Page 94 of Their Greatest Strength

Without another pointless argument, she sits near the headboard and rests her plate on her lap. I join her and unwrap my first taco, taking a massive bite to fill the silence. Unlike Nate’s room, there’s a flat-screen hung on the wall opposite her bed.

“How do you feel about hearing people chew? Because if you’re against it, we need to put something on in the background. A movie or something,” I suggest after swallowing.

She slides a nail under the sticker keeping her taco wrapped, fixing her attention on her plate and not me.

“The remote is on the nightstand.”

Narrowly avoiding pouncing on it like a weirdo desperate for the chance to weasel my way into having more time with her, I discard my taco on my plate and lean off the bed to grab the remote.

Once I’ve turned the TV on, I steal a look at her and ignore my growling stomach, knowing what I need to do before taking another bite.

“Do you want some help with your hair?” I ask, already setting my plate down where the remote was.

She finally looks up from her plate, meeting my gaze. “You want to take a thousand bobby pins out of my hair for me?”

“Why not? I’m sure we can make it count as our version of the groom taking the bride’s dress off on their wedding night.” I make a show of looking over her body and the baggy sweatpants and sweatshirt she’s changed into. “Since you’ve already done that for me.”

A crack of a smile. “Fine. But I’m eating while you do it.AndI’m choosing the movie.”

“For the record, I love a good romcom.” Lowering a hand to her shoulder, I give a slight push forward. “Shift and make a bit of room for me, baby.”

“You shouldn’t call me that,” she mutters but moves forward, opening the spot behind her for me to slip into.

The headboard is stiff against my back, but once I’ve got my arms wrapped around her front and her sitting between my legs, it doesn’t matter. She’s stiff as I straighten my legs out along hers.

“It fits you,” I say, palming her knees.

“Stop talking.”

I choke on a laugh and kiss the back of her ear before pulling at the first pin in her hair. It’s clear we’re not going to be talking about what happened in the kitchen. At least not tonight.

Maybe that’s for the best.

It was only one time. There is still a long way to go in our marriage, and having things turn awkward now will only make it harder to do what we need to.

Is what we’re doing right now all that bad, anyway? Maybe it’s better to leave a good thing be. For now, it’s not hurting anyone.

28

BLAKELY

“Areyou sure I’m allowed to be at the stadium with you?” I ask, hovering at the entrance, Jamie at my side.

“You’ve got a VIP pass around your neck and one of the best players in the CFL on your arm. Yeah, I’m sure,” he drawls confidently, hooking a finger beneath the black lanyard around my neck and stroking my collarbone.

“What am I even supposed to do while you’re at practice? Snoop? I don’t know if Graham would appreciate that very much.”

He releases my lanyard and opens the door for me. I sneak a look at the two reporters chatting by the entrance to the parking lot, and he follows my eyes, spotting them. They notice our staring and turn our way.

We’ve gotten pretty lucky so far this week with not having any pre-scheduled outings, but it’s only a matter of time before that changes. My guess is that’s what I’m supposed to be doing here today. Why else would Jamie be so dead set on me joining him while he’s at practice other than to parade me around?

Well, or to try and make me lose my goddamn mind by forcing me to watch him run around and get all sweaty again.

“You have such little faith in me, Bandit. I’ve got plans for you. Just be patient, hmm?” he purrs.

“You should know by now that I’m not patient.”

The flash of desire in his bright eyes is as much of a reminder of our wedding night as I can handle.

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