Forever Pucked(31)

"I have."

"I also think you should consider how stressed out you've been. Alex's  accident, the Darcy account, it's a lot for anyone to handle."

I set my fork down, my appetite gone-which is sad, because the food here  is awesome. "I know, but it's made me reevaluate what's important."

"Which is what?"

"I want to set a date for the wedding."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. If I've learned anything from this, it's that life is too  unpredictable to let my propensity for self-humiliation stop me from  getting hitched. I want to spend the rest of my life with this man, and  postponing the start of that because I'm going to embarrass myself is  silly. That's just the way I am. Waiting isn't going to change it."

-&-

After lunch I pack a box of files and head home, feeling lighter. I won  over the Darcys, I'm going to work from home for a while, and as soon as  the time is right, I'm going to tell Alex we should set a date.

I find him in the living room, lying on the couch with the remote  control pointed at the TV. He rewinds and then presses play, turning up  the volume. He doesn't notice me watching him. I glance at the screen  and realize too late it's the footage from his injury. The crack when he  hits the boards is amplified by the surround sound. Then the screaming  fans drown out everything else.

The camera angle changes, giving me a different view of the events than I  had at the game. While I was panicking, his teammates were checking for  a response. The whole thing comes flooding back in a rush of fresh  fear. I put my hand over my mouth to silence my sob, but I'm not quick  enough.                       
       
           



       

Alex suddenly realizes I'm here. He stops the video and pats the cushion beside him. "C'mere."

He's wearing his current uniform of a hoodie and sweats, and I'm still  in my dress pants and blouse. He moves over so I can get my ass on the  sliver of cushion.

"Why are you watching that?" I ask with a sniffle.

"To see if it'll jog my memory. It sure as hell explains why I look the way I do." He cracks a smile.

I try to return it, but I can't. "I'm glad Cockburn got a twenty-game suspension."

"He deserved it." He caresses my cheek. "You must have been so scared."

I nod, working through the lump in my throat. We haven't really talked  about this, mostly because Alex doesn't have any memory of the hit.

"When you didn't get up, and then they wheeled you by me on that  stretcher and you weren't moving … I thought I was going to lose you. I  couldn't keep it together enough to be able to get in the ambulance with  you. Sunny had to go, and all I could think was that I was never going  to … " I don't continue. The words are unnecessary.

"But I'm going to be okay now."

I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself. I've purposely avoided the  footage up to this point. "There was an hour or so when I didn't know if  I was ever going to be okay again. It was awful."

"I'm sorry I scared you, baby."

He doesn't promise not to do it again, and I know it's because he  doesn't want to lie to me. Which scares me even more. He reaches over,  bringing my mouth to his. It's a soft kiss, and there isn't any tongue,  but he finishes with a lip nibble. When he's done, I back up a few  inches so his eyes don't merge into one.

"Let's talk about something nice." He glances at the clock. "You're home earlier than I expected. Did the presentation go okay?"

"I got the account."

"That's awesome." He means it; I can tell by the dimple that appears in his left cheek.

I kiss the divot. "I have a question about the Darcys."

"Oh? What's that?" He twirls a lock of my hair around his finger.

"There's a rumor out there-"

"There's always a rumor. What is it this time? The one about them being swingers?"

"How'd you know?"

Alex rolls his eyes. "People are assholes. They were invited to  participate in an event at a hotel a couple of years ago. There were two  parties going on the same night in the same venue. One was a  fundraiser, and the other was for swingers. They accidently went to the  wrong one for, like, a minute, but Darcy's been fighting the rumor ever  since."

"Wow. People really are assholes."

"Who told you that?"

"Dean."

"I really don't like that guy."

"He was just being a jerk." I trace the line of his eyebrow. "I have some more good news."

"Oh? What's that?"

"I talked to Stroker about working more from home."

Alex blinks his surprise. "Really?"

"Really. And he said yes."

"And you're okay with that?" He skims my bottom lip with his thumb.

"I'm more than okay with it."

This time when he smiles, I get both dimples.

I drop another kiss on his lips. I'm rewarded with a little tongue action. "Where's your mom?"

"She went out to pick up more food. I might need to buy another fridge  if she doesn't stop soon." We're kiss-talking now, and Alex's hand has  started wandering lower, over my shoulder to my boob.

"The entire freezer is full of meals for the next three months. How long ago did she leave?"

"Maybe twenty minutes?"

"So she won't be back for a while?" I finger one of the buttons on my blouse until it pops open, revealing cleavage.

"Probably not."

"Wanna go upstairs so I can hug Super MC with my beaver?"

Alex pushes to a sitting position and nuzzles my boobs. "That sounds like the best fucking idea in the universe."





11


Tricky Trickster

for the Win



VIOLET





My post-sex hair is damp, and I'm tucked into Alex's side.

He brushes the hair away from my forehead. "I'll be a lot happier when I can give you more than one orgasm at a time."

"There are a lot of women in the world who have to fake every single  orgasm they have, so I don't think you should feel too bad about doling  them out one at a time for a few weeks."                       
       
           



       

Alex makes a disgusted sound. "What does that even say about the guys those women are with?"

"You can't really fault them when the women are pretending to get off."

"I don't know. You'd think it'd be obvious when a woman is faking it."

"Not if she fakes it from the beginning," I argue.

Alex shifts so he can look me in the eye. He's particularly intense. "You've never faked it with me, have you?"

"Is that a serious question?"

"Yes."

"No, Alex, at no point have I had to do Kegels to cover a lack of orgasm."

"You're sure?" His insecurity is endearing.

"You make me come every time. Super MC is my beaver's soulmate."

He laughs. "I love you, Violet Hall." For some reason he sounds sad.

"I love you, too, Alex Waters."

We lie there for a few minutes, and I start thinking about the  conversation I had with Charlene today. I could tell Alex now that I  want to set a wedding date. I probably should.

I lift my head. His eyes are closed, and his breathing is even. "Alex?"

I don't get a response.

"Baby?"

Still nothing. He's out cold. The man can fall asleep faster than Sleeping Beauty.

I blow out a breath, annoyed at myself that I've missed a perfectly good  opportunity to make him happy. I press my lips to his temple and  whisper, "I can't wait to be Violet Waters."

When it's clear Alex is in serious nap mode and my mind is too busy  spinning for me to join him, I get out of bed and put on clothes.

While Alex naps, and Daisy's out adding to the bomb shelter's worth of  food in the pantry and cold cellar, I sneak into her bathroom, open the  window, and empty her aerosol cans of hairspray. There are three on the  counter. I leave a tiny bit in one and then hide the one can I have in  the back of my closet.

I finish Mission: Dehelmetify Daisy's Hair as the house alarm beeps,  signaling she's back. I don't let the guilt eat at me too much, because  I'm doing this for a woman whose hairdresser clearly doesn't know what  decade it is. Someone has to step in.

-&-

The next morning Daisy comes knocking on our bedroom door at an ungodly  hour. I roll out of bed and grab my robe. I'm wearing shorts and a tank,  but still. The tank is white, and Daisy's already seen more than enough  of me while she's been here. She knocks, but often doesn't wait until  she gets the go-ahead to come in.

Shrugging on the robe, I tiptoe to the door before the knocking wakes  Alex. He's been having performance anxiety dreams, so his sleep has been  broken, and so has mine. He's also used to sleeping on his right side  most of the time-so he can spoon me and nestle his dick in the cleft of  my ass-and he can't currently do this because of his shoulder. To  compensate, he holds on to some part of me, whatever is closest-my arm,  my hair, my boob. The latter is the most common.