I wasn’t lying. I loved the sassy version of Rowdy Lockwood. The fact that he wanted simply to be held by me, though...There weren’t words in the English dictionary to explain how much that meant to me.
His fragile trust was quickly becoming a fundamental need, and I couldn’t wait to earn more of it.
Rowdy got out of his truck, and I followed him to the small porch, standing behind him and wrapping my arm around him as he unlocked the door.
“Where’s Bandit?”
“He stays down at Emery and Woody’s place.” Rowdy held his finger to his lips. “Don’t tell them, but he actually sleeps in Stevie’s bed.”
I cracked up as I followed him inside. “That tracks.”
Rowdy stopped short, and I bumped into him. I placed my hands on his hips and leaned down to whisper in his ear, “Sorry about that.”
He shivered. “No, you’re not.”
“No, I’m not.”
“I like what you’ve done with the place,” I said, noting the additional plants and small artsy pieces he’d added to the space since I’d set up his headboard.
Rowdy turned around, giving me an eye-crinkling smile so full of life that I wanted to kidnap him and fly to Vegas. “You mean it?”
Yes. To both.
“Uh, yeah,” I said, grateful I still had some control over my tongue. “Sky did a great job in here, but I can tell that you’ve been adding your own flavor.”
“Thanks.”
His soft smile sent whatever the opposite of chills was through my veins. The steamies, maybe? Either way, I may have stood there a little too long trying to figure out what to call this feeling because now some of the awkwardness from before returned. Rowdy seemed to freeze in place.
I found myself unable to handle even the slightest discomfort on his part. “Hey, if this is too much...”
“It’s not,” he answered quickly, shaking his head as if to clear it. “I don’t know why I’m so nervous.”
“Hell, I’m nervous too,” I admitted. “We’re going to the next level in our relationship.”
He inhaled sharply at my response, and I wondered if it was the wordrelationshipthat’d caused his reaction.
“Speaking of,” I said, pulling my phone from my pocket. “While we aren’t in a fit of passion, it’s a good idea to share our statuses.”
Rowdy’s eyes widened.
“I just want you to feel safe with me, Rowd.”
“Thank you.”
I pulled up my email and showed him the latest results. “I haven’t had sex since this test, so these are good.”
He bit at his lower lip. “I got tested with my physical last year, but I’m not sure where my results are.”
I held up my hands. “That’s okay. I do trust you, but you should also know where to access that kind of information.”
He nodded, nervous. “I...Sorry?”
“You have nothing to be sorry for, Rowd. My chief concern is making sure you know you’re worth waiting for and that you are worth knowing the state of your sexual health.”
“Okay,” he whispered.
I cupped the back of his head and leaned in, giving him a soft kiss.
