Page 206 - It Ends with Us

tug ha rder and I winc e.

“R yle, ” I whi sper, keep ing my voice calm, ev en tho ugh I’m
beg inni ng to sha ke. “Tha t hu rts.”
His fing ers stop moving , but hi s gaze nev er lea ves mine. He slowly
pulls hi s fing ers out of me and then bring s hi s ha nd up around my
thro at, squeez ing gent ly. His lips meet mine and hi s tong ue dives
ins ide my mouth. I take it, bec ause I ha ve no idea wha t’s going

thro ugh hi s hea d right no w and I pray I’m overrea cting .
I can feel hi m ha rd agains t hi s jea ns as he pres ses int o me. But
then he pulls back. His ha nd s lea ve me ent irel y as he flattens hi s back
agains t the ref rigera tor, scraping hi s ey es over my body like he want s
to take me right here in the kitchen. My hea rt beg ins to calm down.
I’m over reac ting.
He rea ches bes ide hi m, nex t to the stove, and he picks up a

new spaper. It’s the same new spaper he sho wed me ea rlier, with the
awards article print ed in it. He ho lds it up, then tosses it toward me.
“Did you get a cha nc e to rea d tha t yet ?”
I blow out a brea th of rel ief . “Not yet ,” I say, my ey es falling to the
article.
“Rea d it out loud.”

I glanc e up at hi m. I smile, but my stomach is anx ious. There’ s
somet hi ng about hi m right no w. The way he’s acting . I can’t put my
fing er on it.
“You want me to rea d the article?” I ask. “Right no w?”
I feel odd, sitting on my kitchen count er ha lf na ked , ho lding a
new spaper. He no ds. “I’d like you to take off your shi rt firs t. The n rea d
it out loud.”

I stare at hi m, trying to gauge hi s beha vior. Maybe the scotch ha s
made hi m ex tra frisky. A lot of times when we make love, it’s as simple
as making love. But occasionally, our sex is wild. A little dang ero us,
like the look in hi s ey es right now.
I set the paper down, pull off my shi rt, and then pick the paper
back up. I start rea ding the article out loud, but he takes a step

for ward and says, “Not the who le thi ng .” He flips the paper over
where it starts in the middle of the article and he point s to a sent enc e.
“Rea d the last few paragraphs .”