Page 134 of In The Game

He stares at me with raised eyebrows. “Did you want to keep going?”

I give a swish of my hand. “Fuck no. That was a joke. Pineapple. All the pineapples.”

He laughs and fills the bathtub. His cum is leaking out of me while I sit in his lap on the side of the tub. Once it’s full, he deposits me into the soothing water, I exhale the tension, and it dissolves almost instantly. He strides out of the room.

“Hey, where are you going?”

“Forgot something, one sec.”

When he comes back in, he holds out a glass of water for me. The cold drink is a delightful refreshment in contrast to the hot water I’m soaking in. He climbs in behind me, leaning forward and kissing my temple. Caged between his arms, he holds out a necklace with a gorgeous gold pennant in the center. It’s a locket. He opens it up to a photo of the three of us on the beach in Hawaii. I sniffle, trying to hold back tears. There’s so much adrenaline and post-sex feels happening. I’m overwhelmed with all these competing emotions flooding my headspace. Happiness, melancholy, love, shame. I’m crashing. He places the necklace around my neck, and I press it to my chest, needing to touch it. Barrett simply holds me close and lets me cry.

“I’ve got you. You’re safe. I’m not going anywhere.” I shudder through a sigh, getting some of the tears under control. “I texted my mom, she’s picking up Arthur from daycare. We’ll pick up some takeout on the way home. There’s this place I know that has pitas that feel like fluffy clouds. How does Greek sound?”

It sounds amazing.“I love you” and a nod is all I can muster.

“I love you too,” he says, a slight chuckle in his voice when he massages my shoulders. “So much. You and Arthur are my everything. You’re my world.”

His words eclipse the strange, confusing feelings and replace them with comfort and security. I spent much of my life feeling alone, but Barrett has become my safe space. And he’s how I want to spend the rest of my life.

FIFTY-ONE

“Okay, ready for my koala trivia?”

“Sure.” He giggles. I’ve been trying to school him on koala facts since I first saw him. I’m bound to do it one of these days. I’m feeling good about today.

“Did you know… that koalas can gallop as fast as twenty miles-per-hour? That’s like three times faster than I can run.”

Arthur’s eyes get wide and he turns to me. “Really?”

It stops me in my tracks. “Wait, you didn’t know that?”

He shakes his head with a big smile on his face. He looks just as proud of me, which makes me feel like a king.

“Hell yeah! I got you!”

He laughs, and I scoop him up to set him on my shoulders. We’re having guy time while Raleigh spends the morning getting brunch with the WAGs. Afterward, we’ll go to my mom’s, and she’s going to take Arthur for the night, his first sleepover at Grandma Suze’s house. For now, there’s something we need to talk about man-to-man.

“You said the H-E-double hockey sticks word!”

The H-E double…what? Oh! Shit.

“Oooh, I’ll work on that. Sorry, buddy.”

“I won’t tell Mom. It will be our secret.”

Holding my fist up, he taps it with his.Raleigh didn’t raise no snitch.

“Hey, so I know things are really hectic with the move and having me around more. How are you feeling about all the new stuff happening?”

“Good!” He seems genuine. There’s a happy lilt to his voice. “Except…”

“Except what?”

“When are you going to ask Mom to marry you?”

A laugh explodes from my chest. “What do you mean?”

“Aren’t you?” He leans over my face, and actually looks worried. I nod to reassure him.

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