I undid my laces and toed off my boots. “Bed.”
“Oh yes, please.” His stunning brown eyes lit up with pleasure.
“To rest. To cuddle.” I held his gaze. “We’ve done a lot of playing the past couple of days. Sometimes it’s good to take a break.”Because I want to hold you. Because I need you. Because we have so little time together and I want to take advantage of every moment.I doubted we’d cuddle tonight during the game. No, I could see us taking sides against each other. If only because we were so damn competitive.
“Yeah. Nap.” He grasped the hem of his sweater. “But skin to skin, right? And I’m the big spoon?”
I swatted his ass. “Yes and no. Go and turn on the fireplace in the bedroom. I have to piss and then I’ll join you.” Because I needed just another moment to gather my thoughts.
He grinned. “Yes, Sir.”
The urge to correct him was on the tip of my tongue. I didn’t want to be hisSirright now. One thing to command him to walk on the beach with me—which I was convinced he’d enjoyed. He’d been getting up in his head again. He needed the break.
But also, because after all the play, I wanted, for just a moment, to hold the real Jack. The one I’d come to care for so deeply.
Yeah. The Jack you might just love.
That was the thought that carried me into bed, and that kept me from resting as he slept peacefully in my arms.
CHAPTER 25
JACK
“If Asher Graves hadn’t blown a tire, he’d have won for sure.”
I laughed and elbowed Devon before bringing my beer bottle to my lips. “But Graves did blow a tire, so…” I tilted the bottle toward the screen. “All hail the new fastest skater.”
He chuckled, elbowing me back.
I put my beer on a coaster on the coffee table, then wrapped my arm around Devon’s shoulders. He settled in against my side like we were a couple of puzzle pieces made specifically to fit together. His arm rested across my stomach, and his leg was draped partway across mine. In some remote recess of my mind, I wondered if the roles should’ve been reversed—if I should’ve been curled against my Dom’s side like he was curled against mine. But who cared? He was apparently comfortable. I was definitely comfortable. Hell, maybe he needed to be the cuddling-on-the-couch equivalent to the little spoon sometimes.
He wasn’t complaining and neither was I, so I stopped questioning it.
“What event is next?” he asked. “Hardest shot?”
“Probably backward skating. Since they don’t have to reset the rink.”
“Ooh, makes sense. I bet Vic Maynard has this one in the bag.”
I scoffed. “Uh, I don’t know if you noticed, but New York sent Nikolai Fedulov.” Gesturing at the screen, I added, “No one can skate backward like Feds.”
“Pfft. Mays could probably beat Graves in a race if he was going backward and Gravy was going forward.”
“Is that before or after he blew a tire?”
Devon barked a laugh. “Shut up.”
I just chuckled, and we watched as the event continued. Our league’s All-Star event wasn’t televised, but the national league’s was. After we’d woken up from our nap, we’d ordered pizza, cracked open a couple of beers, and settled on the couch to watch the festivities.
“If we start drinking,” Devon had said earlier, “everything else is off the table for the rest of the night.”
“Kink, you mean?”
He nodded. “Sex is fine as long as we’re not drunk. But once either of us starts drinking… the rest is a no go.”
My response to that had been a smile as I’d handed him one of the bottles. “We’ve still got time. I don’t mind relaxing for today.”
He’d seemed uncertain for a couple of beats, but then he’d taken the beer and returned the smile. “Guess we should pace ourselves, shouldn’t we?”