I take a bite of my own food as I contemplate my answer. "I'm not asking because I'm in an emotional, girly, please-let-him-give-me-the-right-answer kind of mood. Since we're having this weird conversation anyway, I'm just genuinely curious."He takes his time, swallowing, putting down his utensils, wiping his mouth with his napkin. Finally, he leans forward, elbows on the table. "The last time I had sex was the last night we were together. At the conference."My eyebrows shoot up. "Redesigning Your Marriage conference?"He nods. "But that's before we were even divorced.""I know.""That was almost two years ago.""I know that, too."That's not the answer I expected. I thought he would have at least had a fling or two after the divorced was finalized."That doesn't mean I've been a saint, Mari." I see guilt in his eyes. It makes me sad for him, to see him disappointed in himself. I say nothing, just take small bites of my food as I wait for him to continue."It was only one time. But…

"You guys look happy," Justin says as he closes the door behind us. He's been our therapist for a couple of years, so he can read our moods pretty well.Santos sniggers. "We are very, very happy."My face heats up as I take my normal seat on the couch. "Really?" Justin plops down on his overstuffed chair. He's not a normal, stuffy therapist. He's relaxed, which normally makes me relaxed. Not today, however. Today, the topic of sex is going to come up and that makes me nervous. "Sounds like something good happened."Santos takes my hand in his and looks at me, a loving smile on his face. "Yeah. Something good happened."And there it is. My face is flaming since we're having this conversation in front of Justin. He's our therapist and I shouldn't be embarrassed for him to know that we've rekindled our sex life. But somehow it feels more intimate than when we were married. Maybe because the act itself is what caused the demise of our marriage in the first place. So to get back to this pl

I've been staring at the ceiling for I don't know how long. All I know is that I haven't been this comfortable in, probably ever.I'm in bed on my back, one arm behind my head, and a very naked Mari snuggled up on me, head nuzzled into that place between my shoulder and neck, her arm over my chest, our legs intertwined. It's the post-coital position I never thought I'd experience again. Yet here I am, drawing circles on her lower back as she drifts in and out of consciousness.Me, though, I'm wide awake. Sated, but awake. And I can't stop thinking about what Mari said earlier about being content.People always talk about chasing their happiness, but what if that's the root of most relationship problems? What if that's been part of my problem? What if there is so much pressure to be happy, when happiness isn't something you can be every minute of every day anyway? What if being content, with lots of sprinkles of happiness, as Mari describes it, is actually a healthier, more realistic go

VOLUME FOUR: DEFLECTEDSomething jars me from my sleep, but I'm comfortable enough, I don't care to figure out what it is. The air in the room is cool, but the body behind me is warm. The contrast in temperatures is perfect, so I snuggle right back down into my pillows and doze off.Until I'm jarred from my sleep. Again."Why the hell is your phone going off at the butt crack of dawn?" Rowen's voice sounds groggy and muffled from the blankets."It's not that early. It's" - I lean over to look at the clock - "8:06. Okay, yeah. That's early."He pulls me back down for more snuggles. "Stop moving. I'm comfortable."I let him resituate us, my little spoon fitting perfectly against his big spoon. I love sleeping next to him. He makes me feel safe and insulated from the world. Plus, that whole body heat thing. My comfort is short-lived when my phone goes off again."Son of a bitch," I grumble and untangle myself from the blankets, reaching for my phone. "What do you want to bet it's Quincy

"You think it was her?" "I know it was her. Wait… how did you guys find out we got married, anyway?"Quincy looks at me like I'm ridiculous. "When we saw the picture. How did you think we found out?""Honestly, I thought Rowen must've texted Daniel. It never occurred to me he'd be able to keep it a secret. He's not very good at that when he's excited."She laughs. "Yeah, those guys are the biggest gossips. And they accuse us of talking too much.""Please. We gossip at the hair salon once every six to eight weeks. They do it in the locker room every day.""Seriously." She grabs more color on her brush and continues painting my hair. "Tell us about this wedding anyway. Do you have any more pictures?"So I tell them the whole story. From Rowen proposing on the beach to him having wedding dresses delivered to the hotel for me to try on to saying our "I do's" at sunset. It feels nice to tell people I trust, who are genuinely interested in my wedding, and not because they're going to post i