Page 85 of Say You'll Stay

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One Year Later: Olivia

“Let’s make another baby,” Olivia says, the wine still sweet on her tongue and her smile loose.

Cole raises a skeptical brow. “Think that’s the drink talking.”

“It’s not. Lucy is already two. If we’re going to do it, then we should try now so they can be close in age. So she can have someone to watch her back when they get older. They can protect each other.”

She’s been thinking about this a lot but hasn’t said anything yet. A bottle of wine, discovered on a supply run finally prompted her to broach the subject, albeit less delicately than intended.

“Are you sure that’s what you want?”

“Yes. If you do. If you don’t, it’s okay. I’m happy, just the three of us, but…”

She can’t read his face and by now she’s well-versed in those expressions. The wine might have something to do with it. They’re both lightweights after years without a sip and he’s probably feeling that fuzz same as her.

“I don’t want to lose you if something goes wrong,” he replies.

“I know the risks. I think it’s worth it if we can give Lucy a family even after we’re gone. This world isn’t kind to thosewho walk it alone. I don’t want that for her.”

He opens his mouth three times, only to shut it without a word, and her heart drops.

He doesn’t want this.

She’s being selfish to ask.

It’s okay, she tells herself, they don’t need another baby to be happy.

“I think….” he sets the wine glass on the table. “I think I wanna meet our second child.”

“Really?”

His lopsided, sweet smile proves it true. “You sure we shouldn’t wait to get going on this until we’re totally sober? What if you change your mind tomorrow?”

“Won’t change my mind. I’m not drunk, Cole. Just tingly. Warm.”

“Let’s put those tingles to good use, then?”

Wine has always gone straight between her legs and this time is no different. She’s already vibrating, and she laughs as he flips her over onto her back, dragging her pajama pants off her hips and lifting her shirt to swirl his tongue over a taut nipple.

Even after two years, she still yearns for him if they’re apart for more than a few days. She’ll never get over how good that first thrust feels as he stretches her. It occurs to her then that this is the first time she’s felt him without a condom and suddenly everything familiar is brand new again.

He comes to the same realization a few seconds later, muscles tense as he bends down to whisper in her ear that she‘feels so damn good’while pushing in deep. That reverent tone turns into a struggling gasp when being unprepared for these new sensations catches them both by surprise and he spillshimself into her far too early.

“Fuck. I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to yet.”

She presses a kiss to his temple. “Don’t be. This is the whole point, right?”

“Yeah, but you didn’t…”

“We have all night and half a bottle of wine left.”

They make good use of both.

* * *

Olivia loses count of how often he takes her. They should probably stick to some sort of schedule but can’t keep their hands off each other and she figures the more the better.

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