Page 81 of Imperfection is Beauty

And… if the unthinkable happened, and I lost my memory, I further buried this moment, and those words, down to the bottom of my brain, so I would never lose it.

“Love me some of you, Marcus.”

Smiling, I curled her further into my body, and then the moment she really went lax I gave her the words right back, “Love me some of you too, Shortcake.”

And then… just like that, I closed my eyes in utter bliss and then fell straight to sleep.

***

Anytime while I was on the road, I loved getting pictures from Scarlett.

Like this one picture that was now my screensaver, no, not my lock screen. I would be the one in orange if anyone ever saw it. She had taken it as a good morning picture for me. Her hair was splayed out all around her. The sleep shirt she was in was lowered off of one shoulder, her eyes looked sleepy, and her full lips looked plump.

She was my favorite vision.

One thing I was absolutely certain of if the unthinkable happened and my sight was lost to me, her image was one thing I would use to tether me when everything got extremely hard.

Shaking my head on the plane as the wheels touched down on the tarmac, the photo she had sent me was of her kneeling next to Kalani in an office outside of the Neonatal department.

And yes, I never thought dogs could smile.

But Kalani sure did.

If you’ve never looked on Google and searched for a dog smiling, where they show all their teeth, then you are truly missing out.

Me –I can’t get over that she does that. I just chuckled and got looked at.

Shortcake –Oh, you poor baby.

I should have known.

Fucking should have known.

Once we won our game, sitting in front of the locker I had used, I tagged my phone and smiled, because I didn’t turn it to Do Not Disturb

Shortcake –You kicked ass. Hell yes.

Shortcake– But what the fuck with that call! That wasn’t an incomplete pass, he had both feet down on the field before he fell out of bounds. don’t they know his toes are indeed attached to his feet? And… he kept control of the ball.

Shortcake– Will Culpepper get a fine for shoulder-checking the ref that made that bullshit call? ROTFLMAO.

Shortcake –Okay, so I know I can trust you, and we have that level of trust, but can you please never get a tattoo on your stomach like number sixty-eight has? Just… ew.

Grinning, I texted her back and knocked out the shit that needed to be addressed so I could really focus on what we needed to discuss.

Me –Nah. The ref went back over the footage and apologized to Culpepper.

Me –Want to tell me why you were looking at another man?

Shortcake – You telling me that while you’re on the road you don’t check out the talent that’s being shoved in your face?

Me –Okay, Shortcake. You asked for it. Here’s my address, the code for the gate, and the code for the alarm.

Me –Your ass in my bed. Naked. Spread eagle. You’re not there, you won’t like it.

Then… the moment the plane touched down, knowing how naughty she could be, I unlocked my phone and praised the man above for the screen protector I got a few weeks ago.

It made it so the person beside, in front, or behind me couldn’t see a damn thing.

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