no savior.

no way

"No," her breathing increases, "But--- Babe---"

"Hm?"

"Stop," she hardens her voice and I pull away.

"Are you mad?" I hesitate.

She kisses me, "Of course not baby."

"Okay," I unstraddle her and she wordlessly gets out of bed. I listen for the shower before heading to the kitchen to start coffee. Kaylie Jane enters a little later, already dressed for work.

"Well anyway," she smiles, "Good morning."

"Good morning," I hand her a mug of coffee and she kisses my cheek.

"I have a question..." I test the water, "And you can't get mad?"

"I could never get mad at you," she turns to me, "What is it?"

"How do you feel about straps?"

She doesn't hesitate, "No."

I press on, "Hard 'no' or---?"

"Hard no." She clarifies, "See you after work."

"Hey!" I follow her, "So we're just not going to talk about this?"

"What's to talk about?" she heads to the door, "You aren't putting a silicone penis inside of me. End of discussion."

"I want to dick you down," I state. She chokes on her coffee, "Discussion restarted."

"I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that." she turns to leave again and I grab her.

"KJ!" I grab her attention, "Why are you so opposed to it?"

"I'm not having this conversation with you," she counters, "Bitches get one short haircut and swear they're a butch."

"Fuck did you just say?" I clench my jaw, feeling an anger I didn't think was there.

"You heard me."

"Fight paused!" I stop, taking a step back, "Admit you think you're the man of this relationship."

"You can't say 'fight paused' just to start a different fight, Layne."

"I'm not hearing a 'no'."

"That's because you're not getting one," she states, "And you're not getting a 'yes' either. This entire conversation is stupid."

"Fine," I shrug, "Then I'm going on strike."

"Sorry?" she jumps.

"I'm closed for business until you're ready to have an adult conversation about our sex life."

"Fine," she shrugs.

"Fine."

She walks past me, clearly still irritated. I think about letting her go, but remember our rules.

"Wait!" She stops at the sound of my voice, "C'mere."

She reaches me and I kiss her, "We don't walk away from each other in anger. I love you."

"I'm not angry," she sighs, "I love you, too."

She places a kiss on my forehead before continuing out the door.

***

That night, I beat KJ to bed. I start to wrap up in one of her shirts, then decide against it, putting on my own clothes for the first time since we got back together.

I'm just getting into bed when KJ walks in. She changes into her usual sports bra and shorts before getting into bed next to me. I try not to watch her, clenching my jaw, an already building frustration inside me.