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“Well, you won scariest creature,” I tell him. “And Tor won cutest creature.”
Bjorn points at James. “And what did he win?”
Since Bjorn is talking in Norwegian again, James looks perplexed.
“James won an A for effort,” I tell them in English.
“Oh, it’s just like secondary school all over again,” James grumbles under his breath.
All four of us make quick work of tidying the playroom, then I take the boys to their room to get them cleaned up. There was a quiet kind of ease just being with James like that, without too much tension getting in the way. But the more I find myself in situations like that with him, the more I’ll actually start liking him again.
And that simply cannot happen.
Eight
LAILA
Sunshine lights up my dreams.
I take a moment to lie in bed, appreciating the way the sun is slicing through the bedroom this morning. It only lasts a short while before the sun moves on, ever closer to the horizon, but after nearly a week of snow, the sun feels good, especially since I’ll be heading into Oslo, which always looks so much prettier with the sun reflecting off the harbor.
I have a whole day off, and I get to see my grandmother. I’ll stop by Steen & Strøm, the department store, and see if they have any of her favorite cloudberry cake (something she still seems to love), maybe do some shopping for myself, then head on over to her. Afterward I’ll get a bite to eat at a wine bar and drink until my heart feels warm, then come back home.
I sigh in quiet contentment, closing my eyes.
Suddenly James’s headboard knocks against the wall.
My eyes fly open. I take in a deep, shaking breath through my nose, willing myself to calm down, my contentment interrupted.
The headboard knocks again.
What the hell is he doing?
I find myself holding my breath and listening now. Any sense of morning peace has vanished.
Wait…wait a minute…
I close my eyes, as if that will help me hear better.
A moan.
I hear a fucking moan.
And not just any moan. A familiar, low, lust-soaked moan.
Oh my god. Does he have someone over? Did he bring a woman back here last night?
My heart pinches, as if I’m jealous, and I’m trying to think, my brain flipping through the files of last night. No. He couldn’t have. He stayed in, just as I had.
But while I’m distracting myself with this, he’s moaning away in the bedroom next to me. And I’m starting to realize that he’s got no one else in there.
He’s by himself.
Jacking off.
I smile to myself, feeling all sorts of things I shouldn’t be feeling. One is that I’m catching James in the act of something I shouldn’t, so yes, I’m feeling a little naughty. Two is that the sounds are bringing me back. Back to when I used to make him feel that way. He’s always been very vocal, and a dirty talker to boot, and I have to say I sometimes miss the way he let me know how much he enjoyed what I was doing to him.
Three is that James has no idea I’m hearing him right now, so this could be rather embarrassing information for me to wield.
