Page 81 of Cause When You Love Someone
I rubbed my hands together. “Aww, shit. I’m down.”
“No, you’re not. You said you were studying today not playing with me.”
“Oh, baby. I will always find time to play with you.”
Her upper lip sharpened. “Talking like that after you just finished talking to God. You’re going to hell,” she teased as shedisappeared into the closet. In a blink of an eye, she returned with a labor stimulator in hand. “Care to make a wager?”
I bobbed my head. “I’m listening . . .”
“I’ll give you a quiz. If you get the answers right, I strip. You get it wrong, and I trigger a contraction.”
A sharp laugh rippled from my throat. “I swear I’m mad I let you buy that.”
“You should’ve never let the wordslaborandmanageableleave those pretty lips.”
I fell back on the bed thinking about what sparked the debate. One day, we watched a water birth on YouTube, and I made the mistake of judging the pain level. Clarke purchased the contraction simulator the same night and had been trying to get me to try it ever since.
“I guess I found Superman’s Kryptonite.”
My head jerked back. “I’m not turning down nothing. Hook it up.”
Clarke took about five minutes to place pads over my bare chest and grab my flashcards, and by the time she was done, I was trembling.
“I don’t know why you’re shaking. If you scared, go to church.” She giggled. “All right, Mr. Harden, what is an algorithm?”
“That’s easy.” I rambled off the text-book answer. “I know I’m right. Take the top off.”
Clarke rolled her eyes and stripped out of her bottoms. “You got lucky. Give me the four basic principles of OPP?”
Too cocky for my own good, I spat out the answer without much thought.
“Wrong!” She pressed the button, triggering a growl to split my lips apart. “Yeah! It doesn’t feel good, does it?” She triggered a second contraction without warning.
“What the hell, Clarke?”
“Ha! That’s for yelling at me earlier. Let’s keep going.”
I shook my head, trying to shake away the wringing in my ears. “Watch. I’m going to stick my dick so deep in your pussy, you might get pregnant with another baby.”
“Hm. That doesn’t sound like the worst idea.” Her eyes reached for the ceiling. “I know you’re trying to butter me up.”
As she paced back and forth, Clarke issued a third question. When I realized I didn’t know the answer, I squeezed the arm of the chair.
“Fuck.” I shut my eyes as the pain level moved from a six to an eight. Sweat littered my forehead, and my heart felt like it had launched into my ribcage. “All right, baby.”
“All right what?”
“You win,” I muttered.
She stuck her neck out and pulled her hair behind her ear. “Whatchu say? I can’t hear you.”
“I said you win, mama. That shit hurts so bad, I understand why women demand push gifts.” I peeled the sticky pads off my chest. “You can have anything you want after you push my baby out. Hell, I’ll buy it now.”
“I’m happy you said that. I have the list ready in my notes.” She finished pulling the contraption off my skin with glee in her eyes. “You lost so that means you need to study.”
“Hell no. Isabella isn’t here. I don’t want to spend my alone time away from you. I’ll help you paint, and later, you’ll help mereallystudy.”
She rose up on her tippy toes and kissed my nose. “I’ll go get the materials. You grab a sheet and meet me in the backyard.”
