It’s a nice little reminder that I don’t necessarily have to be out on the water one-hundred percent of the time. I can take a step back and spend a day or two, now and again, with the people I love. Maybe I could do this more often with the girls too. It’s certainly not something ol’ Wag-o-ner ever entertained much when Evan and I were younger, but we surely would have appreciated it.
Gordy stirs, peeling his bristled cheek away from my bare chest, and blinks up at me. He looks surprised, at first, which stirs something in my chest—something I know he hates: pity. I can’t help but feel it, however, because I’m certain he never had this level of intimacy with his ex-wife. He doesn’t even know what it’s like to have someonechooseto stick around with him after having sex.
How goddamn sad is that? He bares himself to overcome this giant hurdle, especially given his traumatic past with Marlin, and Trista—what, she just walked away? I can’t even imagine. I gotta hand it to Sarah, for she is a much stronger woman. She tolerated much more than she should have, putting up with my ass and sticking around for even as long as she did.
Maybe that explains why she’s jealous of me and Gordy. Perhaps she’s upset that I’m giving to him what I never gave to her. I make a mental note to bring this up at our next family game night. But not in the manner in which I showboat about it, just where I highlight to her that she also appears to have a stable, healthy relationship with Steve, and that she shouldn’t squander that based solely on our past. I like him for our girls, but most of all, I like him for her, and, despite what our history suggests, I want to see her happy.
Huh. That almost feels… mature.
Gordy rubs his eyes and blinks again, looking out the window. “Did you call out today?” he asks me, his voice rough from sleep.
I nod, carding my fingers through his mussed up beard.
“Why?”
I shrug. “You have the day off too. Kinda wanted to spend it together. I’d uh”—I chuckle nervously—“like to take you out on an actual date,” I admit, an idea brewing in my head for something later today.
He cocks an eyebrow up at me. “I don’t do fancy dinner dates with flowers and all that jazz,” he grunts tersely.
I smirk. “Good thing that’s not what I’m planning on. We might want to hit the gym today first, though, given the activity I have in mind.”
“Rough fucking?” he snarks.
I snort. “Surely you don’t think my mind solely revolves around you plowing my ass and filling me withyour cum, do you?”
He scoffs.
I tug at his beard, fixing him with a stern look. “Gordy. While the sex is fantastic, that’s not what this is all about for me. I am in love with you, and I want to prove it to you. I want to show you that you mean more to me than stolen moments in the dark. We’re more than just some secret tryst. Are you okay with going out in public, on a verynon-dinner and flowersdate with me?”
He nods. “Gym first, though,” he sighs. “I’m feeling tense.”
I chuckle. “Is this the part where Ishouldn’tsay I can think of more than just one way to work out that tension? Where I tell you that there’s more than one way to get me laid out on that sparring mat?”
He rolls his eyes, but I notice a twinkle in them before they disappear behind his lids. “You’re fuckin’ ridiculous, Wee-Waters,” he notes, shaking his head.
“So I’ve been told,” I snark.
“Come on,” he grunts, urging me up off the sofa with him. “No distractions. Let's get this workout out of the way first.” His expression flickers with excitement.
My brows furrow. “Right now? But, the gym’s not even open yet.”
He chuckles. “Well, as someone who’s about to take over ownership of Forge Fitness, I’ve been granted a key into the place.”
My jaw drops. I knew he had been spending a lot more time there lately than at the bar, but I just assumed he and Micah were doing more sparring, since my work schedule hadn’t really allowed it often. But this? “You’re buying the place off of Micah?”
He nods. “Yeah, Micah’s step-brother, Tyson, has really been gunning for Micah to get his ass down to Portland and start coaching there, since Tyson wants to take time off to go help his boyfriend, Kai, get his fitness-modeling career off the ground. I’ve been studying thebooks at Forge and trying to get the hang of the management role there lately.”
I beam with pride for Gordy. “That’s awesome!” I chirp, thumping his chest lightly. “Good for you! Getting that bar off your hands is something you’ve wanted to do forever…”
“Yeah,” he sighs. “It’s time. Taryn’s shown me he’s ready for it. He’s matured a hell of a lot, especially so since meeting Morgan.”
“She’s helped, yeah,” I agree. “But I don’t think you’re giving yourself enough credit as his father either. Gordy, I’ve seen the way Taryn’s grown up a lot since high school, even before he met Morgan. I sincerely doubt he got that sort of guidance and support from Trista. That has to be all you, man. I know you worry about what a good father you are, given the shit example you were given, but I can assure you, you’re goddamngoals—as the kids would put it—when it comes to parenting. Hell, my own girls are wrapped around your friggin’ pinky!”
He sucks his lower lip between his teeth, and his throat bobs as he swallows hard. He blinks back the moisture forming along his eyelid. I step into him, wrapping my arms around his waist. I rest my cheek on his bare chest and feel his heart beating underneath the image of the phoenix he has inked there. “You’re a hell of a man, Gordy Masterson. I’m glad to be yours,” I murmur, nuzzling into him and tracing the outline of the mythical bird with my nose—the significance not lost on me of how Gordy himself is rising from his own ashes.
He tilts my chin up, his amber gaze full of heat as he meets mine. His rough fingers slide down to my collar bone, likely seeking purchase on the choker that’s usually around my neck. Being too bulky to sleep comfortably in, however, his hand clenches around its absence. I tilt my neck. “I don’t need the collar to signify it,” I whisper. “Mark me if you want, but I know already, in my heart, I’m yours.”
On that, I feel the heat of his breath as his mouth descends on the column of my throat, his teeth bite into the sensitive skin, and the pull of his wet suction as he unabashedly leaves his mark on me. There will be no hiding this hickey, either, and the giddy little schoolgirl in me preens with delight. Fuck, I’m a goddamn goner for this asshole, and I love it.
