The Forever of Ella and Micha

enough force to drive her body crazy and she quivers against me.
    Letting her go for a second, I slip her panties down her legs to her ankles. “Keep the dress and the heels on.”
    A smile touches her lips as she kicks off her panties and gradually lowers herself onto me. I meet her halfway and push into her. Her breath hitches as her head falls back and some of her hair slips out, falling along her shoulders.
    “Micha…” she moans as I thrust into her again. “Oh my God…”
    I kiss her fiercely as my hands move down her bare shoulders, along the side of her leather dress, and rest at her hips where I grab tightly ahold of her. Our skin begins to dampen with sweat as our movements start to match each other’s. When she cries out my name, with her eyes glistening, she loses it completely and I join her. Once we regain our breath, I kiss her jawline and incline away, slipping out of her. Circling my arms around her, I roll to the side, pull her close, and look into her eyes.
    “Best birthday present ever,” I say and gently kiss the palm of her hand, feeling the ring on her finger. “I don’t think any birthday will ever top this one.”
    She smiles contently. “You don’t think so?”
    I run my finger along the edge of the ring and it sends a rush of adrenaline through me, knowing she’s close to being mine forever. “No, I know so.”

    It’s late in the afternoon when we finally get out of bed. Ella complains about being sore and it makes me proud.
    She scowls at me when I tell her this as she puts her T-shirt on. “So what do you want to do for the rest of the day?”
    “Make you sorer,” I say, tugging a long-sleeve shirt over my head.
    She sighs, letting her arms fall to her side. “Can’t I have just a tiny little break? Pretty please. Maybe just like an hour.”
    “Fine.” I frown, disappointed, and search for something else to do. “Okay, I know what I want to do.”
    She wiggles into her jeans and does up the button. “What’s that?”
    I back for the door, scooping up a lighter my dad left behind when he bailed out on me. “I want to burn all the stuff that ever reminded me of my dad.”
    I wait for her to lecture me, but she picks up her jacket and zips it. “We should probably do it in an open area, like the driveway,” she says, unfazed. “Just to be safe.”
    “There is no one else in the world who can get me like you do, pretty girl.” I take her hand and we head outside to build a fire.
    The sun is actually out and shining down, but the air is still cold. Everything is concealed in frost and the driveway has been plowed.
    Ella hunts for the lighter fuel and some wood while I go into the garage and collect some things that belonged to my dad. When I return to the driveway, she has a small fire going and a relaxed look on her face as she stares at the flame with her head tilted to the side.
    I start throwing things into the flames one by one, starting with an old work shirt that was left in the garage. “I’ve decided I’m not going to talk to him again.”
    She takes the lighter and tosses it into the flames. “But what if he calls and really wants to be in your life again?”
    I chuck one of his old screwdrivers into the fire, even though it won’t really burn. “He’s going to have to do a hell of a lot more than call.” I take a deep breath and stare at the photo of my dad and me in front of his old Dodge Challenger parked in the garage. We used to work on it every day. It was our thing, until he bailed and took the car with him, and all that was left was an empty garage full of bullshit memories.
    I crumple up the photo and toss it into the fire, watching it singe. “He’ll have to earn it.”
    Her fingers grab mine and she squeezes my hand. “Good, because he doesn’t deserve you.”
    With the next thing I try to add, she quickly tries to stop me.
    “What are you doing?” she asks, snatching ahold of my wrist to stop me from throwing the six-pack of beer into the fire.
    “I’m getting rid of my baggage.”
    “Micha, I didn’t say you had to stop drinking, just that you should stop trying to deal with your problems that way.”
    “I know,” I say. “But right now, I think this is what we both need.”
    Looking into my eyes, she nods and lets go of my arm. I chuck the pack into the flames, which rush up toward the sky excitedly as the bottles break. As we stare at the blazing flame melting away at the snow, Ethan’s truck pulls up and he and