Page 82 of Not A Chance

“My prize is sitting on my lap. So I’m doing pretty well. Seriously, Ind, tell me how it went.” I gave her a gentle squeeze to urge her to keep talking.

Indie sucked in a deep breath, jostling Gizmo, who had fallen asleep almost instantly once she’d curled up—it was almost 2:00 a.m. Toronto time, after all. She snuffled a little bit with the movement of Indie’s stomach.

“It was… fine.” Her hesitation concerned me.

“Fine” didn’t really tell me anything. Maybe I should have been the one to tell Emery to spare Indie this discomfort after all?

Before I could fall too far into the regret spiral for not sparing her from this situation, she continued.

“It really wasn’t a thing. Em actually laughed.” Indie shook her head as if she couldn’t believe the words she was speaking. “She was happy for me—for us.” Her final words came out as a whisper.

A surge of gratitude for my incredibly kindhearted sister ran through me and settled most of my worries. Having a gut feeling about Emery’s reaction versus hearing it come true were totally different emotions. I was going to have to figure out how I could show my sister how important her understanding was.

Uneasy about breaking the spell of the moment, I forced the next words out of my mouth.

“How doyoufeel about the whole thing?” Indie was the queen of keeping her feelings close to her chest. Unless she was pissed off, it was hard to tell the depth of her emotions a lot of the time.

I couldn’t let the subject drop without some insight into her thoughts. I wanted to be her person, in a different way than Emeryand Abbie were, that she trusted with her scariest feelings. She needed to see that she could believe that I would help her carry them without demanding anything in return.

From Emery’s updates, I knew Indie tended to take on the world for others. That earning the gift of having her rely on me would be something special. I wanted to be the person who helped her carry her load. And I would do just about anything to make it happen.

“I’m not sure, to be honest.” She sighed, her head resting more firmly against my shoulder and her eyes shutting. “I kind of feel like I’ve been put through one of those pasta makers where the dough gets squished in there and then forced into a new shape.”

Her head shifted slightly so her forehead was resting against the side of my neck. I waited for her to continue.

“In my head, I knew Em was going to be okay with it. She’s literally the sweetest person in the entire state of California, if not the country. She’d never want either of us to deny ourselves the chance at being happy. But even knowing that, the uncertainty of messing with two decades of friendship felt much bigger than anything my brain could come up with to reassure me.” She released another deep breath, like sharing her worry helped it leave her body at the same time.

As she spoke, her limbs felt like they were melting into mine. Each muscle that I hadn’t even realized she’d been tensing released fiber by fiber, the toll of the situation seeming to leak out of her with each word.

There wasn’t a single cell in my body that wanted to say, “I told you so.” That stupid bet was just a distraction and had served its purpose. I racked my brain for the right thing to say that would show her all I cared about were her feelings right now.

“I can see how big of a risk that was now. Thank you for talking toEmery, for both of us.” My words felt too small for the significance of her choice, but it was the best I could come up with.

Indie pulled back slightly and opened her eyes. They looked clearer than before. A small smile formed on her lips.

“You’re feeling really grateful, hmm?” The sly expression that she put on when she was feeling playful appeared on her face.

I bent my neck so I could reach her mouth and gave her a tender kiss. It was soft and short. I didn’t want to take it any further than emphasizing how happy I was that she’d bet on us.

“Yep.” I popped thepsound.

She raised her hand that wasn’t cradling the little cinnamon bun that Giz had turned her body into and brought her fingertips to the neck of the T-shirt I was wearing, letting the tips of her index and middle finger drift back and forth under the neckline.

“So that sounds to me like you’re inclined to give me anything I want at the moment, right?” Her tone was seductive.

I nodded, glad that she didn’t know I was liable to give her anything she wanted at any moment.

“How about this, then… The little wager we made earlier in the day, you offer your prize to me?” The playfulness in her gaze turned heated.

My cock got right back in the game like it was the relief goalie getting called into a playoff game in overtime, thickening in my sweatpants so fast that there was no way she didn’t notice.

She trailed her fingers from my throat down my chest and abs as far as she could reach before she carefully slid her hands under Gizmo. Indie stood slowly and lifted her back onto her pillow tower without startling her awake.

From her position above me, Indie arched an eyebrow when I didn’t answer right away.

“Are you sure you don’t just want to sleep? It’s been a long day.”I scrutinized her expression, looking for a hint of uncertainty, but found none. I had to trust she knew what she wanted.

“Definitely not too tired.” She held out her hand to me. There was nothing for me to do but take it and follow her into the bedroom of the suite.

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