“Sure. I’ll ask your brother for a Sharpie. That should give him a challenge.” Marissa leaned forward and touched her arm. “Can I be honest? That crash was pretty scary. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Nope! But I will be.” She would probably have a hard cry in a little bit.
“That’s a very adult answer.” Marissa leaned back in her chair and sipped her boozy cocoa, and they both went quiet, watching the flames in the fireplace. But after few minutes of that, Marissa set her cup down. “Do you want to get out of here?”
“Yeah. I guess so. I want to get comfy and be a schlub.” It seemed fair. She had to be on crutches.
“Oh. I didn’t mean… I was thinking maybe we could put your gimpy butt in a wheelchair and go into town.”
“Do you want to? With me?” It was snowy out there, and she didn’t feel particularly pretty or interesting.
Marissa looked around them. “There’s no one else sitting here, so I think I meant with you.” She got a wink. “At the very least a slice of pizza and a beer would improve this shit day, don’t you think?”
“Is there anything pizza and a beer won’t fix?” Okay, that felt amazing, that Marissa asked, that she wanted to hang out.
“Then it’s a deal. Let’s head up and change and call your brother to send up a courtesy honeymoon wheelchair. I’m sure a place like this will have one; you can’t be the first person to break something.” Marissa took a big swig of her boozy cocoa and stood to relieve her of the bowl of popcorn.
“Thank you. I’m a little scared I’ll crash down again.” And embarrass herself by being…herself.
“After all that bendy flex stuff you were doing this morning, I’m not worried. But who wants to crutch all over town in the snow? Come on.”
Marissa bent to help her up and she ended up staring into her ex’s cleavage and inhaling a subtle perfume. Lavender maybe.
No licking. None. Because that would be inappropriate.
Fun, but inappropriate.
Marissa went to help her up and laughed. “Okay, you still have to help me, gimpy.”
“What? Why? You’re a stud…” She hauled herself up, though, letting Marissa steady her.
“I bet you say that to everyone who is taller than you.” Marissa snorted. “Oh, wait. Everyoneistaller than you.”
“Don’t make me head-butt you, Amazon-woman.” It was a familiar tease, a weird and comfortable one.
Mari handed off her crutches and shook her head, smiling. “Some things never get old, huh?”
“Or they’re good because they are old. Either way.” She loved the idea of jokes that were so well-worn you could put them on anytime and be warm.
Mari stayed right with her all the way to the suite. “You realize that all of your brother’s promo shots are going to have to be from the knees up now.”
“I know! Hell, he’s going to have to photoshop out any bruises.” Because she was going to be wearing a couple of those for sure.
Makeup would hide the ones on her face, though, so that should help.
Mari started giggling. “That’s a honeymoon picture…fancy resort and one of the wives is covered in bruises. Maybe he could market that to the kinkier crowd.”
Bekka blinked, then she cracked up, laughing so hard she almost fell over. She wasn’t sure Marissa had ever said the word kinky before.
“Whoa.” Marissa was still giggling but caught her and made sure she was okay before letting go. “No beer for you, you can’t even stay on your feet when you’re sober!”
“If you get me a wheelchair, I don’t have to worry about it!” she shot back.
Marissa whirled on her and stared at her, then nodded. “This is an excellent point. Go change and, after I do, I’ll get us a chair and a ride.”
“Hey, thank you for…going with the flow.” It was unexpected and appreciated.
“Your flow was always a challenge.” She got a wink and smile, despite the sarcasm. “I like challenges.”