Page 34 of A Gold Medal in Love
And so we sit. I notice Blake can’t help humming a song as they soothe me, but I’ve gotten so used to the humming at this point that it’s become comforting to me. If they stopped vocally stimming,Imight have to comfortthem.
“What song is that?” I finally ask, breaking the almost-silence.
“Hm? Oh, was I?” Blake asks with shock. “Let’s see.” They hum a few more bars. “Oh, of course. It’s ‘Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You Baby.’ That is an apt song for us right now. You ready to talk?”
“I had another bad interview,” I mumble into their chest.
“Oh, Cupcake,” Blake sighs. “Well. Let’s talk about it. Did you do your best?”
“Mm. I think I really did,” I tell them.
“Then I’m proud of you!” Blake squeezes me to them. “We will keep working on it.”
“I think it was a solid improvement,” I report. “Everyone was still upset with me, though.”
“It’s important to look at our progress. We’ll watch it later and debrief on it, yeah? But for now, let’s just do some aftercare,” Blake soothingly says.
I roll my eyes even though they can’t see it. “You think everything deserves aftercare, even when I didn’t even do anything to deserve it.”
“Everyone deserves aftercare. And sometimes, life is hard enough that we need a little gentleness for it, okay? So you just let Sir take care of you, all right, Cupcake?” Blake’s voice gets a little sterner.
“Yes, Sir,” I acknowledge. “How did your game go?”
“Oh, shit. It was so good. Would it help for you to hear about it right now?” Blake checks.
“Yes, please, Sir,” I sigh and nuzzle into their neck.
“If my Cupcake wishes,” Blake agrees, and then proceeds to regale me with their latest preliminary game, practically narrating the game play-by-play. I don’t mind at all. I actually very much like it, their presence and voice soothing me further, taking me to a deep meditative place as I relax in their arms and soak them in.
When I’ve practically fallen asleep, just awake enough to be impressed by Blake’s latest prowess on the ice, they interrupt themselves. “Hey, let’s go out.”
“I have practice,” I whine, clinging to their body further.
“Fuck that. You’re already great. Cancel it. I have an idea I think you’ll like,” Blake presses.
“I’ll make you a deal. I’ll nix practice and get into whatever nonsense with you if you fuck me at the end of the day,” I counter, pulling away from their body to pin them with my stare.
They throw their head back, laughing loudly. “I love how you think you can bribe me.”
“Oh, fuck off. Then no,” I push Blake’s body and try to untangle myself from them.
Blake stops me with a hand to my throat, keeping me in place. “How about we do what I have planned and you wait patiently like the good girl I know you are?”
I roll my eyes again, this time where they can see, and fold my arms. “Yes, Sir.”
CHAPTER
FOURTEEN
BLAKE
“Did you bring me tochurch?”Imani asks when I lead her to the stone tiles that surround a white marble gothic cathedral done in the delicate and ornate style of the Italian Renaissance.
“I didn’t bring you to mass. This is a famous landmark. Welcome to the Duomo di Milan, the biggest cathedral in Italy.” I make an exaggerated gesture a la Vanna, laughing at the surprise I’ve brought her to. Did I tell her to dress nicely for an outing? I did, and gave her no clues. I’m not going to walk into a holy place without dressing for it. She’s in a pink plaid skirt and white blouse with a big bow on it, her permed hair still up in that characteristic bun. I finally changed out of my everyday track pants look and put on a nice pair of black linen pants, a cerulean blue button-up, black loafers, and left the snapback off my free-flowing blond hair.
“You’ve gotta be shitting on my dick. I’m sorry, what?Mass?”She scoffs. “I’m not going in there. I’m a Jamaican lesbian. If I don’t burn on entry, all the stuffy little Italian Catholics will murder me with their eyes.”
“Like you didn’t almost make a reporter cry earlier today,” I laugh and begin walking backward into the church. “Come on,this butch needs you to protect her.” I accent my statement with what I hope are puppy dog eyes.