“It wasn’t just vegetables, mate. Do I look like a fucking rabbit?”
Alexei raised a brow. “That sounds like a colloquialism I do not care about.”
“I’m going to take that as a yes to the hunger question and move on with my life.”
I kissed his temple, surprising us both, and left the bed, padding down the stairs as naked as I’d been while we’d fucked. Behind me, I heard the shower turn on and grinned. My complicated friend wasn’t as filthy as he made out.
The kitchen was exactly as we’d left it. The dinner I’d dumped on plates was still there, but thankfully I’d had the foresight to stash the leftovers in the fridge.
I scraped the plates and tucked them in the dishwasher, then I found three new ones and loaded them up.
It took a while to heat. I retrieved some jeans from the dryer in the utility room and yanked them on before opening my front door to check on Saint.
He was perched on his bike, smoking, and scanning the horizon.
“You can go,” I said.
He didn’t turn round. Just shook his head slightly.
I rolled my eyes and schlepped back to the kitchen. The first plate I’d shoved in the microwave was done. I took it out to Saint with the herbal tea my favourite hippie maniac preferred to the coffee I needed to stay upright most days.
His fierce expression softened a touch. “Having fun?”
“Of course. You?”
“Sealwatching.” He pointed at the ocean that lay beyond the coastal village in the distance. “Better than listening to you fuck.”
“Liar. You live for that shit.”
“Do I?”
Something bled between us. An open wound. And there was heat too—a fire untended and smouldering. “You could’ve gone home. No one’s gonna come at me here.”
Saint stabbed his fork into the food on his plate. His scowl slotted firmly back into place, but he didn’t rip my head off. It wasn’t his way. “You should eat too.” He appraised me with his complex stare. “If you’re not gonna sleep.”
“You’re gonna make someone a lovely wife, you know that?”
A grunt was Saint’s only response. I left him to stare at the sea and retreated inside.
The food was done. I carried it upstairs. Alexei was back on the bed, still naked, but clean of sweat and come, his hair damp and pushed back from his face.
My heart skipped a beat.Fuck, he’s beautiful. And for the first time, that scared me. It had been alongtime since I’d last spent more than one night with someone, and I couldn’t remember the last time I’d gone so long between hook-ups. I’d saved it all for him. But why?
Because you wanted to.
It should’ve been enough, but my head spun all the same.
Alexei sat up and took the plates from me. “Take your jeans off.”
The command was gentle, but I obeyed as if he’d roared it in my ear like a drill sergeant.
I shucked the jeans and kicked them aside. Alexei tilted his head toward the space on the bed he’d left vacant for me, and I followed his direction.
He passed me a plate. “You look like you need this more than I do.”
“Need what?”
“Sustenance. Did I wear you out?”
