Nothing but the scent of burning wood from the fire dancing behind his back and the smell of… Ford. Unique, yet something tickled familiar in my brain. It hit me above everything else.
In and out.
In and out.
I held on to his scent, letting it calm me in a way I couldn’t explain.
Until my lids became too heavy to hold open.
19
Ford
I was having trouble finding sleep, but this time, it wasn’t the fact that my life was falling apart that was keeping me up.
Austin.
Fucking Illusive Austin.
Never imagined he’d be so…
Fuck, I didn’t even know.
The one thing I could say for sure was that he was nothing like what I thought he’d be.
He was so closed off, and somehow so open once I finally broke through those barriers. I hoped it wasn’t temporary. I need to know more. I craved to have every piece of him.
The night had been a roller coaster. From kissing Austin to him breaking down to eating dinner together while we talked about what kind of date we’d have. I might not have been a country man, but the idea of spending the night in the back of a truck with him wasn’t all that unappealing. I’d probably do just about anything to make him happy. But things turned serious again and he’d broken down as he released another wave of anger and hurt he’d been holding in for years. I’d held him through it, wishing there was more I could do.
He fell asleep in my arms on the couch, and I let him rest until the tingles in my arm became painful. I practically carried him up the stairs after that.
He’d gone to bed emotionally wrung out but lighter. I tucked him in, and left him alone in that big inviting bed because I didn’t want to push, even if I was reluctant to let him go. I figured he needed some time to really sit with everything that had happened tonight.
Which was part of the reason sleep was evading me. I was nervous about what would happen come morning. He could wake up full of regrets and hate me more than he did before.
Honestly, my head was spinning a little with the whiplash that had happened over the last few hours.
With an unhappy grunt, I sat up and flicked on the bedside light.
It was clear I wasn’t going to get any sleep. I might as well go downstairs and make some coffee, maybe even see if I could find a snack.
I sat up, swung my legs off the bed and instantly stuffed my feet into those damn lined slippers Austin had given me to use.
I didn’t dare ask why he had them or why they seemed as if they were new. Though, I did wonder why he had such a nice pair of slippers sitting around like some sort of emergency gift. They had thick soles, the kind that could handle going outside— as long it as there wasn’t snow covering the ground. I was going to enjoy them while I had them. The little things, as Austin had once pointed out.
As quietly as possible, I made my way down to the kitchen. The house was eerily still, which should have felt like home, but it just made me feel lonely.
I started the coffee pot. If we were going to keep going like this, we’d have to get more coffee soon. I should have warned Austin about my habit when it came to the stuff.
I was blindly watching the maker drip black into black when I heard movement coming from the other part of the house. I slowly spun around, ears tuned in, listening as thesound grew closer. I forced myself to take a relaxed stance against the counter, leaning my butt against it and crossing my arms over my chest.
Yep, I totally looked natural.
The kitchen door swung open and there Austin stood like he was afraid to walk any closer.
Even from across the room, I could tell his eyes were red and bloodshot. Matching mine, I imagined.
His hair was a mess, sticking up in adorable tufts that made my lips curl up at the corners. The t-shirt he wore hugged his body, showing the distinct lines of his abs, and his boxers were… well, the only thing covering his bottom half.
