And then another.
Evie is laughing. I lift my head from the crook of her neck and peer down at her in confusion. This just makes her giggle harder. Then, to my great amusement, she snorts. And I collapse on top of her, sacked by my own laughter.
Laughing at God knows what, gasping for breath, and probably suffocating Evie, I struggle to understand. “Wha… What’s so funny?”
But she just laughs, and I’m only half-joking when I ask her, “I-is this a thing? Should I pr-prepare myself… for this… every time?”
And at this she laughs so hard, she stops making noise. I find the strength to push into a half-plank to give her lungs room because how can she be breathing? But she must be breathing because her face is flushed with joy, even as her eyes run.
She is beautiful. She is everything beautiful.
Evie shakes her head and wipes her eyes. “No,” she manages on a gasp. And, I have to admit, a small part of me is disappointed. If she really did dissolve into laughter after every time we make love, I wouldn’t mind.
“It’s just that…” She inhales and sighs, looking up at me with wide-eyed wonder. “You beat me to it.”
I blink and feel my face flame. “Sorry about that. It’s been a long ti—”
“No, silly.” She gives me a playful scowl and drapes her wrists around my neck. “Not that. We tied there… I mean… W-what... you said,” she stammers, looking suddenly shy.
Forgetting my own embarrassment, I arch a brow. “When I said I love you?”
Evie bites her bottom lip and nods.
I did beat her to it. But just barely. Thank God.
“I needed to say it first. So you’d have no doubt I meant it.”
She gazes up at me, her face softening. “I love you, Drew. I love you, too.”
I knew she’d say the words. But I had no idea they’d feel like this. Like a divine rain that washes the soul clean.
I lower again and kiss her. Kiss her with all I have.
Evie has come prepared.
In addition to tooth brush and pajamas, she has brought her yoga mat. And after leaving my arms, protesting that she needed to get ready for bed, Evie, brushed and changed, rolls out the mat alongside my bed.
“So there’s a nighttime yoga routine?” I ask, watching her line up the edges of her mat with the wood planks of the floor.”
“There’s several, actually.” She lowers down onto the mat on hands and knees. From my spot on the bed, her pjs, a baby blue tank top and blue and white striped shorts, look both innocent and sinful.
“Several?”
Evie sways her lower back and points her chin to the ceiling, drawing back her shoulders. Then she drops her chin and reverses the curve of her spine.
“Yep,” she says, exhaling. “Tonight’ll be a short one. I’m exhausted.” Spreading her knees, she sits back on her heels, hinges at the waist, and folds like a clamshell, her hands stretching out in front of her.
I roll onto my side to keep my eyes on her. “What’s that called?”
When Evie answers, her voice echoes from under her arms. “Extended child’s pose. Super relaxing.” And she does sound pretty relaxed. “It helps you get to sleep.”
I picture our activities for the last hour. “You think you’ll have trouble sleeping?” There might be a hint of self-congratulation in my voice. I know she hears it when her shoulders shake in silent humor.
Evie turns her face to me, peering at me over her outstretched arm. “Any other day, honey, and I’d be asleep already.”
I do my best to keep my grin wry.Honey.Warmth marks my insides like I’ve swallowed whiskey. Sometimes, Evie makes it damn hard to be stoic.
But after the feeling sinks in, I catch her words and sharpen my focus.