“It’s not really that different. Be considerate. Communicate. Be honest about what you need and try to give him what he needs. If you do those things, you can build something really great.” He smacked my arm. “Think you can handle acting like a grown-up for a change?”
I smiled sheepishly. “I want to try.”
“That’s a good start.”
CHAPTER 20
Maverick
My butterflies hadbutterflies as I stepped out my back door with a plate of cookies just after seven p.m. Monday. Damon was laying strips of chicken out on the gas grill behind our duplex.
He looked up with a smile. “Hey, there.”
“Hey.” I continued down the porch steps and over to him. “I brought you cookies, as promised.”
Damon glanced at my plate of assorted cookies. “That’s more kinds than before.”
“Well, I didn’t want to take any chances. I got my friend Jamie over to help me.” I pointed. “These are the peanut butter blossoms I made before. These are s’more cookies. These are snickerdoodles. And last, we have double-chocolate chunk.”
“Damn, Mav.” Damon grabbed a blossom. “They all look great, but I’d eat anything you offered me now. Don’t you know that?”
I raised an eyebrow. “Anything?”
He winked. “I’ll show you later.”
My face heated, and I turned to put the plate of cookies on the outdoor picnic table in our shared backyard.
Damon had me off-kilter. Our last date had been a little like a game. He’d taken it as a dare of sorts, and I’d been waiting for some sort of prank to set the world back on its axis.
I’d expected we’d go back to annoying and harassing each other, but Damon had surprised me. He’d taken that date seriously. Appeared to be doing the same with this one.
Maybe…maybe this time, falling for a “straight” guy really could be different.
The grill sizzled behind me. I turned back in time to see Damon shove half the cookie in his mouth while he flipped the meat.
“How’s your dad?” I asked.
Damon finished chewing, then licked the crumbs from his lips. Heat spiked inside me. I wanted to kiss him again. Wanted to taste his tongue and feel his hands, rough and hard on my body.
“Dad’s good, but still cranky.” He chuckled, oblivious to my pervy thoughts. “He’s a crappy patient. Keeps trying to do more than he should.”
I nodded. “At least that means he’ll do the rehab and get better, right?”
“Yeah, true. My parents thank you for the lasagna too. They thought it was delicious.”
“They already ate it?”
Damon stirred bell peppers and onions on the right side of the grill, then grabbed the tongs to move them into a bowl. “Yeah. I took it by this morning, then I checked in after work. They were really surprised you made it, though. My mom was all, ‘I thought you two didn’t get along. Didn’t he dump garbage in the back of your pickup once?’”
“Hey, in my defense, you kept using my trash can!” Damon just laughed. “And I did warn you what would happen. Twice!”
“Mav, I know. I’m not mad.”
Not anymore, maybe. He’d been furious at the time. Looking back, I wasn’t too proud. Yes, he kept using my trash can, and yes, I’d warned him of the consequences, but his truck was his pride and joy.
Damon put down the tongs and came over to me. “Hey, seriously. I was asking for payback. I don’t know why I pushed you so much.”
I met his gaze. “It wasn’t because I’m…”
