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Tae had said that it didn’t bother him, but it still bothered her.  How could it not bother him that she’d been with another guy in the most intimate way possible?  Although, Tia recognized that it hadn’t quite been in the most intimate way possible because it had lacked one thing.  She hadn’t loved Rodrigo.  Although her body had been engaged, her heart hadn’t been.

Still, it bothered her.  It was eating away at her.  It interrupted certain moments she had with Tae.  He noticed something was wrong.  After several days of this, he confronted her.

“Tia, what’s wrong?”

“It really doesn’t bother you?”

“What?”

She dipped her head.  “You know.”

“Tia, what are you talking about?” he asked, at a loss.

“Rodrigo.”

“Who?” Puzzled, he frowned at her.

“The guy I…you know…”

“Oh.”  Now, Tae comprehended.  

“It really doesn’t bother you?”

He inhaled deeply then blew out the steam between pursed lips before replying, “It does.  A little.  But I’ll get over it,” he shrugged.  “I’d get over anything for you.”

His words melted her heart, but she was still visibly distressed.

Blank-faced, he stared at her for several moments before speaking again, “I have a solution.”

“You do?” she gazed at him with wide-open eyes.

“Yes.”  He paused before dropping his bombshell.   “I just need to sleep with another girl.  Then I’ll be just like you, and we can be together happily.”

Outraged, she retorted, “Happily!? Tae, that wouldn’t make me happy!  Don’t be absurd!”

“Me, absurd?!  Tia, you’re the one who is being absurd!”  He inhaled sharply once again before blowing out a long breath.  “I love you, faults and all.  I have them too, you know.”

“You?  No, I don’t believe you.  I haven’t found one yet.”

“And that scares me.  You think I’m perfect.  But I am not.  I’m human too.  What will you do when you find a fault in me?  You are so hard on yourself.  Will you be hard on me too?”

“No!  Tae, I love you!”

His eyes snapped as his gaze flew to meet her own.  “You do?”

“Yes.”

He smiled.  “Then love yourself too.  Forgive yourself.”  He reached for her hand and laced his fingers through hers.  “Until you do, we can’t go on successfully.  Your unforgiveness will always be there between us, creating this wall we can’t scale.”

He bent his head until his mouth was near her ear.  Then he nuzzled the side of her head.  “Tia, it’s ok.  I forgive you.  Please release yourself.  Everything is going to be all right.  We can still have a rewarding relationship.  We can still grow into a beautiful intimacy together.  You haven’t ruined our future.”

She was crying again.  “But what if I can’t get him out of my head?  What if I’m with you, but I’m thinking of him?”

Tae smiled against her ear before whispering, “I’m pretty sure I can make you forget him.”

She shivered at his provocative words.  Yeah, perhaps he was right.