Page 47 of All Right No
“Gently.” He rolled the word from his tongue riddled with scorn. “Fuck that. Give me it all. Come on, Ginny. What’s the next one? If I’m gonna do this, then it’s better to go all in.”
“It’s never a good idea to push too hard.”
“I’ll let you know if it gets too tough.”
Chances were that the stubborn bastard wouldn’t, but when he pleaded like this, with his big blue eyes peeping at her through the strands of his hair, and his expression filled with eagerness, she was powerless to resist. The truth was that she didn’t want to resist. Shagging until they were both senseless sounded pretty great, actually.
“What do you wish of me, O’ great and glorious mistress?”
“Jenga.”
“What?” His nose wrinkled as if she’d told him he had to scoop dog poop for the next hour.
“The game, Jenga. That’s the third challenge for today.”
She stood and offered him her hand so that he could also rise.
Ash clasped her hand, but didn’t immediately stand. His mouth remained set in a sour pout. “Do I have to win?”
“No. You only have to take part and take it seriously.”
“So, I have to attempt to win.”
“We are doing it for a reason, Ash.” It wasn’t as if she was Jenga obsessive or anything. Board games weren’t exactly her thing, though she didn’t mind the occasional pub quiz. This was about him practising those all-important fine motor skills, just in ways that weren’t quite as obvious as sitting down with his sheet of physiotherapist prescribed exercises.
“Are you sure you wouldn’t prefer me to practise hooking and unhooking your corset? It has a ton of tiny hooks, right? ’Cause that sounds like it’d be far more fun.”
“We’ll stick to Jenga for now,” she insisted, though she filed away his suggestion for another time. Those hooks could be tricky, and alternatively, she could have him thread and unthread the ribbon fastening at the back. “Let’s play on the table in the lounge.”
“The one with the wonky leg? Ooh, extra challenge.” He opened his eyes wide, aping excitement.
“Let’s just play. Okay? If you pass this test, then I’ll make sure the next one is more to your tastes.”
“It better involve tongues,” he said. “Just saying, ’cause I totally have issues with my speech to fix as well as my fingers, so you know, tongue exercises are going to be essential.”
***
In the end, they played three rounds of Jenga. Ash won two, the last one as a result of her bumping the table and felling the tower. Having achieved her goal of making him work, there was no sense in over doing it, and while he’d not complained, it was clear that he was finding play increasingly difficult. He’d given his fingers more than one surreptitious rub under the table.
“How about we take a break and I’ll fix us something to eat,” she said once the playing blocks were back in the box.
“Do you want help?”
“No, you can chill for a while.”
Ash settled himself in front of the TV, and flicked channels until he found a film. He was asleep when she set the pasta medley she’d concocted before him. “Hey, sleepy head. Eat up.”
Ash roused, and they ate. He insisted on opening a bottle of wine, but he stopped after one glass to prove he was a good boy.
“Still want to go for today’s gold star?” Ginny asked. He’d worked so hard and had been so surprisingly amenable to her plans that she wanted to give him a reward. Actually, she relished the chance. He wasn’t the only one hungry for some action.
Ash turned his gaze on her again. A wan smile played across his lips. “Please don’t take this the wrong way, but…” He covered his mouth with his curled fingertips and very slowly shook his head. “I just… Ginny, what if this is me from now on? What if there’s no getting better, no regaining my ability to play? What am I supposed to do?”
Ginny wrapped her arm around his back and rested her head on his shoulder. “I don’t believe that’s going to happen. I genuinely believe you’ll get through this.” She caught hold of his hand and linked their fingers. “We’ll get through this.” She squeezed his hand tight. “Whatever happens, I’m here for you. I hope you know that. I’m not going anywhere, Ash. I know you have some weird ideas about me getting tired of you, and casting my lot in with someone else. It’s just not going to happen. I’d completely given up on the idea of ever having any sort of long-term relationship again before I met you.”
He opened his mouth to say something, but she covered his lips with her fingertip, hushing him into silence. “Before you put yourself down. I know that’s what you mean to do. You’ve never disappointed me. You won’t. You’re too selfless for that.” She’d not forgotten how hard he worked to bring her pleasure, even at the expense of his own needs.
“I’m going to disappoint you right now. I can’t face anything else tonight, I’m sorry.”
