Undressed By His Arrogance

"Babe?" Winn said gently. "Please... don’t ask." He shifted slightly on the bed. "Are you feeling any better?"

Ivy’s lips curved into a small, secret smile. Her hand drifted absently over her stomach. The news burned on the tip of her tongue, bright and terrifying and wonderful all at once. Not yet, she reminded herself. Not now. "Yes," she said instead, warmth threading her voice. "I feel fine. Really."

Winn visibly relaxed, some of the tightness easing from his shoulders. "Good," he said.

"When am I going to see you again?" Ivy asked finally. There was a hint of a pout in her tone, one she didn’t bother to hide.

Winn sighed, dragging a hand through his hair. "It’s going to be a while," he admitted. "Now that the interview is out there, there are going to be a lot of eyes on us." His gaze sharpened. "I think you should spend more time with Eugene."

"Yeah... about that. I don’t think Eugene has the guts to tell his family about, you know... him being gay."

"Yeah. I looked into his family. Very traditional." He shook his head. "That kind of news doesn’t bode well for Eugene at all."

"I feel sorry for him," Ivy said. "Living a lie every day. Pretending to be someone he’s not." She sighed, eyes dropping briefly to her lap. "It must be exhausting."

Winn’s gaze locked onto hers then. "We are living a lie," he said quietly. "We’re pretending we don’t still love each other."

"Not for long, right?" she asked, hope threading through the words.

"I’d do anything, babe," he said firmly. "Anything to put us back together. Anything to come home to you."

"Good," Ivy said. "Because we do not have a lot of time."

"Why?" he asked carefully.

"Nothing," she said quickly. "I just miss you."

"I miss you all the time," he said quietly. And it was the truth in its rawest form. Missing her was a constant state.

Her lips curved into a smile, mischievous now, eyes lighting up. "We had fun last night, didn’t we?" Ivy laughed, clearly replaying the memory.

Winn groaned softly, dragging a hand down his face. "Damn," he said. "I haven’t even spent my pay from that yet. Honestly, I’m thinking of framing it." He smirked. "I’ll announce to Elizabeth when she grows older that her mother paid me forty thousand dollars for a fuck."

Ivy snorted, laughter bubbling out of her. "Now that I think about it, I should’ve gotten more out of that deal. Forty thousand is a lot of money." She pretended to calculate. "I should have gotten, like... four orgasms at least."

"You’re insatiable," he said fondly. "Absolutely impossible to please. I could make you cum tonight if you wanted."

Ivy closed her eyes and sighed. "It’s not the same," she murmured. Screens, words, promises—none of them could replace the weight of him, the way his hands touched her, the way her body recognized his.

"I know, babe," Winn said gently. "I know." He shifted on the bed. Then, with sudden resolve, he added, "How about this—listen to me." He sat up, eyes fierce now. "The exact moment all this is over, I’ll marry you. Instantly. I’ll get a priest, a drunk officiant in Vegas—I don’t care."

"I’ll fly us somewhere far away," he continued. "And then I will fuck you until my heart gives out."

Ivy collapsed onto the bed, a mess of tangled sheets and laughter. "I’m serious," Winn said, "the rest of my life is yours anyway. I might as well just die pleasuring you."

She choked on a breath between giggles, shaking her head, tears prickling at the corners of her eyes. "That would be...a beautiful way to go, wouldn’t it?" she managed, the absurdity of their conversation making her laugh even harder.

"Hell yeah!" Winn responded immediately.

Ivy let herself sink into the pillow, smiling despite the yawn that pulled at her lips. She traced the edge of the blanket.

"Just leave the phone on the pillow beside you and go to sleep," Winn said. "I’ll be here until you fall asleep."

She placed the phone carefully on the pillow next to her. "I don’t remember you this romantic," she murmured, settling into the pillow behind her, eyes heavy, body finally ready to surrender to sleep.

"I was an idiot then," Winn said. "I’m gonna love you until you say ’no more’. And then...even after that, I’ll love you more."

Ivy’s lips quirked into a sleepy, amused smile. "Cheesy," she muttered. She snuggled deeper into her blankets, exhaustion creeping in, sleep lacing itself around her thoughts of him. "I can’t wait to marry you."

"Me too, love... me too," he replied, a tender note in his voice.

*****

Tom woke up and caught sight of a gun aimed squarely at him. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Anna sat in the chair across from him.

"Anna?" he croaked. "What...what are you doing with that?" Every instinct screamed at him to move, to disarm her, but he could only freeze, watching the storm of emotion swirling in her face.

Anna’s tears glistened, her breath quick and uneven, her hands shaking as she gripped the firearm tighter. "I don’t know, Tom. I have no idea," she admitted. "I saw a replay of ’Behind the Scenes of Wealth’ this morning. What Winn said...was it true?"

"Anna, you know Winn is a goddamned pussy. Always being dramatic," Tom replied quickly. He could see her shaking head, her eyes wild with grief and rage.

"Was it true?!" she screamed. The gun fired once, a deafening crack that echoed off the walls. Tom’s heart leapt into his throat. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she trembled with anger, grief, and helplessness.

"Fucking hell! Anna! What...what part? Anna, he said a lot of things," Tom yelled, raising his hands in desperate pleading. The fear coursing through him was undeniable, but beneath it was rage at the situation, at himself, and at the man who had set these truths in motion.

"You brought Sharona into our lives..."

(@MissyDionne: Mwahhh)