“You’re a butt.”

“This butt can keep going if you want.”

I laugh at his awfully proud grin. My eyes drift to his shoulder, where I’ve left decent teeth marks. The lady bits perk up again.

“Yes, please.”

He gives me a wicked smile before he twists me around, the upper half of my body on the fluffy comforter and legs on the floor, and we go to pound town. I call out “strawberries, strawberries!” I make no sense and I don’t care, because Landon takes me to chocolate heaven, which is like the Olympus of Chocolateville.

Five Mississippis. And I dive back into that cheesecake.

I kick Landon away briefly, only to tug him back. I settle against the mattress, pulling him with me, clinging onto those damn fine arms and smiling like a dope on marijuana brownies. I grip his hands, set them firmly on my breasts, and no lie, say, “The ladies are all yours.”

He laughs and kisses his way around my chest. Our five minutes of rough and hard dark chocolate turns into a soft melody of angel cake. He loves my chest, my stomach, my inner thighs.

“I want to play with you till morning,” he says, breath warm against erogenous zone number six.

“We…we have a plane to catch in the morning,” I whisper to the ceiling. Landon comes up from between my legs and starts kissing zone number two.

“Bahamas, here we come.”

“You’re so funny.”

“Thanks. But I’m not trying to be funny right now.”

“Just trying to rub it in.”

He stops kissing my neck and leans up. “Rub what in? You won…”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Yeah, you did.”

“No…I forced your hands on the lady bits. I’m packed for Utah.”

“Are you really?”

“I even brought my cute boots.”

His smile lines deepen. “I packed for the Bahamas.”

“Well, repack. We’re going to Utah.”

“Why?”

“Because I lost.” I reach up and run my hand through his dark hair that’s already dry from the tub. “And because I love you. We should go there.”

“I love you. We should go to the Bahamas.”

“We’re arguing in the middle of our sexfest.”

He quirks a grin. “So does that make us peas and carrots again?”

I pull him down to my lips. “We’re good together.”

“But we should shut up so we can get to dessert.”

“Mmmhmm.”

He takes my hands, holds them over my head, and settles on top of me.

“All right, Mrs. Wangford. This time when I take you to the stars, remember to say my name and not some fruit’s.”

I laugh, and he groans as my muscles lock around him. And he lets me taste all the treats in Chocolateville. Four more times.

Chapter 38

We don’t catch a flight the next morning. We never make it out of the hotel.

Instead we wake up in each other’s arms, watch reruns of Friends, and Landon calls the front desk and gets a room for the next week. We just need a hotel anyway, because the only sights we’re seeing are on each other.

Then we make love again, and one more time, then fight over who gets to open the biggest present when we get home.

I like this marriage thing, because it’s the best of all of us. We get to be the whole meal. The appetizer, the entrée, the luxurious dessert…

And yes, the peas and the carrots.

Epilogue

JULY

Landon

“This thing is impossible to pee on!” Liz shouts through the bathroom door. I chuckle and adjust my hat, trying my best to stay calm, but my heart’s beating clean out of my chest.

“You want me to come in and help you?” I joke. She’s gonna yell at me for it.

“Don’t you dare! And stop pacing outside the door. You’re making me nervous.”

“Let me in. I’ll push on your bladder.”

“Go wait on the bed!”

She doesn’t even know how nervous I am, and I’m not the one who has to wiz on a popsicle stick. But the second she told me she was a week late I started talking to myself whenever she wasn’t looking and checking the bank account. Now that The Walking Stiff got a contract, we’ve got a nice chunk of change in savings. But who knows how long that’ll last. Liz is better at taking care of that stuff, so I trust her to tell me if we’re in deep shit or not.

I pick up the socks I left on the floor and toss them in the basket before sitting on the edge of the bed.

The bathroom door opens, and Liz slides into our bedroom with a smile that shows off the small gap between her front teeth. Damn, I love that gap.

“It takes two minutes,” she says, and hops on the bed next to me, resting her chin on my shoulder.

“So…” I say, then gulp to push away the damn nerves. “Two more minutes, then we gotta call our parents and let them know Wanda will be here in nine months.”

Her head tilts to the side. “Wanda?”

“What’s wrong with Wanda?”

“Wanda Wangford.”

“Yeah…”

She shakes her head. “No. That one is off the table.”

I laugh. “Okay, what would you name her?”

“What makes you think it’s a her?”

“Oh, I had a chat with the guys after the last time.” I point to my crotch. “Daddy wants a girl, so I told the fellas to back off and let the ladies go first.”

“You know, I actually believe you did that.”

“So what would you name her?”

“Lavender.”

“Lavender? Isn’t that a color?”

“So…?”

“Better idea…let’s name her Periwinkle,” I tease, and she pushes my shoulder. “Or Mahogany. Turquoise. Cerulean. Ocher.”

“How the hell do you know all those colors?”

“You made me go through about a thousand of them when we painted that one wall.”

“What if your boys didn’t listen?” She blinks her bright green eyes. She doesn’t look as scared anymore. Actually excited. I squeeze her hand twice ’cause I’m feeling the excitement too.

“Wally,” I say, and she gives me the same look I got with Wanda.

“What is it with you and the W names?”

“Okay, what’s yours?”

“Lucas.”

“What’s with you and the L names?”

“I like the Ls.” She pokes my chest. “Landon.” She points at herself. “Liz.” Then slowly, holding her breath, she drags her finger down to her stomach. She sort of cradles it, and I have the urge to do the same. To kiss her belly button. To press my ear to her skin and strain to hear the buzz of a heartbeat. I take in a breath, realizing that I too was holding it.

“Lucas,” I say, setting my hand on her leg.

“Or Lavender.” She sticks her tongue out, and I laugh.

“All right, Tumbles. I like the L theme.” I reach out to tickle her, but she slides off the bed. Guess it’s been two minutes.

I throw myself back on the mattress, rest my head on my hands, and call after her, “And we can have lots of runts running around and no shortage of names. Lydia, Lisa, Laura, Lance, Levi, Leon—”

“Well, you’re going to have to wait,” she says, stepping inside the room. I sit up just as she chucks the pregnancy stick into the garbage. “Nothing yet.”

Something sinks in my gut, somewhat shocking me. I guess…I guess I was hoping for a positive. Holy shit.

Liz gives me a tiny smile and folds into herself. It feels different from last time. We’re married now. This is my wife, and I know she wants to be a mother. I want to give that to her. And selfishly, I want to give that to myself, too.