Playing (Inked Hearts 2)

She nods. "Dessert—" she nods to her slice of pumpkin pie, then to her mug—" then more dessert."

Bree laughs. "She's making a lot of sense."

"You always think she's making sense," I say.

"What can I say? Your girlfriend is a smart woman," Bree says.

Iris nods uh-uh. She isn't paying attention to our conversation. Her gaze is on her cell.

That look can only mean one thing.

Lily replied.

Iris tries to pretend like she's okay waiting until her sister is ready to make up. I guess she is okay waiting. It's not like she has a choice.

But I can tell it wears on her.

She ceded the holiday to her sister, because she didn't trust her parents to be honest about whether or not she'd be at dinner.

She spent an hour composing a Happy Thanksgiving text this morning. She's been checking her phone, waiting for a response, all day.

I squeeze her hand. Lean in to whisper. "You okay?"

She nods. "I just need some air." She pulls back. Looks to my family. "Excuse me. Thank you so much for dinner. It was lovely." She grabs her purse and moves to the kitchen, then toward the back door.

Mom, Dad, and Bree shoot me the same look. Are you going to leave her alone with that?

They adore Iris. After everything with Bree, I thought Mom would freak about Iris's past, but she didn't. She only loves her more for it. She's always going on about how proud of Iris she is. About how lucky I am to have such a strong girlfriend.

And, yeah, about how lucky I’d be if Iris was my wife.

I agree.

And I will marry her. One day.

But this, just being with her, is amazing. I want more—I always want more of her—but I can wait until she's ready.

"Thanks for dinner." I push myself up. "I love you."

Everyone says it back.

I move into the kitchen, through the sliding glass door, to the backyard.

Iris is sitting on the edge of the pool, shoes next to her, feet in the water. She turns toward me. Wipes a tear from her eyes.

Fuck. It's bad.

I move closer. "You want me here or you want to be alone?"

She looks up at me. "No. Walker. It's… It's okay."

"Yeah?" I drop to my knees next to her.

She nods as she shows off the display.

Lily: Happy Thanksgiving to you too. See you at Christmas?

Every bit of tension in my body melts. I forget about what I'm doing after this. I forget about every awful thing that's ever happened.