a bad word, Uncle Cam,” Poppy scolds.
They sound far away, in another room, another world.
I don’t even give Campbell shit for swearing in front of my daughter.
Remi pulls back, and I hear her and Campbell talking, laughter in their voices, though I don’t hear their words.
It doesn’t seem real, doesn’t feel real.
I’m too scared to believe in it.
But it was written right there in that letter, and slowly, it starts sinking in.
The invisible chains that have been shackled around my ankles for far too long break open, leaving me feeling weightless.
I’ve been exonerated.
EPILOGUE
Mase
Salty air tickles my nose as I pull Jayne tighter against my chest.
Clouds that match her eyes sit low above us, threatening to unleash a downpour at anymoment.
While the ocean in front of us churns and tumbles about, the wind hurls sand particles at our legs, making it feel like hundreds of insects are biting at once.
Through all the chaos of the weather around us, I’ve managed to keep my shoulders relaxed and heart steady.
That’s more than I can say for my wife, who has a heartbeat that pulses a rapid tempo below my palm. Her whole body is in a state of anxiousness.
With the grip I have on her, you’d think I’m trying to absorb it through her skin.
I lean down to speak in her ear. “You’re still sure you want to do this?”
She angles her head to look at me, stroking my arm where it holds her. “We came all this way.”
“Well, we’ve made it into a vacation, so it doesn’t really matter.” I spin her around to face me properly, then reach up and push the strands of hair that spread across her face behind her ear. “And even if we had come here just for that, it wouldn’t matter.”
Taking hold of my hand, she kisses my palm, causing my chest to erupt with a million tiny flutters.
Jesus, after all this time, she still manages to affect me like a teenager with a crush.
After keeping her lips pressed there for several beats, she brings it close to her chest. “Have I told you that you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me?”
I use her grip on my hand to tug her even closer. “Only every day for the past several years.”
“Hm, doesn’t seem like enough.”
Grinning, I slide my hand up her back to twirl a lock of hair around my finger. “I’m open to hearing it more.”
“You are, in fact, the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I love you more than anything.” Her eyes zero in on my mouth. “I just want to sink into your smile. You’re too handsome, my husband.”
“I fucking love it when you call me that.” In fact, my cock twitches a little every time she does.
“Too handsome?”
