Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?

Corinne Partington was on top of the world for the first time in forever. The man she loved had just proposed to her, and of course she had said yes. How could she not? Darry Ratajkowski was the funniest, sweetest, and handsomest guy she’d ever met, and he treated her like a queen.

When they got back to their Isle of Palms hotel room, Darry pulled his khaki shorts off and tossed them in a corner. When he’d gotten down on one knee, his shorts had ripped right up the crotch. After the initial embarrassment had worn off, he’d worn that rip like a badge of honor, telling everyone who would listen that he’d torn his shorts proposing to his new fiancée.

“Why are you wearin’ Menorah boxers?” Corinne chuckled. “You’re Catholic, Darry.”

“At least I’m wearing boxers,” Darry fired back. God, Corinne loved his deep voice and Polish accent, the way he rolled his Rs, especially when he said her name.

“This is true. I feel like there’s a life lesson in here somewhere,” Corinne told him. Then she started giggling uncontrollably as she thought of that ripped pants song from Spongebob Squarepants.

“Spongebob?” Darry asked as if reading her mind.

“Yes!” Corinne started laughing. “Being a mom has melted my brain.”

“So this is what I have to look forward to,” Darry said, but he was smiling. He already treated her children like his own. She loved that about him.

Corinne smirked. “Yes.” She ran her fingers through her dark hair and tried to pose seductively. “Speaking of which, Ophelia and Abra took the kids to the pool, and then they’re gonna hit some of the shops, maybe get some Ben and Jerry’s.” Corinne was grateful to her two oldest daughters. They were smart. “So we’ve got an hour or two to ourselves.”

Darry raised one eyebrow and asked, “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“You want to?” Corinne asked tentatively. They’d been together for two years – known each other for three – but they hadn’t consummated their relationship yet. It was Darry who had balked. Not, he said, because he wasn’t attracted to her, but because he didn’t want to get too attached too quickly, like he did with his ex-fiancée, and then have it all blow up in his face. Corinne was skeptical – most guys couldn’t get in her pants fast enough, and it wasn’t like Louisa was the only girl he’d ever slept with – but she did know that girl had broken his heart.

Darry grinned. “Yes, now that we are engaged.”

Corinne did a little happy dance in her head and tugged at her sundress, then stopped. Oh, crap. He was going to see her naked. Her stretch marks, her scars, everything. Crap.

She undressed quickly, hid under the covers, and watched Darry undress. He looked perfect. But he was shaking. She asked, “What’s wrong?”

Darry smiled wanly. “Just nervous.”

Corinne actually snorted. “What for? This is hardly your first time.”

“It’s my first time with you,” he told her. “I want to impress you.”

Corinne stared at him. No guy had ever cared what she thought before. Not her self-absorbed ex-husband. Not Ophelia’s manipulative, absentee father. Certainly not her big sister’s forceful, sleazy high school boyfriend, and certainly not her much-older cousin. She assured him, “Don’t worry, you will.”

Darry slipped under the sheets next to her and said, “So I guess it’s safe to say you won’t leave me, right? I mean, you’ve let me be a part of your children’s lives, and you did agree to marry me. But then again…” He trailed off, but Corinne knew what he was thinking: Louisa had agreed to marry him, too. And then she left him for the wealthier best man.

Corinne reached up and stroked a wayward hunk of messy black hair from his face. He looked so… vulnerable. Like he was giving her his whole heart, and she could break it with one word. But she wouldn’t. “This time next year, you’ll be a married man. I promise.”

Darry beamed and looked her up and down. “You look great.”

Corinne started laughing. “No I don’t!”

“Yes, you do,” Darry insisted. “You’re beautiful.”

Corinne rolled her eyes. “Yeah, if you like stretch marks, C-section scars, scrawny limbs, and disproportionally big boobs.”

“Well, maybe I do,” Darry retorted. “Seriously, though, do you think that I expect you not to look at all like you’ve had five children? I know many women who would sell their souls to look like you after having just one child. Or none at all.”

Corinne wanted to laugh again. Every time she looked in the mirror, no matter how much makeup she wore or how little she ate, she hated what she saw. All she ever saw was trash. And then Darry just cavalierly told her she was beautiful, several times a day every day.

Darry began kissing her neck and collarbone. “I love you, Corinne,” he whispered, resting a hand on her upper arm.

Corinne froze. She could feel her sister’s boyfriend’s hands on her shoulders, pushing her down onto her knees, and her cousin’s hands gripping her arms so tightly he left bruises as he pinned her tiny eight-year-old body to the bed. “Darry?” she squeaked.

Darry stopped kissing her and looked up. “Yes?” Something must have shown in her face, because he asked, “Do you want to stop?”

Corinne widened her eyes. That was the first time anyone had ever asked her that, even when she begged them to stop. “No. I’m fine. But, um… you won’t be too rough with me, will you?”

Darry looked at her like he understood. She prayed he didn’t. She never wanted him to know what they did to her, what a little whore she was. If he did, he’d rescind that proposal and that ring. He just kissed her on the forehead and said, “Don’t worry, love. I won’t.”

Corinne said, “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Darry replied. He muttered something in Polish that she couldn’t understand but loved the sound of, and somehow she knew that he really did love her.