“Until you yanked me over to you.”
“I wasn’t about to let you use him like a shield and keep denying how obsessed you were with me.”
“I wasnotobsessed with you.”
“You’re so cute when you lie.”
“Tyler.”
“Stella,” I said, mimicking her voice.
She slapped my arm, and while we were still settling into things, still figuring everything out, I hoped this part of our dynamic never changed. Because I liked bickering with her, and I was hoping she still liked it, too, even though she’d probably never admit it aloud.
A few minutes later, I parked in my newly minted spot right outside the shop, and we headed in.
Shaunté was at the register.
“How’s everything been?” Stella asked.
“Derrick punched a client, Elayne fucked up someone’s tattoo, and we may have had a small fire,” she said, deadpan.
Stella rolled her eyes and headed past the booths toward the stairs. “I’ll come back down for closing.”
“No,” I said. “She’ll be asleep. I’ll close up.”
“I’m fine,” Stella argued.
“Yeah,nowyou are. But you slept like shit last night, and too many sleepless nights in a row might fuck up your stomach, so I got it.”
She waited until we shut the stairwell door behind us before responding. “You have got to be the bossiest sub in existence.”
“No, I’m thebrattiest.”
“As soon as my vagina stops hurting, I’m going to teach you a lesson.”
I snorted. “Like you’ll actually wait that long.”
She shut up, knowing she’d been caught, and together, we took the stairs up.
I grinned as I unlocked the door.
“You don’t have to say it every night,” she told me.
“Why not? It’s so much fun.”
She sighed and waved me forward. “Fine, then.”
I swung the door open. “Honey, we’re home!”
“Fuuuck you,”Amos squawked.
Epilogue
Stella
“Don’t be nervous,” Tyler said.
I made a noncommittal sound.
