He glared down at me. “I’m a man.”
I laughed harder, and his eyebrows furrowed. “Trust me, I’m aware,” I said between gasps. “Didn’t Jessa ask why?”
“Of course she did,” he muttered. “She’s nosy as hell when it comes to my love life.”
I started washing my hair when he didn’t continue. “So . . . what’d you tell her?”
“Just that I’m seeing someone new,” he said after a moment.
“Seeing someone new” was a far cry from the loving things he’d professed the night before. I nodded. “Oh.”
He looked down at me. “I want nothing more than to tell my family. I’m just worried about how Jessa’ll react to our situation. Her husband cheated on her a few months after Alex was born, and it was the final straw for her. Their marriage ended because of infidelity.”
David’s family knew I was married. I’d told them when I’d met them. Even if I hadn’t, it wasn’t something I could’ve really hidden. I chewed the inside of my bottom lip and switched places with David so I could rinse. How would we handle telling David’s family? Would they judge me? The idea of admitting the truth made my cheeks burn red.
My heart dropped. Would they be angry with David? And exactly how angry? Enough to try to come between us?
“Hey,” David said, lifting my chin. “We don’t have to go today if you’re not comfortable. We can see them another time.”
I shook my head. “No. No more hiding.”
He seemed to like that because he grinned.
I turned around to grab the loofah from a hook, and his hand shot out to catch the back of my neck. “Shit. Did Ibiteyou last night?”
“Yes.” I squealed. Despite my tenderness from so much sex, arousal bloomed in me at the memory. But when I looked over my shoulder, anxiety was written on his face. “It was seriouslyhot,” I said.
He ran a gentle thumb over my skin. “It didn’t hurt?”
“Are you kidding?” I asked. “It drove me through the roof.”
“All right,” he said, and after a brief hesitation, released me.
* * *
Following an embarrassing mix-up at the animal shelter where the manager called David “Bill,” George from the shelter handed us over two dogs, delighted nonetheless at the extra hands. I braced myself for the fact that there’d be many confusing and uncomfortable situations still to come while David and I transitioned. Before us was an especially difficult one.
We’d gotten lucky with a beautiful November day in the high sixties, and the sun shone against a clear, blue sky. When David’s shelter dog proved to be much more energetic than mine, I tried desperately to get him to switch with me. “You’re hurt,” I pleaded. “Let me handle her. I’m a pro.”
“I’m fine,” he said with exasperation. “Like I said, I’ve had bruised ribs before.”
“Right. The big, bad surfer,” I teased. “I’m not sure I believe you, though. I didn’t see any surfboards in your apartment.”
“Our apartment,” he corrected. “And it wouldn’t make sense to keep them here. They’re in New York and San Sebastián.”
“Spain?” I choked out.
He looked at me sidelong, a sly smile crossing his face. “Didn’t I tell you I have a place there?”
I shook my head slowly, even though I remembered reading it in his ‘Most Eligible’ bachelor interview.
“Have you been?” he asked.
I continued to shake my head.
“I’ll take you.”
I nodded.
