It didn’t take me long to get pulled over to his bookshelves, which although arranged by subject seemed to contain every subject imaginable. There were a lot of biographies, fantasy/sci-fi series, and religious texts of all kinds.
I wasn’t sure how long I was perusing the shelves, it was the kind of morning where time didn’t seem to matter. I was enjoying the hell out of his quiet company.
I had asked him some questions about his books, and we continued a soft and easy conversation between the kitchen and where I was looking at his shelves. He must have moved over without me paying attention, but I felt him come near and my arm curved around his waist without looking up from the books, until I felt his long body flush next to me.
Years of hook-ups, and yet this felt comfortable and easy.
“God, you are so warm,” I said, running a nose against his neck, up to his ear.
“Mummm,” Jack said, kissing me until I almost forgot everything else. “You keep saying that.”
“I’m always cold,” I said, running my nose against his warm neck, again. It was like he was a generator, warming me by his presence. I just wanted to bask in his warmth, rubmy skin against his.
“Hey,” I said, breaking away, wanting to ask him something, before he scrambled my brain further.
“Hummmm?” he asked, kissing my neck, running his hands up my back in a way that made me want to arch into him like a cat.
“I can’t think when you are touching me, Jack,” I said.
“Yeah,” he agreed, smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
“Well,” I said kissing him and pulling his hips close. “It’s more like I think about you bent over that couch,” I admitted. “Doesn’t leave much real estate in my brain for anything else.”
His eyes clouded over, instantly dark, instantly responding to me. Suddenly, the oven beeped loudly, and we both jumped apart, but only slightly.
“You should eat something,” Jack said, pulling me toward the bar stool I had occupied previously.
Jack set some delicious looking breakfast burritos and fruit in front of each of us.
“This is great,” I said, impressed. “Thank you.”
“Who do you think taught Matt and Quinn how to cook?” Jack asked with a causal raise of his eyebrows.
He was sitting next to me, our legs touching, and I enjoyed the closeness and the warmth that seemed to spread from him. I was laughing at a joke he was telling, but it reminded me of what I was needing to ask earlier, before he scrambled my brain.
“So, your brothers invited me to ski tonight - ‘shut the place down,’ I think they said,” I told him with air quotes.
Jack nodded, “Yeah, I’ll have to meet you up there. Go up about 3:30 and meet where we were yesterday. Ski Patrol lets us ski the runs to shut it down for the night, make sure everyone is off the mountain - it’s a quiet and beautiful way to end the day. You will love it.”
“Well, ummm,” I started, not sure what to say, exactly. Big, successful families scared the shit out of me, but I wasn’t ready for that conversation just yet. I also wasn’t ready to think about what exactly was going on between us.
“So, your family seems tight, and I am pretty sure Quinn is going to take one look at me and know what andwhoI was doing last night, and well, this morning,” I said.
“Oh yeah. One look and Quinn for sure will know. Once they see us together, we will both catch hell from everyone. Prepare yourself,” he agreed.
I looked over at him, a bit dumbfounded. “Well, I mean, I’m literally brand new here, and your family is everywhere. I don’t want to mess something up, or . . ..”
“Perrin. Bear Valley is really just a small town with a shit-ton of visitors, and my family is a good part of the population. And, I don’t keep anything from them anyway,” he said.
Something about the way he said that indicated an unspoken “anymore,” as if there was a damn good reason he didn’t keep things from them, but that too was a conversation for another day.
“Ok, I mean, I don’t have to go,” I said. I really wanted to see what it would be like with a group of friends like his siblings, but I didn't want to confuse things. The hook-up who was a friend was definitely a delicate balance if that was what we were doing.
“Are you crazy?” Jack asked, “You were in seventh heaven up there, yesterday, Perrin. I saw you.” Jack had a protective gleam in his eyes when I met his gaze.
“I mean, you are right. I was. I just, you know, don’t know how anything works here. It’sbeen a long time since I’ve stayed anywhere for very long or was . . ..”
Jack placed his hands on the sides of my face, bringing me to look at him. “You are overthinking this, Perrin.” He said, blue eyes drilling me. “I’m out, in a very out family, in a very out place. I have a good time with you, even without the sex.” He smiled, kissing me fully on the lips. “Although . . .” Jack grinned wickedly. “It’s going to be so damn much better with the sex.”
