“I … I’m done.”
“Huh?”
My face heats up in shame, and I pull my limp self out of Iris, scooting back in the bed and rolling away from her.
I can’t believe this. Thisneverhappened with Lisa! And, of course, if I tell Iris that it’ll sound like one of those fake “I swear this is the first time this has ever happened to me” lines that dudes always spout off when they can’t keep it up.
Behind me, I hear the blankets rustling as Iris moves towards me. Her hand rests on my shoulder, and I fight the urge to shrug it off. It’s not her fault. I can’t be an ass to her just because I’m a fucking failure at life.
“Micah, please. Tell me what’s wrong.”
A heavy sigh shudders from my lungs. There’s no running away from this. “It’s just—Normally, I could go at it with you all night. Make sure you got off before I finished. I guess tonight’s just not one of those nights.”
A muffled snicker sounds behind me.
Oh, God. Here it comes. The derision and jokes. I brace myself for the worst.
“I’m sorry, Micah. I’m not laughing at your situation; I’m laughing at the fact that you seem to think I care about that. So you’re done for the evening. So what? If that’s it for now, okay. We’ll just go to sleep.”
She makes it sound so simple. Can’t keep it up? Then go to sleep. I don’t think she knows what this is like for a guy. The humiliation. The utter shame. How am I supposed to get to sleep?
Iris’s arm slides across my chest as she snuggles up behind me. It’s my turn to be the Little Spoon, to receive comfort rather than give it. Even with her bare breasts pressed into my back, her warm skin against mine, I can’t salvage this evening.
“This is nice, Iris, but … I still can’t.”
She strokes my hair and kisses the back of my neck. “Okay. Doesn’t mean I’m gonna let you go. You’re stuck with me, Micah. This could happen to you again every time we’re together,every single time, and you still won’t get rid of me.”
For some reason, that makes me smile in spite of myself. I close my eyes as she continues running her hand through my hair, and the soft, gentle repetitive motion lulls me to sleep.
Chapter 25
Iris
After his unfortunate performance anxiety, Micah and I fall into a comfortable pattern, a routine that carries us through our weeks in an easy rhythm. During the week, he brings Hailey over after we’re both off work and makes us all dinner, then Hailey and I play together outside while he works on my yard. On weekends, I pack a small bag and walk over there. Sometimes we go on outings with Hailey—where I’mmuchmore on guard than I was in the zoo—but sometimes we just stay home and hang out. Fridays are our date nights, and Becky’s kind enough to watch Hailey every week for us so we can have some time with just the two of us.
That rhythm is broken, however, when the final arrangements for the commercial shoot are locked in and relayed to my team.
We start shooting in a matter of days. Rehearsals are tomorrow.
Thankfully, Micah and I have been going over the script with Hailey as part of her at-home schoolwork. She’s got her lines down pat, and she even does a fair amount of actual acting when she reads them. Most kids her age that I’ve seen just spout the lines from rote memory, without any emotion. Hailey gets fully immersed in the “make believe” and delivers her lines like a pro.
One thing I’ve forgotten to mention to Micah is who Hailey’s on-screen dad will be. Having been in this business for over a decade, the big names don’t impress me anymore. The popularity of the actor or actress means nothing to me beyond how it can draw customers to my clients’ products.
Imagine Micah’s surprise, then, when we roll up on the rehearsal lot to a throng of rabid fans.
“Iris,” he says slowly, his eyes scanning the crowd as he tries to drive around the more adventurous ones who dart in front of his SUV, “what’s this all about?”
“Oh, that.” I swallow hard as the realization of what he and Hailey are in for hits me.
“Iris …” Micah’s tone is vaguely threatening. If I didn’t know him better, I’d be worried.
I clear my throat and look out the side window, away from Micah’s side-eye. “I might have forgotten to mention that Sloan Maverick is playing Hailey’s dad in this campaign. Those women are probably all here hoping to get a glimpse of him.”
Micah hits the brakes a little hard, and the car jerks to a stop. “Wait,theSloan Maverick? That big-league actor with all the awards?”
Like the Oscar. A couple Emmys. A slew of SAGs. “Yeah. That’s the one.”
“And you were going to tell me this when?”
