“There are multiple ways to win. And it’s Settlers of Catan After Dark. Please, have some class.”
“I see,” he said. “You know, I don’t think this is fair. You’re much better at these games than I am.” He sighed. “But I suppose there’s nothing else to do, so why not.”
It didn’t take me long to realize Ollie’s strategy at Settlers was far more ruthless when nudity was involved. We never did finish Settlers of Catan, though Ollie won the After Dark portion of the game easily and with enthusiasm.
“You know,” he said from beside me once we’d finished the first round of Settlers of Catan After Dark, “I don’t rememberwoodbeing such a highly sought-after resource the last time we played.”
“Oh, shut it,” I said, shoving him away from me.
“You have to admit I’m great at this game. I think I’ve become a board game enthusiast.”
“But did youreallywin?” I said, still out of breath from what Ollie had called thebonus round.I took in his bare torso beside me. I’d lost so miserably that, even though I’d been wearing more items of clothing, I hadn’t managed to get more than his shirt and socks off.
His gaze traveled over my still-flushed face with a look of smug satisfaction. “Oh yes, I’m certain I won. But I’m starting to think you may have lost on purpose.” He rolled over, making me yelp when he pinned me to the bed. “Care to lose again?”
I laughed. “Youwant to play Settlers of Catan twice in a row? My, I really have converted you. I half expect to come home and find you DM-ing a game of Dungeons and Dragons.”
Ollie gave me a lingering kiss. “I don’t think you have to worry about that,” he said when he pulled away. “For some reason my interest in games only exists whenever you’re around.”
Ollie’s words caught me off guard. Though we’d slept together more times than I could count, he didn’t often say things that sounded so... sincere. We’d sometimes joke around in bed or compliment each other’s physical appearance, but we never talked about anyfeelingsfor each other outside of sarcastic annoyance or friendship. I liked it that way. It kept everything simple. You couldn’t lose something you didn’t have. And if you didn’t acknowledge it, did you really have it? But what Ollie had said didn’tfeelinsincere. It didn’t feel like a joke. As I looked up at him, my thoughts ran together, and rather than respond, I pulled him down to kiss me again, steering the conversation elsewhere by ending it entirely.
It was well past midnight when we gave up on the games and turned on the TV. Ollie stood beside the bed in his underwear, searching through his duffel bag for his pajamas when I noticed a small tissue paper–wrapped package had tumbled from his bag and onto the bed.
I took the package in my hands. It was light, almost as if nothing were inside. “What’s this?”
“What’s what?” Ollie said. A look I couldn’t decipher passed over his face when he spotted the tissue paper in my hands. “Oh... I, uh, got you something. At the estate sale.”
“You did?” I said. “When?”
“When you were in the bathroom.” He returned his attention to the duffel bag. “I was gonna give it to you for Christmas. There they are,” he said, and tugged his pajama bottoms from the bag.
I rolled onto my back, still undressed from our “games,” and pressed the gift to my ear. “I hope it’s a horse tapestry.”
“Sure,” he said as he stepped into his pants. “There’s a fecking horse tapestry in there.”
“Do I have to wait until Christmas? You know how I hate waiting. Can I open it now? Please?”
“Fine, but you’ll probably hate it,” he mumbled.
“Oh shut up. You’re sucking all the fun right out of this.”
He sank onto the edge of the bed and watched me as I slipped my finger beneath the tape holding the tissue paper closed.
“Oh,” I said once I’d opened the gift and found a small gold medal, a lot like the Saint Dymphna one he always kept in his pocket. I held it close so I could read the words beneath the saint’s image. “Saint Valentine,” I said. I flipped the medal over, finding an inscription on the other side. “Until death,” I read aloud, feeling my heart kick on like a motor in my chest. I recognized the medal from when we’d skimmed over the jewelry at the estate sale, but I hadn’t looked at it too closely.
“Guess her husband was a morbid fella, yeah? I’ll get you a chain for it, of course. Unless you hate it. It’s okay if you hate it.”
I imagined the medal on a chain. How it would feel around myneck. How I’d tuck it beneath my shirt and know Ollie had one in his pocket. I didn’t hate it. Not in the least. But this was a rather romantic gesture.Until death... Was this an inside joke alluding to our fraudulent marriage? It couldn’t be because hewanteda real relationship like that, right? We were just friends. Friends who happened to be legally married and had frequent sex, but it was all very casual, and twenty-first-century, and... confusing as hell, actually.
I ran my finger along the edge of the medal. “It’s lovely,” I said. “Be careful, Oliver. If you keep buying me jewelry, people will think you’re in love with me.”
Ollie cleared his throat. I looked up at him and noticed his ears had turned a furious shade of pink. “About that,” he said.
“About... what?”
“I...” He looked away from me, seeming at war with himself as he stared around the master suite. When he finally faced me again, his expression made me think,Oh shit.
“I do love you, Nina,” he said.
