“Oh. Wow. Now I’m terrified. Really strong negotiating technique there, Special K,” I try out the nickname.
Noli mouths it back at me, and she squints her displeasure.
Yeah, it doesn’t really work.
Before I can amend it, I feel her hands on my obliques, and she starts tickling.
“Hey! No! Ow! You will not!” I drop my hands from her face and grab for her forearms, pinning them to her sides.
But she’s strong. She’s able to keep tickling me until I spin her around and hold her back against my chest. I have my arms crossed over the front of her body and hers secured beneath mine. She’s squealing and protesting. If we weren’t wedgedbetween the outside of the lighthouse and the metal guard rail, I’m guessing she’d be kicking her legs out to try to get away, but there is literally no space for that.
So we’re stuck like this. Like we’re posing for a prom picture, circa 2010.
I dip my head down so I can talk right into her ear, nudging my nose under her hair. “We need to enact a no-tickling rule in our marriage.”
“No way. It’s my only leverage. I doubt it even bothered you. You’re too muscly.”
“Is that so?” I spin her around so now I’m gripping her in a front hug. I lean back so I can see her face as she looks up at me. “I didn’t think you noticed.”
She rolls her beautiful eyes, and then they land somewhere between my neck and my shoulder. “It’s hard not to, Collin.”
I resist the urge to ask her if she likes what she sees.
She continues to stare at my upper pectoral region. She looks like she wants to take a bite out of me. Like I’m a just-out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookie.
Frankly, I’d welcome it.
“What were you going to say before?” she says, blinking her eyes back into focus after another minute of ogling.
“I thought you were distracted enough by my muscles to forget all about that,” I say.
“You’re distracting, but not that distracting,” she replies. “Tell me, or I’ll tickle you again.”
“I’d like to see you try.” I readjust my grip on her so I’m hugging her even more firmly, and if I’m not mistaken, she lets out a small sigh.
I take a deep breath. “I was going to say that that’s the reason why I never want to get married.”
“Explain,” she says, looking up at me and searching my eyes.
I bite my lip. Now I want to glance away, but she won’t let me. She’s holding my gaze as tight as I’m holding her body.
“Being married to a police officer is not for the faint of heart, for starters. And then I don’t ever want to treat a woman like my dad treats my mom. I don’t want to raise kids in a household like he raised my sister and me. So the safest bet is to just…not.”
Noli twists her lips to the side.
“What?”
She shakes her head. “You want the truth?”
I cock my head to the side. “From you? Always. Tell me what you’re thinking.”
“I think that’s stupid.”
I huff out a laugh. “Ouch. Wow.”
“You asked for it.”
I dip my head in acknowledgement because, yeah, I did.
