Then we waited, the sticks lined up on the bathroom counter. Dane unzipped his sweater and took it off, then took off the tee he was wearing beneath it. He started unbuckling his belt.
“What are you doing?” I asked, nervous but also distracted by the yummy sight of him. All that muscle made me stupid.
“I’m preparing for a negative test,” he said as if that were obvious. “If you do it enough times, it has to work sooner or later. Get naked, Ava.”
“And if the test is positive?”
“Then we celebrate. With sex.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You just want to get laid.”
“Says the woman who wouldn’t even talk to me until I made her come,” he said. “You wanted me to fuck you earlier, so now you get your wish.”
That sounded good, so good, but I was still nervous about the sticks on the counter. “You really said no to Kaito Okada?” I asked. “Just forget it, goodbye?”
Dane was down to his black boxer briefs, like a big Christmas present that was mostly unwrapped. He caught me around the waist, turned so he was leaning against the counter, and pulled me between his thighs. “I told him I’d work as a consultant. For free. I have to go to Japan next month, but only for a visit.” He leaned in and nibbled my neck.
He was happy, I realized. No matter what the sticks said, Dane was happy. And so was I. I put my hands on his shoulders, feeling how hard and warm they were. “Of course you’re going to save the world for free,” I said. “You’re a superhero.”
He laughed softly against my skin.
“I’ve had time to think about my career,” I told him, my eyes glancing over his shoulder to the sticks and away again. “I’m going to start my own business.”
“Oh yeah? Doing what?”
“I’m going to start my own clothing line for women with curves. Clothes that are sexy and flattering and perfect for going to work. That are quality made. And have pockets. I filled a sketchbook with ideas. But I don’t know what I’m doing, so it’s kind of terrifying.”
Dane kissed my temple. “You’ll figure it out. If you want me to help, I will.”
“You will? We’re really doing this, aren’t we?”
He pulled back and looked into my eyes. “Yeah, we are.”
I glanced past his shoulder again. “Good, because the lines and the squiggles say I’m pregnant.”
There was a pause, and then Dane swung me up against his chest, both of us laughing. Then he kissed me.
Then Dane kept his promise, and we went to bed.
Epilogue
Three months later
* * *
Dane
* * *
Ava pushed her chair back from the kitchen table. “I did it,” she said, putting her fist in the air. “I cooked a lasagna. And it was killer.”
“You did,” Aidan said, smiling across the table at her. “And it was.”
“I agree,” Samantha said, pushing away her empty plate. “I should have worn my yoga pants.”
I stood up, stacking empty plates. It was Sunday night, and we were at the beach house. Ava and I lived here now; I was about to put my Chicago penthouse up for sale. After a lifetime in Chicago, I didn’t need to be there anymore. The beach house was home.
This was the fourth Sunday we’d had dinner with Aidan and Samantha. The dinners were Ava’s idea; Aidan and I claimed we didn’t need regular dinners to complete the process of our making up and becoming friends again, but Ava insisted.