“Yeah, but Ikea has a thousand pieces while everyone else has like ten.”
She shook her head. “You’re so dramatic.”
Charley gave me an amused grin and slid from the couch to the floor beside me. “Here, let me help. It might make it quicker.”
I smiled and leaned over to kiss him. “Thanks, Fish.”
By quicker, he meant it took us five hours before we had everything together and Mom’s TV in the tall cabinet, with its multiple drawers on the bottom and doors that folded over the screen to hide it. By the time we were done and out the door, it was past midnight, and I felt like I was ancient. Being up at this time of night had been easy for me once, but now I was almost forty and it was hard to stay awake. I’d copped shit from Josh about it on more than one occasion when Charley and I had left King’s parties early.
“You tired?” Charley asked me as he unlocked the door to our small apartment and went inside, me following.
I yawned widely and nodded, barely able to keep my eyes open. “How the hell do you do it?”
There were nights when I went to the club to keep an eye on it, but as soon as we got home, we crashed. The late nights were hard on my older body, but Josh liked to pretend it was me and Charley being domestic. Maybe we were.
“No idea,” Charley said with a laugh as he locked the door behind me. I yawned again and fell onto the couch, barely able to move as he kicked off his shoes near the door and dropped onto the cushion beside me. I wrapped an arm around his shoulders, and he leaned against me.
“You ever think about asking King to give you a different job?”
He tilted his head back to stare at me with a frown. “Not really. Why?”
“Well, it’s just that sometimes we barely see each other. I work during the day at the garage, and you work nights. It’s hard, and I miss you, Fish.” I planted my lips over his and kissed him until he was moaning into my mouth. “If we worked on the same shifts—”
“We could see each other more,” he whispered.
“Exactly. I want to see you more.” I pressed my forehead against his.
“To fuck me?” There was a hint of a tease in his voice, and his smile said it was more of a joke, but I didn’t see it that way. Our relationship might have started as sex, but he was more to me than that now. All I had to do was open my fat mouth andtellhim—what was so fucking hard about that?
“To spend time with you.” I grimaced at my voice, which sounded strangled. “Fish, I want to do more than fuck you. You’re mine. And I want to go on dates with you and shit.”
“Dates?” he whispered. “We’re not exactly the kind of guys who go on dates, Scar.”
I shrugged, pushing through the anxiety worms that made a home in my gut. “We don’t have to go to dinner and stuff. We can… go see a hockey game or a baseball game or go fix a motorcycle together. Just… do the things we like.”
“I wouldn’t mind seeing a football game.” Charley grinned and nuzzled my jaw. “All those sexy guys in those tight pants.”
I slapped his shoulder gently, and he laughed. “Keep your eyes on my ass, not theirs.”
“Yeah?” He kissed my chin and sighed. “I’m tired tonight. I know you wanted to do this, but maybe tomorrow?”
I yawned again, and he laughed, as though he realized I was agreeing.
“Come on, let’s go to bed.” He rose and held out his hand, and I took it, letting him yank me to my feet. Laughing, I followed him into our bedroom where we got undressed and fell onto the bed naked. We spooned with my chest planted against his back and my face nestled against his neck. He smelled sweet and spicy, the perfect combination.
“Good night, Colton,” he whispered.
“Good night, Fish. Love you.”
The next morningI woke to an empty bed and the sound of loud voices in the living room. I grabbed some underwear and slid them on but didn’t bother with anything else as I stumbled out into the main part of our apartment. For a second, with my sleepy brain, I thought I was seeing double, but then it clicked that Charley’s brother, Eyes, was over for a far too fucking early morning visit. He and Charley had the same pretty brown eyes and hair and their faces were a similar shape. Eyes was standing in front of Charley in his black leather jacket, his hands waving around like a lunatic, while their cousin Nic and Eyes’ boyfriend, Mackenzie, stood off to the side watching.
This was too much right now, and I groaned, rubbing my face as I padded farther into the room. Whatever Eyes was saying stopped as everyone turned their attention to me.
Nic’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. She brushed her long dark hair back over her shoulders. It was funny to see a lady in riding gear appear so scandalized. “Oh.”
Mackenzie—a cute blond—leaned forward, scrutinizing. “Hello.”
Eyes frowned and glanced at his brother, and Charley smothered a laugh behind his hand, shaking his head.
