Page 98 of Chips & Checks
“Yeah.” I don’t have to think about it, not even for a second. “Hockey’s just a game. Youmatter.And I love you.”
She’s quiet for so long that I think she’s fallen asleep. It’s a full three minutes before she finally twists around so that our foreheads touch. “I love you, too,” she whispers. “So much. It scares me a little, if you want to know the truth.”
“There’s nothing to be scared of.” I nuzzle her cheek. “I’m right here. You’ve got me. And I’ve got you. Okay?”
“Okay.” Her fingertips trace my jaw, raising goosebumps as they pass. “You know, Bowen, when you forget all those silly rules you made for yourself… we make our own magic.”
“Better magic than Dante?”
She lifts one eyebrow.
I don’t know what to say to that, so I kiss her instead.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Violet
I’m suspicious the second Bowen walks out of the bathroom in only a towel and that smug-ass grin.
Not because he’s half-naked—though, okay, maybe I stare a second too long at the water droplets trailing down his abs—but because he looks way too pleased with himself for a man who’s been hiding something.
“You’re humming,” I say, narrowing my eyes at him as I fold my arms across my chest. “You only hum when you’ve done something shady.”
“I’m humming because I’m happy,” he replies, all innocent-like. But his dimples betray him, and so does the way he immediately reaches for his boxers. Ugh. There goes my view.
“Happy,” I repeat slowly. “Because…?”
He shrugs, tugging on a T-shirt. “Maybe because you love me. Maybe because I’ve had mind-blowing sex four nights in a row. Maybe because I’m about to blow your mind again.”
“Wait,” I say, sitting up straighter. “Did you just say you love me because I love you?”
He freezes like a cartoon character caught in the act. “I didn’t say that. You can’t prove I said that.”
“Bowen Murphy,” I growl, climbing off the bed. “What did you do?”
His whole face lights up. “Come with me.”
“I swear to God, if this is about a dead body hidden in the walls, I’m going to call your mother.”
He snorts. “It’s not a dead body.”
“That’s exactly what someone with a rotting corpse would say.”
“Fantasy Fulfillment Services™ would never do me dirty like that,” he replies solemnly.
“Fantasy what now?”
He just grabs my hand and tugs me toward the door like a man with a mission and no sense of self-preservation. “You’ll see. And Vi? Bring your best sarcastic commentary. You’re gonna need it.”
The first thing I see when he opens the door is tentacles.
Not, like, live ones. I don’t scream or anything. But I do let out a stunned little, “Oh my God,” because there, nestled on a literal velvet pedestal under a spotlight like it’s the Hope Diamond, sits a… silicone monstrosity with suction cups.
“What the fuck is that?” I ask, even though I know exactly what it is. I’ve seen the deep, cursed corners of the internet. I’ve sent links to Ash with messages like, “If I die, clear my search history.” I’ve joked about it. But this man? This actual certified lunatic I love?
He went and bought me one.
Bowen beams like he’s just presented me with a tiara and a title. “Vi, meet the Octopus Oracle. Oracle, meet the love of my life.”
