Page 761 of End Game

I look over.

His index finger is resting on one of the rope tails.

“You are literally touching it.”

“I was looking with my fingers.”

“That defense was stupid when you used it at the D&D table, and time has not improved it.”

Cami laughs.

Dex removes his hand with exaggerated care. “Hostile environment for tactile learners.”

“You are still not a tactile learner.”

“You don't know how I've evolved.”

There are several possible responses to that. None will make him less irritating, so I return my attention to Cami.

Her laughter has lowered her shoulders another fraction.

I don't need Dex to manage her nerves, and she does not appear particularly nervous anyway, but familiarity has its own regulatory value. If everyone suddenly became silent and solemn, she would notice that before anything else.

I take her left arm first, turning it enough to confirm the placement of the Dexcom on the back. The Omnipod is in the corresponding area of her other arm. Micah and I already designed around both, but I check because assumptions are how people make preventable mistakes.

Griffin steps closer. “I've got her Dexcom alerts on.”

“Ours are all muted so if it alarms, you deal with it,” I tell him.

“Just as planned,” he responds.

Cami sighs dramatically. “Nothing says erotic suspension like diabetes management.”

Griffin bends and kisses her temple. “Very sexy pancreas.”

“My pancreas is trying.”

“Your pancreas has completely abandoned the assignment.”

She snorts and looks toward me again.

I wait until her attention is fully back.

“Still green?”

“Yes.”

“Micah?”

He glances at me, and the easy expression he had during the conversation disappears under concentration. “Ready.”

So we begin.

The first part of rope work is not particularly sexy from my perspective, despite the fact that the person we're tying is naked and somebody I am very attracted to. Suspension requires too much attention to allow that kind of distraction.

I track where the load will sit, how Cami's breathing changes as the structure builds, whether any line is migrating toward a place we did not intend, and every small shift in color or tension that might mean something needs to be adjusted before it becomes a problem.

Micah is paying attention to all of that too.