Nah. Wyatt wasn’t gay, was he?
It would certainly explain the erratic behavior but…surely he wasn’t. Hadn’t Dare said he’d been a commander in the Navy SEALs?
Not that commanders can’t be gay, but…Jesus H. Christ.
“I think Wyatt has the hots for Dare. What do you think, Lookah?”
The dog cocked his head at the mention of his name, and I barely held back a laugh. Out of all things on my bingo card for this year, Wyatt being queer was definitely not one of them.
Then again, I didn’t expect Dare to be queer either, but…
My thought was interrupted by a double beep and a buzzing sensation in my hand.
I looked down at my notifications fully expecting it to be Wyatt calling me back or something, but it wasn’t.
It was him.
Again.
As if he knew I’d been talking about him.
Chills ran down my spine as I read the message.
Unknown number: I’m getting tired baby I miss you stop hiding from me
My stomach cramped and the light was suddenly too bright in here. I drew the curtains closed, turned the lights off and ran. Ran to bed, next to Dare where I could feel safe, even if only for a moment.
FIFTEEN
DARE
“Good morning, sunshine!” he said.
I walked into the living room and Zach turned to me with a smile that warmed my heart.
I may have been knocked down longer than I would have wanted but having Zach by my side, in my bed and in my life, made it easy to let go. To put my feet up and be taken care of for a change. It had been such a long time since I’d had that.
Too long.
And it was so easy to get used to this, to him, to our life under this roof.
“I was just about to bring your breakfast,” he said and pointed to fresh baked slices of bread, cheesecake muffins with blueberry coulis that I’d fallen in love with in the last few days, a fruit bowl sprinkled with honey, a hard-boiled egg on an egg stand I didn’t even know I had, and of course a whole cup of steaming hot coffee.
I felt full just looking at the tray and fuller still knowing how much he’d done for me while I was down for the count. How could I not get used to this when it was so cozy, so domestic?
It was certainly a strange progression to our relationship from two strangers, to a loyal patron of his business, to roommates but I couldn’t be mad at it. It didn’t, however, help with my infatuation with the man. One would think living together would bring out all the cracks, all the imperfections, all the pet peeves. Yet there were none.
It was as if we were made for each other, which was a ridiculous notion by all counts.
“Thank you. But I’m feeling so much better today,” I said and approached the counter.
Zach talked me through all the options on the tray as if I’d never seen a boiled egg before, but it was cute, nonetheless.
“And lastly your favorite muffins,” he said, smiling broadly.
I chuckled and leaned into him, hand on the small of his back, and planted a kiss to his forehead.
“Thank you,” I said and took a seat at the counter.
