Chapter 54
Tom didn’t try to leave, thank god.
He went to the bathroom and came back wearing his briefs and holding a hot washcloth. Cherry had gotten under the blankets.
Tom crawled in next to her and pressed the cloth between her legs. He knew she liked it.
She was still crying, a little. She wasn’t sure how she was ever expected to stop. Tom kissed her forehead. He looked rattled,
too.
He held the cloth between her legs until it started to cool, then gently wiped the inside of her thighs. He dropped the cloth
onto the floor and settled on his back, so that Cherry could rest her head on his chest. (He knew she wanted to.)
She closed her eyes and laid her hand on his stomach.
After a few minutes, Tom unclasped her bra—it took two hands—and then gently scratched under the strap, where it always itched.
“You still want me to stay?” he whispered.
She wrapped her arm around his middle and nodded her head.
She felt him relax.
His hand drifted down her back. Less scratching. More rubbing. Cherry whimpered.
“Does your back still hurt?” he asked.
She nodded.
Tom pressed his fingers into the muscles under her ribs and along her spine. “Why’d you wear those shoes all day?”
She groaned. “I was trying to seduce you.”
Tom laughed. It made Cherry’s body bounce. “Oh, baby,” he said softly, “I’m in the bag. No one in the world has ever needed
less seducing.”