Page 88 of Curveball

Ripley wiggles her eyebrows. “For her sake, I hope it’s half as good as what just happened in here.”

I look up into her blue eyes. “You want me to stay with you tonight? All night?”

She nods. “I do.”

After another roundof mind-blowing sex, we lay sated in her bed. We’re front to front, staring at each other, running our fingertips aimlessly over one another’s naked bodies, reacquainting ourselves.

The feelings we share are so strong. There’s so much I want to say but know I shouldn’t.

She looks up at me. “Penny for your thoughts.”

“Just wishing we could have this all the time.”

Her face falls as she looks down. “I suppose I gave up wishing for that a long time ago.”

“What if I want this?”

“You want sex. You don’t want me or marriage and kids. I won’t give that up for you.”

“We have the marriage.”

“No, we have a paper marriage, not a real one. Look atthe way Layton treats your sister. The way he looks at her. He’s not embarrassed—”

“I’m not embarrassed. That has nothing to do with it. Stop saying that.”

“Whatever. You won’t love me the way I want to be loved. We have different visions of our future. I’ve done my best to accept it. I’m not interested in having the same conversation over and over.” She toggles her hand between us. “But this physical connection won’t go away. That’s why I need to distance myself from you. As long as I’m around you, I’ll never truly move on. I’m too drawn to you. You have too much power over me.”

“Maybe I want to try being together.”

She’s quiet for a moment. “Would we tell people?”

“Why don’t we wait and see—”

“No.”

I sigh. “Give it a chance.”

“Do you want to have kids one day?”

I tighten my jaw. “No. Never. That’s a hard line for me.”

“There you have it. Having children is a hard line for me. Per always, we’re at an impasse.” She nuzzles her head into my chest. “Let’s just enjoy these last moments we have together. Our seasons will be over in a couple of weeks, and then I’m requesting a trade.”

She says it so matter-of-factly. As if my heart isn’t breaking. She’s completely resigned on this issue.

I do the only thing I can right now. I hold her close and wish things were different.

I wakein the morning temporarily feeling better than I have in years. It’s been so long since I woke up with her in my arms. My eyes aren’t even open, but her scent envelops me in happiness.

The front of my naked body is pressed to the back of hers. My hands are on her tits, my hard cock pressed against her ass.

And then I remember our conversation before we fell asleep. She’s leaving. She’s giving up on us. On me.

Our time together has an expiration date, and that day is coming soon.

I don’t know what time it is, but I know she must have to get going, and I have to get out of here before Arizona comes home. But I need her one more time.

She’s sound asleep, likely exhausted from the long evening we had. We went at it like we didn’t know if we’d ever get to do it again. I know we were both thinking that.

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