Page 100 of Hitting the Gap

“Ram, not Ramon?” Bailey smirked at him.

“Yeah, Ramon’s too formal.” Ram should work. It was his name, but not one anybody else called him. At least not anymore. As soon as he’d started elementary school, he’d been called Gonzo and everyone, including his family, had called him that. The only time anyone called him Ramon was when he was in trouble.

Amusement curled up in the corners of her eyes. “Okay, Ram.”

He wrinkled his nose. Still sounded weird because she’d never called him anything but Gonzo since they were six years old. “Let’s try it again.”

“Ram.”

“Hmm.” Why’d it sound weird?

Bailey cupped his cheek, her eyes warm with emotion as she held his stare. “I love you, Ram.”

His chest clenched. “It’s getting there. Might have to hear it a few more times to get used to it.”

“Oh, yeah?” Bailey smirked at him.

“Absolutely.”

“So you want me to call you Ram now?”

“No, it’s too fucking weird, but maybe every now and then in bed or when you say you love me or something, when it’s just us, it might be cool. Kinda like a little thing just between us.”

Bailey smiled, then pressed a kiss against his lips. “I can do that.”

“Cool.” Why it mattered to him, he had no idea. He’d never wanted to be called by his given name before. He liked how everyone called him by his nickname, even his family, for the most part. He sure as hell had never wanted a woman to call him it before. Why he did now, he had no fucking idea. He just knew in this moment, with Bailey, he did.

She patted his cheek. “Okay, you big lug, put me down before you break your back.”

“Bailey,” he growled.

“What? I’m just saying you’ve been holding me for a long time, so put me down before we turn into a couple of prunes.”

“Fine, but only because I like your skin all soft and silky, not like a raisin.”

“Fair enough.” She rolled her eyes.

Gonzo set her down on the floor then grabbed the shampoo bottle off the built-in shelf. He squirted some in his hands. “Turn around,” he told her.

“You’re gonna wash my hair?”

“Yeah, so turn.”

“Oh, Ram,” she sighed.

Okay, yep, it was definitely growing on him. He cleared his throat. “Don’t make a big deal about it. It’s just hair.”

Bailey smiled indulgently at him. “Okay, thank you.”

“Mmm-hmm.” When she finally turned around, he rubbed his hands together to get the shampoo on both palms, then placed his hands against her scalp. He dug his fingers in as he massaged the shampoo into her long, red hair.

“Mmm,” Bailey groaned in a way that sounded decidedly close to what she sounded like when she came.

His dick gave a little jolt as it clocked the sound as well. Damn. “Okay rinse, then I’m taking you back to bed.”

“Oh, you are, are you?”

“Abso-fucking-lutely.” He gave her a little push under the spray to rinse her hair.

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