I didn’t want to fuck him; I wanted to make love to him. Slow and sensual, pleasuring him until he begged me to stop. And that didn’t need to happen anytime soon. Tonight, I needed to hold him, to show him that I was safe. That he could continue to trust me.
In the space of my racing thoughts, the awkward silence descended once again.
“Um. So, I have an early morning,” Rowdy said, inching off the bed.
“Is it still okay for me to stay?” I asked as he set his guitar back on the stand.
Rowdy lowered his chin, his hair falling forward. “Yeah, if you want to.”
“I very much want to.” I stood and tapped my belt. “Are you okay with me taking these off?”
He nodded and unzipped his Wranglers, pushing them down to the ground. After stepping out of them, he folded them neatlyand laid the jeans over the chair in his guitar corner. I did the same with mine.
He turned to me, his expression sheepish. “I’m sorry—I don’t have a spare toothbrush.”
We were going to need to work on his need to apologize for everything.
“That’s okay. Do you have any mouthwash?”
“Yeah.”
He gestured for me to follow him into the small bathroom, and I stood behind him as he brushed his teeth, running my hands up and down his sides, admiring his adorable boxer briefs.
I was reminded of the stories that Emery told me about his time with Woody in this cabin. This was where they’d fallen in love, and I was starting to think this place had a bit of magic to it. Glancing into the mirror, I found Rowdy’s eyes. I pulled him back against me, watching my hand in the mirror as I ran it up and down his chest, enjoying the feel of his body hair beneath my fingers.
“I am serious about this,” I said, repeating my sentiment from before. “Everything you’ve shown me tonight, I like. I want. And I am happy—thrilled, actually—to take the scenic route with you.”
The tiny little doubts that’d creased the corners of his eyes seemed to soften, and he leaned back against me.
“I like you so much,” he admitted.
“I like you too.”
He blushed, his grin nearly splitting his face in two. He reached into his medicine cabinet and handed me a bottle of mouthwash, and I took his place in front of the sink, holding him in place with my hand on his hip as I swished and spat.
“Um. I need to, uh...” He gestured toward the shower.
“Of course,” I said, then slipped out of the bathroom.
When he was horny, he’d wanted my hands all over him and hadn’t minded that I’d seen him partially undressed. But the shower was a step too far. At least for tonight.
Duly noted.
I grabbed my phone and set the temperature for my house, then looked out across the way to verify that my security lights were on. A few minutes later, the shower snapped off, and after a few minutes more, Rowdy walked out into the space wearing a pair of microscopic shorts that hung from his hips.
“What are you smiling at?” he asked, putting on a little disgruntled pout as he toweled off his hair, but I knew better.
“Are these the three-inch shorts you’d supposedly used to tempt my construction crew?” I asked, hugging him from behind, greedy for the skin-to-skin contact.
He sent me a glare over his shoulder. “You’re the only person I’d ever let see me in shorts this short.”
“Good.” I kissed his cheek and tightened my grip on him. “I’m suddenly incredibly insecure that someone might see you in these and snatch you away from me.”
Rowdy’s expression softened. “They wouldn’t stand a chance.”
This. Man.
He turned his face up for another kiss, then shimmied out of my grip to step into the small kitchen area. He readied his coffeepot and put on the timer, and then he set up a small Crockpot with overnight oats.
