Chapter 193: Sex 2

The lower light left the corners of the living room in shadow. Lauren remained beside Luke, but she had turned toward him rather than the window. When the song ended, she reached for her phone and stopped the next one before it began.

"Stay there a moment."

Luke watched her move to the opposite end of the sofa. She held the phone upright, studied its screen, and shifted it slightly to one side. He recognized what she was doing before she pressed anything.

"You’re taking a picture?"

"I’d like to."

He looked down at his bare chest and the loose pants he had pulled on. Lauren lowered the phone while he considered it, waiting instead of catching him unprepared. After a moment, he nodded toward the space she had just left.

"Only if you’re in it."

She came back to his side and changed cameras. Luke could see both of them on the screen, framed from the shoulders up. He had straightened without meaning to, and the serious expression on his face made the picture look as though Lauren had brought him in for questioning.

She studied the screen. "You don’t have to pose for an identification card."

"I’m trying to work out where to look."

Lauren pointed to the small lens, then rested her head against his. Luke turned toward it just as she took the picture. The image caught her smiling and him staring at something half an inch to the left of where he should have been.

He considered the result. "I look like I’m waiting for someone to explain why I’m here."

Lauren laughed and raised the phone again. This time Luke looked at her, and she took the picture before either of them arranged a smile. He heard the quiet click, then watched her examine what she had caught.

"That one," he said.

She angled the screen toward him. Her cheek was pressed against his temple, and the picture had caught her halfway through laughing. Luke’s attention was entirely on her. Only part of his face was visible, which improved the photograph considerably as far as he was concerned.

Lauren brought it closer to see the detail. Her thumb hovered over the screen, then she saved it without smoothing her hair or asking him to sit differently.

"Do you want a copy?"

"Send me that one. Not the first."

She made a few taps, and a notification sounded from the bedroom. Luke had left his phone beside the bed, where he would find the picture later. Lauren set hers facedown on the table.

"I’m keeping the first too," she said.

"For evidence?"

"For the expression on your face."

Luke leaned over to see the screen again, but she moved the phone beyond his reach and caught his left hand. He let her keep it. The image he wanted was already waiting on his own device, and she looked far too entertained for him to object seriously.

Lauren settled against the sofa cushions and drew him toward her. This kiss was unhurried, with no attempt to keep time to a song. Luke rested his left hand beside her while she touched his face, the tips of her fingers moving slowly along his jaw.

He stayed close when she stopped kissing him. Lauren looked at him for a moment, then ran her thumb over the crease between his eyebrows.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Whether I can get that picture printed without the man at the counter seeing the first one."

She laughed against his cheek. "They don’t go through your whole phone, Luke."

"You might give him instructions."

"I’ll behave."

The answer came more gently than he expected. Lauren drew back far enough to study him, and the hand at his cheek became still.

"You want to print it?"

He nodded. "Small enough to put somewhere. I haven’t decided where." He wanted a copy he could see without reaching for his phone first.

She glanced toward the framed pictures along the hallway. Luke followed her gaze but did not choose a place among them. There was no reason to decide everything before the photograph even existed on paper.

"Can you send me the full-size version?" he asked. "It might print better."

Lauren picked up the phone and checked before sending the larger version. Luke watched her do it, pleased that she was taking the request seriously. When she finished, she put the phone on the far side of the table and returned her attention to him.

"There. No more photographs tonight."

He touched the loose belt of her robe, then rested his palm at her waist without tugging it. "Then come back to bed with me."

Lauren’s answer was a kiss. She let him rise first, then took his offered left hand and stood beside him. Luke reached for the empty glasses, but she moved them together on the table and led him away before he could turn the moment into clearing up.

They stopped at the window long enough for Lauren to close it. The street had grown quieter, and the shop opposite was finally dark. Luke waited while she fastened the latch, then drew her away from the curtain into another kiss.

Her arms settled around his shoulders. He could smell the faint scent of her soap when she turned her face against his cheek. Lauren stayed there until he brushed his lips over her temple, then took his hand again.

Lauren kept hold of his hand on the way to the bedroom, releasing it only when they reached the chair. She hung her robe over its back while Luke closed the door. He left his pants beside it and joined her on the bed, settling carefully enough that his right wrist remained clear.

Lauren moved the lamp so its light no longer fell across his eyes. Then she settled beside him, close enough to brush her nose against his before kissing him. Luke drew her toward him with his left arm. She reached past his shoulder for the switch, and they came together again as the room went dark.

Later, Luke lay awake beside her while footsteps passed on the street outside. Lauren reached for the glass on the bedside table, then remembered they had left their fresh drinks in the living room. She lifted the glass anyway, found it still empty, and gave a small sigh.

"We brought everything back except the water."

"I’ll get some."

Luke put on his pants and went to the kitchen. He chose a bottle instead of carrying two glasses through the dark and returned to find Lauren sitting against the pillows. She loosened the cap before taking a drink, then handed it back to him.

Luke took a few mouthfuls and placed the bottle on the small table near the window, where it would be easy to find in the morning. When he turned, Lauren was looking at his phone beside the bed.

"Your picture’s waiting."

He picked it up with his left hand and opened the message. The larger image filled the screen. It was sharper than the preview had been, clear enough to show the tiny crease at the corner of Lauren’s eye as she laughed.

She leaned over his shoulder while he saved it. Luke started to put the phone down, then opened the picture once more and added it to his favorites. Lauren watched without commenting, although her hand settled warmly against his back.

He enlarged the picture once more, trying to see whether the slight blur would show when it was printed. Lauren reached past his shoulder and returned it to its original size.

"Leave it like that. I like seeing both of us."

Luke looked at the whole picture again before closing it. She kissed his shoulder and moved over to give him room. Luke left the phone charging and took off his pants before settling beneath the sheet. Lauren turned onto her side, facing him, with her hand resting between their pillows.

He lay on his back rather than trapping his right arm beneath him. For a while, neither of them spoke. Luke could hear a pipe clicking inside the wall and the distant rush of a car moving along the road.

"That first song," Lauren murmured. "I’ll send it in the morning."

"I haven’t forgotten."

"You don’t have to learn to dance before you play it again."

Luke turned his head toward her. "I was getting better."

"You were."

She said it without laughing at him. He reached across with his left hand and let her fingers close around it. The next time they moved to music together, he would at least know how to begin.

Lauren came closer until her cheek rested against his chest. Luke settled his arm around her and left the phone out of reach. There would be time to look at the photograph again after they woke.

Her breathing gradually deepened. Luke watched the pale shape of the curtain until his eyes grew heavy, then closed them without reaching for the lamp. The room stayed dark, and neither of them woke before morning.