Page 105 of Fluke
Jess curls up behind me and pulls me into him. “You, my girl, are the dream.”
“What are you doing to me?” I whisper. Every piece of my body is too heavy to move.
He chuckles against the top of my head. “Do you like it? Tell me if you don’t.”
“I’ll put it to you like this—let me take a nap and then we can do it again.”
His body rumbles as he laughs quietly, pulling me tighter. “We have to get you cleaned up.”
“Not really.”
“No, we do.”
I yawn. “Meh.”
He scoots away from me and off the bed. Vaguely, I sense him moving across the room and hear the tap turn on in the bathroom. Just as I’m about to doze off, he’s sliding beside me again.
“Spread your legs,” he says.
When I don’t cooperate, he does it for me.
The washcloth is warm and his touch is gentle, as he carefully cleans me up.
“I think you should get up and go to the bathroom,” he says. “I don’t know a lot about the woman’s part of things, but I’m pretty sure that’s standard behavior.”
“I will.”Later.
My head is so fuzzy, and my bliss so complete, that I’m not about to ruin this moment. Not even the vague memory of dinner sitting idly somewhere is enough to make me wake up.
He pulls the blankets over my naked body and kisses my cheek. “Sweet dreams, Pip.”
“Night.”
I drift off to sleep thinking about standing in Jess’s kitchen with the windows open, making French toast.
23
JESS
“My name is Bobby, and I’m a chef at Chutney here inside the Waterfront Hotel. I’m excited to hang out with the two of you this afternoon.”
A storm rages on the other side of the windows behind Bobby. Rain pelts the glass, creating a soothing backdrop to the colorful kitchen. Pippa leans against my side as if she needs to touch me as much as I need to touch her.
We lay in bed all morning and listened to the rain. It was nice not having anywhere to go or anything to do. In our assessment of the retreat, we decided to suggest that couples have a choice to include free days. While paddleboarding was fun and let us experience something new together, our lazy day today shifted our relationship from great to incredible.
Pippa grips my bicep and gives it a gentle squeeze.
“I’m Jess, and this is Pippa. Thank you for your willingness to share your time and skills with us,” I say.
“Hey, no problem. I love food and the community aspect behind it. Anytime I can talk about food, I’m in.” He laughs. “I heard it through the grapevine that you’re thinking about creating a couples retreat package at the hotel?”
Pippa perks up. “Yes, actually, I am. My company will be offering packages in the coming months. Silver Springs is centrally located, and there are so many fun experiences that can be incorporated. I thought a cooking class might be a fun option.”
“I love it. Nothing brings people together like food.” He looks between us. “Are you two just testing this out, or are you on a couples retreat yourselves or …”
Pippa smirks. “This is my ex-husband, Jess—”
“Excuse me,” I say. “I’m not her ex-husband.”
