My skin felt tight as I led Maverick across the paved parking lot to my trailer. As much as he said he wouldn’t judge me, I still worried he’d grow tired of such a drab space. And part of the problem was me; my trailer was awesome for a single guy, but I was already thinking ahead to the possibility of Maverick sticking around. He couldn’t live with Sam and Theron forever. When the time came, would he be willing to move out here until we could find a permanent place closer to work?
I was getting ahead of myself. First, we needed to get through a full night together, because there was no way in hell I planned on taking him home. If he wanted space, I’d crash on the couch and give him my bedroom. Ireallyhoped he didn’t want to slow things down. I hadn’t realized how much I missed waking up with someone wrapped in my arms until I woke up next to him last weekend.
“This isn’t so bad.” Maverick didn’t seem to be in a hurry to get inside. I would have pushed the issue if not for the empty paved area that was usually filled with motorcycles. “The way you were talking, I was ready for some rusted out piece of shit from the seventies. This is a nice camper.”
“But it’s not a home,” I pointed out.
“It is. It’s your home, and that makes it pretty damn great as far as I’m concerned. He eyed the small seating area with a fire pit a few yards away. “I suppose it’s too much to ask to spend some time by the fire, huh?”
“For now,” I hedged. I had no fucking clue how I was going to make it happen, but once I was out, I’d give Mav the best damn fire he’d ever seen. I’d even go out and buy one of those chaise lounge thingies so we could curl up together by the fire until it got cold enough to drive us into the house.
He deserved every damn thing and more.
“Stop thinking so hard.” As if he knew this was hard for me, Mav glanced over his shoulder before holding onto my shoulder and stretching so he could kiss my cheek. It made me a horrible human being, but I reminded myself that no one would be able to peg his gender from a distance.
That despicable morsel gave me the confidence to wrap my arms around his waist and hold him close. I bent down and pressed my lips to his. If my brother happened to be home and spying on me, he’d know what was keeping me away when I eventually found a place for us to hang out without having to worry about prying eyes. “You’re right.”
“About what?” Mav rested his hands against my chest. “Your heart’s about to beat right out of your chest. If you’re not ready for this—”
“I am,” I promised him. It didn’t take me a second to come to that conclusion. “I invited you out here tonight because I’m tired of pretending that I don’t want you. Am I worried about what my brother or his crew will think when they find out? Yeah, because I’m not a complete idiot. But I’m not willing to let whatever stupid shit they might try to pull deter me.”
“Good for you,” he praised me. “You deserve to be happy, too. And if they get shitty about it, they can fuck themselves. As far as I’m concerned, you’re stuck with me until you tell me you’re done.”
I’m not sure that’ll ever happen.I managed to keep that thought to myself. It was far too early to make any sort of declarations about the future. “You ready?”
“You’re the one who keeps stalling,” he quipped. The boy was going to pay for that once we were behind closed doors and I made sure it was locked. He’d been testing me all day, and it was high time he realized that shit wouldn’t fly.
I quickly unlocked the door and swung it open, ushering him inside. I had to give him a gentle nudge when he stalled in the doorway. I rested my hand on his waist and pressed against his back. The door closed behind me and I fumbled for the lock. “It’s not much, but welcome home, sweetheart.”
Mav surprised me by spinning around and throwing his arms over my shoulders. He buried his face in the crook of my neck and I had to brace myself to keep from falling back into the door. “You don’t get to talk shit about this place anymore. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”
Okay, so I might have done some renovations on the space, so it didn’t feel quite so much like temporary accommodations. If he was pleasantly surprised by the main area, I couldn’t wait to show him the bedroom. There was barely enough room to navigate around the king-sized platform bed I’d built when I decided this was where I wanted to live.
I let Mav go and he wandered through the space, running a hand over the custom counters Stephen and I had built last summer. It might not seem like it when I lived in such sparse conditions, but I enjoyed being in the kitchen. There was nothing that said love quite like a home-cooked meal.
He ventured further, caressing the bookshelves so tenderly it made me jealous. I’d have to find out what he enjoyed reading so I could give him a shelf of his own. “Seriously, why were you worried about what I’d think?”
“Because it’s still a trailer?” It came out as a question rather than a statement. “You like it?”
“It’s a hell of a lot nicer than the first two apartments I lived in once I moved out of my grandparents’ house.” Huh. That was interesting. I realized then how little we knew about one another. Maybe we could fix that over dinner.
I set the bag on the coffee table and began unpacking the disposable containers. I wasn’t sure what he liked, so I’d bought some of everything. Whatever we didn’t devour tonight would be good for leftovers in the next few days. But with any luck, we’d need a break at some point in the night to refuel our bodies.
“Wow, that’s quite the spread.” Rather than sitting on the couch like a normal person, Mav eased himself onto the floor. It was tricky, but I maneuvered myself around so that my legs caged him in. He leaned back against the cushion, oh so fucking close to my dick, which was eager for some attention. “You’re going to make me fat if I keep hanging around here, aren’t you?”
“You’ve caught on to my master plan,” I teased. “Either that or I’m hoping to wear you out later, and I don’t want you famished. You might need to tell me what to do, but I promise I’m a quick study.”
“I like the sound of that.” He scooped a couple of shells and some ziti onto his plate, then added a breadstick. He closed his lips around the first bite and moaned. “Ohmygod, this is so good.”
“Yeah, best you’ll get in town,” I told him. “They stick to the old family recipes, passed down through the generations. And when they add new items to the menu, Mama has to approve them.”
“That’s my kind of place.” He curled an arm around the edge of his plate and ate as if he’d been starving for days. If he was worried about his figure, those fears were nothing compared to his love of food. I didn’t eat much, preferring to pay attention to him. Soon, I’d make a meal for him myself, and hope to get half as erotic of a reaction.
Neither of us spoke much through dinner. When he slowed, as if bringing the fork to his mouth was torture, I took the plate away from him. He scowled up at me. “Don’t worry, princess. I’m going to put the rest away. If you get hungry later, you can ask me to warm up the leftovers.”
“You going to feed me, too?” he teased.
“I might,” I responded without a trace of humor. He tried getting up to help me, and I deposited him on the couch. “Relax. You’re my guest tonight, so I’ll get it. Besides, you had a long day today.”
