When I’ve gotten myself under control, I say seriously, “Thank you. I’d say something nice about your laugh too except that it sounds like a farm animal getting a tooth pulled.”
She slaps my back. “Hey!”
“Too harsh? I’m sorry. It’s just that I heard this injured donkey braying one time—”
“You did not!”
“—and it was eerily loud and screechy—”
“Cole! You dick!”
“—like it was dying or something, like in serious agony—”
“Okay, that’s it! No more nookie for you!”
She tries to roll out from under me but is unsuccessful. I grab her wrists and pin her to the mattress, grinning down at her as she struggles to get free.
“You’re adorable when you’re angry.”
She stops struggling and glares at me. “Oh yeah? As adorable as a dying donkey?”
I pretend to think. “Well, not that adorable. Maybe more like one of those hairless Chihuahuas? You know, how it’s ugly but also sorta cute in its own scary, repulsive way?”
Fuming, she mutters, “I’ll show you scary and repulsive. Put your dick near my mouth again, cowboy, and watch as I turn it into something that looks like a pit bull’s favorite chew toy.”
I’m setting a personal record for laughs in one month. Hell, one year.
Maybe a whole decade.
To stop her from hurling more threats, I kiss her long and deep. She responds as she always does, melting into me with a little sigh the instant our lips meet, giving herself over to me completely.
I want to fuck her again. But she needs food, so that’s the priority.
Bracing my weight on my hands, I push up and slowly withdraw from her body. She groans a little, her eyelids fluttering. Then she heaves a big sigh and flings her arms out to either side on the mattress as I rise and stand at the side of the bed.
I peel off the condom and throw it in the trash can by the night stand. “I’ll call for room service. What do you want?”
She answers without hesitation. “Steak. Medium-rare. A big one. Baked potato with all the toppings. Something chocolate for dessert.”
“Anything green? Salad, veggies?”
“Blech. Green things are for rabbits. Do I look like a rabbit to you? No, don’t answer that. I already know you think I look like a hairless Chihuahua because you’re gifted with such a poetic way with words.”
We smile at each other.
In another life, I would love this woman. I’d love her so much, I’d burn down the whole world just to spend an afternoon by her side.
I turn away, a band of tightness squeezing my chest.
As I call for room service, I know she’s watching me. Even though my back is turned, I can feel those beautiful eyes. By the time I hang up, she’s sitting upright with her knees drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs, wriggling her toes impatiently.
“What’s that look?”
“This is my inquisitive look.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning I want to ask you lots of questions because you’re very interesting, but I know this is a one-night thing, so I don’t want to make it weird.”
Smiling, I stretch out on the mattress beside her and prop myself up on an elbow. “I think we blew past weird when you got weepy.”
“Oh yeah.” She brightens. “So it’s okay if I ask you stuff?”
Thinking of the graveyard of bones I’ve got hidden in my proverbial closet, I hesitate.
She studies me. “That’s a no.”
I say gently, “I want you to leave this room with only good memories. If we start talking about me…”
She stretches out beside me, mirroring my posture and gazing into my eyes. “You’re worried I won’t like you anymore?”
“Oh, I know you wouldn’t like me anymore.”
“That bad, huh?”
“That bad.”
“You could always lie to me.”
I can’t tell if she doesn’t believe me or if she’s just being sweet. I reach out and tuck a strand of dark hair behind her ear. “No,” I say sadly. “I couldn’t.”
We gaze silently into each other’s eyes. She searches my face as if she’s looking for something, but I don’t know what it might be.
Her voice low and soft and her eyes shining, she says, “How about this? Tell me a story. Make one up.”
I frown. “About myself?”
“No, about us. Like if we met in another life, in some normal way people do. If we were introduced through mutual friends, something like that.”