Page 85 of The Games We Play

He’s fallen in love with me. Intellectually, I knew it. But now Ireallyget it. He’s fallen. In love. With me.

I place my palm on his cheek. “You’re a complicated man, Spark.”

He shrugs, the gesture sweet, like a young boy being called out on something he knows to be true. “Probably.”

With a sigh, I sit up and run my fingers through my hair before braiding it. Spark offers me the elastic from around his wrist, and I tie off the end.

“I’m glad we have a safe word,” I say. “You know ... for next time.”

“Next time?” His thumb brushes over my lips softly.

“You know ... When we ...”

Spark touches his lips to mine. “Full sentence, little chick.”

“Next time we have sex like that. Now you know I like it.” I shrug.

Shaking his head, Spark looks at me like I’m Christmas and a lottery win all rolled into one package. “You like it, huh?”

“Maybe we could perhaps talk about what we’re going to do next time. I promise to use full sentences.”

“You’re going to kill me. And so you know, my test results were negative.”

“Mine were too. But I can’t start taking the pill until the first day of my period. We should have used a condom.”

“Shit. I mean, the idea of kids with you is really hot ...” He lets the sentence hang, but his shrug and look tell me he understands.

“The timing is too soon,” I say.

He buries his face in the side of my neck and nods. “We’ll take care of whatever happens next, yeah?” His words are muffled against my skin. “Do you want kids, Iris?”

“Eventually. If I’m lucky enough. Mom had challenges getting and staying pregnant. But I figure there’s more than one way to become a parent.”

He lifts his head and places a hand on my stomach. “Is it too early to say I’m gonna love trying to knock you up when the time’s right?”

I shake my head and smile sadly, slightly heartbroken by how perfect the future we won’t get would be. “I think it would be the most precious experience. You want to go back out there?” I ask.

He tugs the towel from around his hips. Then he tugs mine from beneath me and drops them to the floor. “Nothing out there better than what’s in here.”

He lies back down and opens his arm so I can curl up against his chest with my head on his shoulder. “For the record, I love you too, Spark,” I whisper.

Spark presses a kiss to the top of my head. “’Bout fucking time, little chick.”

And there’s a smile on my face as I fall asleep.

28

SPARK

As I wake, I become aware of two things. The first, like most mornings, I have a boner.

And second, Iris is lying on me. Not leaning against me but fully lying on me. Her head is pressed against my shoulder, and I can feel her breath on my neck. Her palm is on my chest. One of her legs is between mine, pressed against my dick. The other is bent, her knee against my hip.

And my arms are wrapped tightly around her.

I don’t know how she ended up there, but I’m thinking I must have hauled her up in my sleep. Which is a million times better than me scaring the shit out of her by waking up with the wild dreams I often have.

Instead, she’s soft. Warm. Then, a sudden wave of guilt floods through me about how I treated her yesterday. Yet she told me she loved me.