Page 49 of Sweet Oblivion

That kind of pain?

You don’t.

Not yet.

“It’s just not something I do,” I settle on, unable to give him more than that. “I can’t. Please don’t ask me for more.”

He studies me for a long second, then nods. And just like that, his smile is back. No pushing. No arguing. No yelling or screaming. “Okay, then you eat.”

“What?”I blink.“That’s it?”

“Yeah, Bambi. You’re a grown woman, and I respect that. I’m not going to win every argument, and I’ve got another one to pick, so I’ll give you that one.”

“Oh no,”I groan.“What else?”

“You know, your ASL is getting better already.”

Thankfully. I feel like I’ve spent all my downtime trying to absorb as much of it as I can. It may not be easy, but it’s definitely worth it.

He sits down next to me and throws my legs over his. “I want to install a security system.”

“Okay.”That’s not too bad.“Was that the fight?”

“I mean, apparently not. You’re okay with security?” he asks, surprised.

“Sure. No one has bothered us yet, but you’re kind of a big deal. It’s bad enough I’m making you live here. You should at least feel safe.”

“I compliment you on your ASL and you give up?” he teases, and my face flames red.

“I know when I’ve got no hope, and I’ve hit the limit on words I know for the night. Does that bother you?” Please let him saynobecause I’m doing the best I can.

“Not at all, Delaney.” He stretches his arm behind me, and his fingers tangle in my hair. “You’re just fun to tease.”

Those same fingers travel from my hair to the back of my neck, and I let out a moan.

God, that feels good.

Ryker drops his hand and hops up, offering me his hands. “Come on, Bambi. Time to eat.”

I sigh, placing my hands in his. “You’ve got a thing for feeding me, you know that?”

He smiles, and oh my... This one is a little sly and a whole lot sexy.

“You’ve gotta eat, wife.”

“You keep feeding me like this, and I’m not going to fit into my dress. And I’m not your wife yet, pretty boy.”

“Three weeks,” he winks and pulls me up. “Wait, I’ve got something else for you.”

I watch as Ryker digs through his gym bag and pulls out a smaller bag.

Please don’t let it be the food.

“Here. This is for you.” He seems more unsure of this than he did the ring, which has alarm bells sounding in my head.

“You don’t have to buy me things, Ryker.” I drop the bag on the table and open it, then pull out a shirt. Not just any shirt. This is a woman’s Kings jersey with Ryker’s last name and number on it. “Ryker...”

“We have a home game this weekend. I figured if we’re supposed to sell this thing, you should probably be there.” He looks away, and if I didn’t know better, I’d think he was nervous. “I thought you might want to wear this. My family has a suite, or well... you could sit with Ashton and the girls... like...”