CHAPTER 16 Speechless

Teresa and Ethan were in their hotel room in Las Vegas. She was looking out the window at the lights of the city and a smile came across her face.

*****

She was walking with Fox on the wharf sipping her hot chocolate on a chilly day of January and laughed.

"You can't be serious, Fox!"

He laughed.

"Well I am. I gambled all the money I had and lost. I went to the bathroom and snuck out of the window, then I fell on the trash bin."

They stopped walking and sat down.

"I should teach you how to play poker."

She smiled at him.

"Yeah.I don't think so, Nicholas."

"Why not?"

"Why should I learn? So that I gamble all my money away?"

"Don't worry, I'll teach you how to take off from a public bathroom window and how to land sideways on a metallic trash bin."

She laughed harder and harder.

"Oh, Fox! You're quiet unique."

He gave her a glorious smile.

"And you just realized that?"

"Of course not. I think I've always known, since the day you crawled in my bed."

"That was fun, wasn't it."

She gave him a look.

"See, you could have had the experience of your life but you yelled like someone was killing you. You missed out!"

"Or maybe you missed out."

He just smiled at her and she did the same. They had reached a level of comfort with each other that either one of them had ever experienced.

*****

Teresa turned away from the window expecting to see Fox standing before her, but instead she felt disappointed that it was Ethan.

"You seemed very far away just now, Resa."

"Don't call me that, please."

He raised his eyebrows not understanding.

"Fox is the only one who ever calls me like that. It sounds wonderful when it comes out of his mouth."

She finally looked in his eyes.

"Ethan, we need to talk. There's something you need to know before we head down to the chapel."

"We're supposed to get married in 15 minutes."

"This will take only 2 minutes."

"I love you, Teresa."

She closed her eyes, trying to repress the tears that were forming behind her eyes.

"And I..I.this doesn't feel right at all, Ethan. I can't let you touch me, I don't feel anything when you kiss me. I don't love you."

"But you said.."

"No, I love you but what I feel for you doesn't come close to what I feel for Fox. What I feel for him is so strong it leaves me speechless."

With that, she gave him back her ring, picked up her bag and left the room without looking back.