Page 82 of When We Had Forever
“What?” Grayson says. “Why do you look so skeptical all of a sudden?”
“I just...have the craziest feeling you’re about to say we should have a rule about no sex.”
“No sex?” He somehow makes the words sound foreign. “What? Hell no. I’ll gladly fuck you right now, here in front of the fire, if you want. It’s not like I haven’t imagined it enough times.”
The knot of tension within me only ravels tighter. “Oh. You...have?” Shit. I sound like I’m dying of thirst. Like I haven’t had a drop of water in three days.
Or six months.
“I can guarantee you’d enjoy every minute,” he says. “And that there’d be a lot of them.”
A squeak comes out of me. “Do me a favor.”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t say that again. Please.”
His mouth turns down at the edges, then up, as if he can’t decide whether to frown or smile. “So that’s a no?”
“Definitely a no.” I’m not foolish enough to think that sleeping with the twin of the man I’m still grieving wouldn’t open a Pandora’s box of problems best avoided.
I break from his gaze and focus on the battered red lantern, trying to banish the mental image he’s conjured. Its flame glows, a steady star, and I force myself to think of the nights spent playing board games by its light, how I dreamed of doing the same thing with a partner, someday. “To be honest, I think I’d rather...”
Grayson leans in, his lips parted. “Yeah?”
“Play Monopoly.”
He blinks, as if waiting for the punch line. “Play...Monopoly?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“Okay,” he says slowly. “Not what I thought you were going to say.”
I shrug. “You said we could do whatever I wanted.”
His expression turns sly. “Okay. But I should warn you, I’m not a gentleman. I won’t just let you win. And I call dibs on the shoe.”
A smile stirs. “Perfect. I like the dog, anyway.”
“Great. Just one condition. We play for more than money.”
I brace myself for something sexual. “Like?”
“Secrets. Well, notsecrets. I won’t ask anything invasive. But every time you pay me rent, you also have to answer a question. Same goes for me.”
I process that. “Like Truth or Dare? But without the dares?”
He grins. It’s open and boyish, affording a glimpse of the man he might have been if Lily had never died, if he and Michael had never had a falling-out that burned so hot it left them both blackened and scarred. “Exactly.”
“Huh,” I say. “That sounds...surprisingly fun, actually.”
“Sometimes I manage to come up with a good idea.” His tone plays at modesty, but he looks profoundly pleased with himself.
Thankfully, the cabin’s Monopoly board hasn’t gone the way of our other belongings. I find it wedged in the bottom of the TV cupboard, right where it’s always been. After blowing a layer of dust off the top, Grayson and I stretch out on our stomachs and dole out the prescribed stacks of colorful paper money.
He indeed proves ruthless, buying up one property after another, building houses the second he’s able, mortgaging and unmortgaging like a pro. Still, I win the first question.
I rest my chin on fisted hands and watch the firelight play over his face. “How about...where’d you get that scar on your eyebrow?”
