Offside

“Nicole! Oh...oh God! Nicole!”

With my eyes squeezed shut, I wrapped my arms around her and tightened my grip until her chest was right up against mine. I tucked my head into her, practically hiding my face in her hair, and just held on to her like she was driftwood in the open sea.

There were tears in my eyes.

“I love you,” I said quietly, but my voice still cracked. “God, I love you so much, Rumple.”

“I love you, too, Thomas,” she replied. She wrapped her hands around my head, and she softly kissed my neck. “Always.”

As Romeo spoke of Juliet, so I felt about Nicole. “Come what sorrow can, it cannot countervail the exchange of joy, that one short minute gives me in her sight.” Somehow, as long as she loved me, I knew everything would work out.

Now I really, really needed some sleep.

CHAPTER 32

NEW PLAY

I looked into my Rumple’s eyes.

We had been on our sides, just looking at each other for the longest time. She looked at me as her fingers traced back and forth over my jaw, and I looked at her while my fingers drew little geometric patterns on her back. It wasn’t the least bit awkward or anything, either. I could have stayed like that forever.

Until some obnoxious beeping noise came from the kitchen.

“That would be dinner,” Nicole said quietly as her cheeks turned pink. I had no idea why dinner made her blush, but it was fucking adorable. She broke out of my embrace and pulled her T-shirt and pants back on before running to the kitchen. I kind of wished she had just run naked so I could watch her ass bounce around as she left the room.

Maybe next time.

Next time.

Yeah.

There was definitely going to be a next time.

I had heard the term post coital bliss before, but I had never experienced it. It wasn’t just due to an orgasm. I’d had plenty of those. It was more about holding her afterwards, knowing her rapid heartbeats and quick breaths were all my doing.

/> Well, and her doing.

Whatever.

It was awesome. That was for sure.

She walked back around the little dividing wall, asked if I needed any help or anything, and asked if I wanted to come eat in the kitchen or have her bring it to me. I was seriously tempted to just lie there, but Danielle’s voice popped up in my head and told me to get off my ass, so I did. I did let Nicole hand me my clothes, at least.

Getting pants on was a bitch, but I could manage. It just took fucking forever, which pissed me off. It wasn’t just that my legs didn’t move at all—they did, a little. I just couldn’t control them enough to have them do what I wanted. When I tried to get my legs to help—like bending a knee a bit so I could reach my foot and get the pant leg over it—they ended up jerking around and generally being in the way.

After wrestling with my pants, I pulled my shirt over my head, shifted myself back into the chair, and wheeled into the kitchen.

Vroom, fucking vroom.

Not.

I sighed and tried to bring myself back to the bliss I had been feeling just a few minutes before. Seeing Nicole dishing out…whatever the fuck she had made…onto plates and pouring dressing over a salad as she smiled up at me helped to bring back the mood.

We ate relatively quietly, just kind of glancing at each other and smiling a lot. Sometimes we snickered, but again, it wasn’t uncomfortable, just…happy.

It was weird.

And I loved it.