Page 62 of Role Play
“Ah, right.” I snapped my fingers and the wet sound sent suds flying through the air. “Judy-lover. How could Iforget?”
“My movie runner-up is Meet Me in St. Louis. Favorite toy, myvibrator.”
I coughed, taken by surprise by that answer and she smirked like that was her very intention. “I sort of meant, what was your favoritechildhoodtoy. But okay… vibrator. I’ll takeit.”
“Well, Livingston, you’ve got to specify. And favorite animal…manatee.”
Manatee. Huh. I wasn’t sure which answer surprised me more… the vibrator or the manatee. “You know… most people give answers like: Teddy Bear. And Dogs. Butmanatees?”
She shrugged, a small smile tilting her mouth. “I just love those sea cows. They’re gentle giants. When I was a kid, there were those ‘adopt a manatee’ fundraiser things that went to a wildlife fund. And every year—every holiday and birthday—that’s what I asked for. They sent you this little plushie manatee and a trading card with the name of your manatee, where it lived, what its namewas.”
“That’s fucking adorable.” My heart lurched, thinking of Lucy as a kid—small, sweet, wanting to adopt her own manatee instead of getting a Barbie or some other typical kid gift. I closed my eyes against the swell of emotion. Against the thoughts of what my own children with Brie would have beenlike.
“Oh, it gets better. So, after my mom got me about six of these, they sent me a repeat. Scarlett the Manatee. And I got really upset and told my mom we needed to call them because I already owned Scarlett. She wasalready mymanatee, and I wanted to make damn sure they weren’t adopting out any of my other manatees to otherpeople.”
I chuckled. “Oh no… youdidn’t…”
“Oh yeah. In my head, I was collecting all these pet manatees and one day in the future, I was planning to move down to Florida where most of them resided and build a home that was in the middle of the ocean. I had big plans. There was going to be an underwater basement made of glass so I could watch them swimming in the ocean around our house. And I’d go swimming withthem.”
I rinsed the soap from her shoulders and bent, placing a kiss at a freckle just above her collarbone. “You must have been crushed.” It was maybe one of the sweetest things I’d everheard.
“I was devastated. My mom had to explain it to me on my birthday. And my dad promised to take me swimming with them someday.” Shesighed.
“Well… didhe?”
“No,” she said quietly. “He left us before my nextbirthday.”
Fuck. I forgot. With all that had happened tonight, I totally forgot that she mentioned her dad had left. Lucy shrugged, bringing one delicate shoulder to her ear. “He would have ruined it anyway, if he had taken me. I would have forever associated the experience of my dreams with a man who didn’t deserve to be a part of it. He would have ruined it like he ruined everythingelse.”
My throat clenched. How any parent could ever walk out on their children was fucking beyond me. Some people didn’t deserve to be parents. Didn’t know how lucky they were to have a child make it to birth, healthy, let alone a kid who worshipped them. “I’m sorry.” It was all I could say, even though it was fuckinglame.
“It’s okay,” Lucy said, and shrugged again. But I knew better than to believe that. “It was a long time ago. That’s why Uncle—” she coughed, covering her mouth with her hand. “My uncle and I became really close. He helped raise me after my dadleft.”
I curved my hands around her ankle, pulling one foot up and running the bar of soap over it. “How come your mom never took you swimming with themanatees?”
“I asked her once, a couple years later, but she was so appalled that I wanted to do that. She feared… everything. The ocean. The manatees. She was certain that if I swam with manatees, it would be the way I died. So that was that. At least until I can afford to go on myown.”
I nodded. “When you do swim with the manatees, it will be with someone who deserves to be there by yourside.”
She smiled and nodded. “Yep. Someday. Probably far in the distant future when I make it to the other side of the country,” shesnorted.
“Hey, we’re filming on location in a few weeks on the eastcoast.”
She stretched and wiggled her toes before dipping them back into the tub. “I know. But Kelly’s going alone. There’s not enough of a wardrobe budget for both of us to be onlocation.”
We bathed for a few moments in silence before she asked, “What about you? Favorite food? Favorite toy? Favorite animal? Favoritemovie?”
“Food—I’m simple. Filet mignon. Medium rare. Favorite animal, dogs. Favorite movie,Star Wars. And favorite toy,” I slid closer to her, brushing my lips over hers. “Does your bodycount?”
She laughed and splashed water in my face. “No,” she said, “itdoesn’t.”
“Hey,” I said with mock indignity. “If a vibrator counts for you, then your body should count forme.”
“Except,I’mnot a toy. I’m a person. I could be your favoriteperson.”
Again—my throat clenched. Did she expect me to say she was my favorite person? I liked Lucy. A lot. But I don’t lie. Ever. And I couldn’t respond to that without hurting her. I enjoyed watching her wince in pain from my hands… not mywords.
Her mouth tilted briefly into a frown. “Ash, we’ve only known each other for like, a week. Less than a week, actually. I don’t actually expect you to say I’m yourfav—”
