“Eggs and bacon. I didn’t want them eating cold cereal and figured you’d want something a bit more substantial as well,” he informed me. Again, I was touched by Eric’s thoughtfulness.
“You didn’t have to go out of your way,” I reminded him. This was his house and he was already doing enough just by opening the doors to my family. I didn’t want him thinking it was his job to cater to us as well.
“It’s not a problem. Really.” He offered me a quick smile before turning back to the stove. “By the way, Mason and Sean are coming over in a bit. I thought about telling them to hold off, but then I figured Asher might be a good distraction for your mother.”
Babies were always the perfect distraction for a woman who felt an obsessive need to care for others. It would even be worth listening to whatever bad jokes Mason wanted to tell, just to have her otherwise occupied for a while. “Thanks for the heads up. I’m going to go get dressed.”
“Holler if you need me,” Eric offered without taking his attention off breakfast. That was the type of help I wanted to have around. He knew enough to tell me he was there if I needed him, but didn’t offer to follow me down the hall and pick out my outfit for the day.
I groaned when I walked into my bedroom and found the bed made and an outfit laying at the foot. So much for Mom backing off a bit. I sat down gingerly, feeling every single scrape, bruise, and cracked bone in my body since I hadn’t had any pain pills this morning. If the pain became unbearable I’d take something, but I wanted to hold off as long as possible.
I struggled to get my arms into the button down shirt and then stared at my reflection in the mirror. After about a minute of fumbling, I called out for Eric because I wasn’t getting anywhere with the buttons.
Eric leaned against the door frame, watching me as I continued my battle with the shirt. “Are you going to help me or stand there laughing?”
“I don’t know, this is somewhat amusing to watch,” he admitted as he crossed the room. I turned to face him and closed my eyes as the backs of his fingers brushed across my chest. Until yesterday, I honestly hadn’t thought about Eric as anything more than a roommate, possibly a friend, but now that Jason had planted a seed in my head, it seemed to be all I could think about. Last night sure as fuck wasn’t helping.
As Eric dressed me, my mind floated back to last night, remembering how it felt when he undressed me and helped me get cleaned up. Yes, I’d been embarrassed that I needed his help, but having him so close to me, catching the faintest whiff of his cologne as he steadied me had me wishing I wasn’t injured for other reasons. I wanted to be whole, to shove him down onto my bed and suck his cock to the back of my throat.
Once he finished buttoning my shirt, he turned his attention to the sleeve that was stretched over my cast. My chest ached because I knew deep down that he was only trying to be helpful. His actions weren’t because he wanted to fuck me, they were fueled by his desire to be a good human being. I swallowed around the lump in my throat before muttering a quick thanks.
“Like I’ve said every other time, it’s not a problem. You’d do the same for me if roles were reversed.” That was true, but I bet he wouldn’t be standing here getting hard if I was helping him. He took a step back and looked over my appearance. For a moment, I could’ve sworn his eyes lingered over my jeans. My cheeks flushed as I turned away. Eric cleared his throat. “You look good.”
The floors were cold since I was walking around barefoot, but I couldn’t cave and ask Eric to get me a pair of socks out of the drawer and help me pull them on. I made a mental note to send Mom out to get me some slippers later. It’d get her out of the house for a while if nothing else. Giving her busy work seemed the best plan of attack to keep from losing my mind. It turned out that I didn’t need to ask Eric because he quickly figured out what was making me shuffle from one foot to the other.
Eric led me to the bed and gently pushed on my shoulders until I took the not-so-subtle hint. Although there was nothing to hide, I felt uncomfortably exposed as I watched him open the top drawer of my dresser. He knelt between my legs when he returned and carefully lifted one foot off the cold floor.
“Look, I know this is tough for you, but you need to be willing to ask for help when you need it,” he scolded me.
“I know,” I sulked. “I guess I just don’t want you getting sick of having to do shit for me. After all, I’m just the kid who needed a place to stay when I first moved to town.”
Eric’s leaned back on his heels and looked up at me with sad, wide eyes. “Do you really think that’s all you are?” he asked as he ran his hands down my calves. By the way he watched me, waiting for me to say something in response, I wasn’t sure he even knew what he was doing.
“Uh, yeah,” I responded sarcastically. “Probably because it’s the truth.”
Eric curled his fingers around the footboard to pull himself closer to me. His hands finally came to rest on my hips. He was so close, too close.
“If we’d been having this conversation a year ago, then yeah, you would’ve been that kid. But now, I’d like to think we’re friends at the very least,” he admitted. “Although, I’ve got to tell you, helping a friend has never been as hard on me as it was last night.”
My dick twitched and I wondered if he felt the same spark of attraction I’d felt. I reached out and cupped his cheek when he smiled up at me. I ran my hand over the stubble on his jaw, inhaling deeply because I fucking loved the way he smelled.
“Yeah, we’re friends,” I assured him. I bit my tongue to keep from asking him why he’d pushed me away if he felt the same as I did. “Then again, I don’t make a habit of asking my friends to help me out in the shower, and I can’t guarantee you I won’t be yelling for you every night.”
“Fuck,” Eric groaned. “Well, then you should know I’m only human. There’s no way I can promise you that I’ll be able to keep my hands from exploring if I’m going to be forced to clean you every night.”
I glanced over to the door, praying no one walked in. It felt as though we’d reached some sort of turning point, and I wanted to see where this conversation led. We could never be everything to one another, but we sure as hell could see how much sex we could have between now and February.
“That’s fine by me,” I promised Eric. “As long as you don’t plan on wearing your shorts every night.”
I spread my legs further as I inched toward the end of the bed. Eric looked down and noticed the way my cock was trying to break the zipper on my jeans.
“I want you, Eric.” I was so hard, I didn’t give a shit if I had to beg him. I wanted him to be the one to give me what I needed. “Please. I’m not asking you because my head’s fucked up from the drugs. I’m not asking you out of desperation because of what happened to me. I’ve wanted you for a while, but I didn’t know how to tell you.”
He quirked an eyebrow and I nodded, biting my lower lip to keep from begging him to do something. The muscles in my stomach tensed as Eric popped the button.
“Lay back,” he suggested as he ran his hand from my waist up to my shoulder, easing me down to the mattress. I tried to prop myself up on my elbows, but the position sent sharp, almost nauseating pain through my torso, so I laid back and allowed myself to simply feel what Eric was doing to my body. “You sure you’re okay with this? I don’t want to hurt you.”
The compassion was touching, but I was going out of my mind. I needed this. I needed him to be the one person who didn’t act as though I was fragile.
