Page 107 of Devil in Disguise
“Also, having sex when one partner doesn’t want to is … oh, yeah, do that. A breeding ground for resentment. And I’m not somebody’sslave.”
“Nope.”
“And you don’t get to cheat just because I’m not there enough! If you don’t wantmeto cheat,youdon’t get to cheat. I don’t need a man I can’t trust!”
“Got it. Think you could roll over for me, baby? You can tell me some more.”
She did. She told him about her independence and her plans, and he kissed her neck for a while, worked his way down to her breasts, and set in to pay her some serious attention. She told him about her sexual boundaries, and he parted her thighs and set in to work, nice and slow. She started to tell him about how he couldn’t push her around, but then he got her legs over his shoulders and a finger inside her, and her hands started to beat against the mattress, and …
Well, anyway. He got the point.
45
Owen Time
The Devils wontheir final game, which meant the next game was the divisional championship, played against the Steelers the day before Dyma had to head back to school.
Fortunate all the way around, right? Not quite so fortunate, maybe, that this particular divisional championship was turning out to be a nail-biter. Sometimes, Dyma thought, it reallywasbetter to watch on TV. Like when you couldn’t stand to look.
The score was 10 to 10 in what had been a defensive slugfest all the way, the final minute of overtime ticking down, and the Steelers starting their drive with a first down on their own 30. The stadium was roaring, the chants of“Dee-fence. Dee-fence”vibrating through the air so you felt them all the way down to your muscles.
Dyma said, “I don’t know whether to just wish that it would be over, because I’m about to wet my pants but I can’t leave to go to the ladies’ room, or that they go into double overtime. Come on, you guys! Stop them! I have to pee!”
Charliese said, “Suck it up.” Then stood up, clapped her mittened hands, and yelled, “Come on, baby!”
Charliese’s boyfriend, Anthony Drummond, the free safety, didn’t seem to need any reminding. He was poised behind the line of scrimmage like a big cat, his head on a swivel, waiting for the snap.
The ball in the Steelers quarterback’s hands, his feet moving, dancing as he checked his receivers in less time than it would take somebody else to turn around. The defensive line trying to get through, and the offense holding them back for the two seconds it took the QB to get the pass off.
Twenty yards downfield, the pass arriving like a bullet. And Drummond somehow getting in there, watching the ball the whole way like his feet knew what to do without being told, then leaping.
A glove on the ball. Drummond’s.
Deflected.
Two figures going for that ball, because they’d never stopped looking. The Devils cornerback, and the Steelers tight end, who had two inches on the other man.
The cornerback came down with it. And was tackled.
Interception!
Jennifer was the only one who wasn’t jumping. That was because she was holding Nick. Annabelle was leaping, her arms over her head, and Charliese was hugging Dyma and screaming.
Thirty-five seconds on the clock. Change of possession. One last shot for the Devils in the period.
Dyma said, “Oh, please. Come on. Also, I have to go to the bathroom sobad.”
Jennifer said, “Go on. You can hear the game from in there.”
“I can’t,” Dyma said. “What if something happens? Thirty-five seconds. Oh, man.” She stayed where she was, her heart hammering, her breath coming short, as the Devils offense ran back onto the field and lined up on the forty-five-yard line.
“Come on,” she said. “Comeon.”
They didn’t waste any time. The play clock had barely started ticking down when Owen was snapping the ball, then coming up in time to collide with the defensive lineman. Getting his body between him and the quarterback, and instantly wheeling to help out his left tackle.
No need. Malik Jefferson already had the ball off. A running back, streaking down the sideline, the ball tucked under his arm. Andre Fontaine, Nadia’s husband.
It didn’t matter if they ran out the clock, because they’d just go into a second overtime. Even though the Steelers would be receiving in that second overtime, which meant they’d have first crack at the end zone. Still, nobody would pass in this situation. Too dangerous.
