“And likeItoldyoulast week, it wouldn’t be depriving yourself if I’m asleep in my bed and not hanging out with you anyway. All you’d be missing out on is your new—and creepy—habit of staring at me while I sleep. An action, by the way, that does not induce the desire to throttle.”
“I like my new habit,” he grumbles. “You make cute little meeping noises when you’re asleep. I’m not missing out on the meeping noises if I don’t have to, and I’m not missing out on you being awake if I don’t have to, either. I’d rather have you by my side and want to throttle you than have you in bed meeping without me there to adore it.”
I hold up my hand in a clear, concise symbol to STOP. “We had a rule, Fox.”
“‘No adoration before noon,’” he quotes. “I know, but have you tried being less adorable before noon? No. So really this one is on you.”
I sigh. “I guess the answer is two weeks, then.”
His thick brows furrow, making a little line between them. “The answer to what?”
“How long I had to wait to get our regular playtime back,” I answer. “It’s almost enough to wake a girl up, the joy of arguing with you again.”
He rolls his eyes. “We’ve argued in the last two weeks.”
“We’ve argued exclusively about whether or not we were going to continue kissing. In the stockroom, in your office, on the couch, in the kitchen, in my bed. Lots of kissing going on,and occasionally arguing about if that kissing should be put on pause, but not a whole lot of arguing about anything else since we had date night. In fact, zero arguing about anything else. It’s been freaking me out. Even last week when you first introduced me to the Friday morning grocery torture, you didn’t do anything more than smile in amusement at me sleepily walking through the store. This week, though, you’ve left the honeymoon phase of wooing me enough to be annoyed at me.” I sigh, dreamily. “It’s glorious, Fox, and encouraging.”
“Encouraging?” he asks. “Me being annoyed at you instead of blinded by infatuation isencouraging?”
“Of course,” I answer. “For you, specifically. I could never fall in love with a man who didn’t play with me. I’d say your current ire has increased your chances of a happily ever after by at least thirty percent.”
Terror flits through his eyes, followed quickly by an unnatural, blank-faced calm.
I blink.
“Whoa,” I say. “I haven’t seen that face in a minute, either.”
“What face?” he asks.
“The one you make when you’re trying to hide your thoughts from me,” I reply.
He shrugs. “I have no thoughts to hide, remember?”
“Mmm, no. As that doesn’t fit my current agenda, I don’t recall at all. Pray tell, what are your hidden thoughts? If you tell me, I’ll go to the grocery store willingly. With a pep in my step, even.” I hide crossed fingers behind my back.
He pulls my arm to my front, holding my fingers between us. Forcibly, he uncrosses them and makes me repeat myself.
Rude.
“I didn’t like the idea of my efforts being in vain,” he says immediately upon an honest promise from me. “I know that I believe you’ll reject me in the end, but I hadn’t thought ofhow the changes in my attitude and behavior toward you couldnegativelyaffect my chances, and it’s scary to think that me being more loving toward you could be the very thing that makes you not want me.”
I lace my fingers with his. “But I said that it wasn’t an issue,” I point out. “We were fighting just fine. Problem solved.”
He shrugs. “What if that’s an anomaly? What if I never want to fight with you again?”
I don’t mean to—I really don’t—but I laugh. “Fox,” I snort. “Half my personality isbrat. There’s a zero percent chance I never do anything to ignite your ire ever again.” I scoff. “These past two weeks, I wasn’t wonderingifwe’d ever play again, butwhen. I was watching to see if the timeline of your annoyance would be something I could live with. Of course, I’d prefer going no longer than a week and a half, if I got to choose, but two weeks is livable.”
Perfectly frozen, Fox stares at me. And stares at me. Andstaresat me.
“Use your words,” I finally huff.
“You’re taking this seriously,” he says. “You’re actually considering the possibility of a future with me.”
Uh… “Well, yeah? What did you think I was doing?”
“Placating me?” he suggests. “Taking the kisses while you still enjoy them and putting up with the rest?”
My nose scrunches. “That would be a messed up thing to do.”
