Page 79 of Lucky Night

Nope! He pulls out a can of ginger ale, looks for a fresh glass. He meant what he said about wiping the slate clean. Though…it’s slightly infuriating that she’ll jerk him around to no evident purpose, but when it comes to her husband and their apparently quite satisfactory love life, she doesn’t play games,or—

Let itgo.

He sits in the desk chair, propping his feet on the bed and crossing his ankles.

A solid sex life, he says. That’s great. So, no problems. No complaints.

I didn’t say that, she says.

Ha! He knewit!

It’s nothing major, she adds. But Tom can be a little…

Inept? he suggests. Impotent? Microphallic?

Nick, she says.

What?

I know you don’t like him, but you don’t have to be mean.

Tom’s fine, he says. I like Tom.

She laughs. Sure youdo.

Go ahead. I won’t interrupt.

But she waves him off. We shouldn’t be talking about this. We’re breaking the rules.

What rules?

What rules? she scoffs. You know what rules. We don’t talk about our spouses.

We just did! he protested. We took turns.

That was a one-off.

Fine, he says. We’ll stop. Right after you describe Tom’s massive failings in bed.

She only laughs at that. She reaches for his phone again, notices him watching her, gives him the finger. Flipping him the bird—what’s that about? There’s a fizzy energy between them. Is it the fraught situation, or all the things they’ve been telling each other? He shouldn’t have asked about her sex life. He’s still hard from the tuckpointing thing. He’ll probably never be able to look at brickwork again without getting aroused. Will the torment ever end? His penis doesn’t care about her lies and evasions, their shouting match, her great anxiety, even his own concern about the fire.

His penisdoes not care.

They’re still dressed from their attempted flight. He could take off her clothes again. All those little buttons. He loves to strip her naked. He doesn’t usually get to do it twice in one night. Actually, this would be the third time, thanks to her first, Herve-driven effort to flee.

A third disrobing. Glorious!

Would she let him? Is she game?

You asked why I don’t make a change, he says. Why did you stick with Tom when he cheated on you? Was it the kids? A religious scruple?

She gives him a wry look. You mean obedience to my international crime syndicate?

What? I never called it that.

Nick, she says. You’ve called the Catholic Church that literally dozens of times.

Sorry. But is that the issue?

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