Believed in me.
Each time, it made my chest feel all shivery.
And every time, I had to try to tamp down any thoughts about what that could possibly mean.
I wasn’t ready to analyze. I just wanted to enjoy.
“What is it?” he asked.
He was good at that, too—knowing when to press, sensing I was just feeling uncertain or exposed, or when to let it drop.
“I was thinking about training dogs,” I admitted. “Service dogs,” I clarified. “There’s a really big need for them. And there aren’t a lot of really solid organizations that do it. Which is probably part of why they are so expensive. If there were more trainers, maybe prices could drop and people who would really benefit from it would be able to access them.”
“And you have a unique advantage, having diabetes already.”
“There is still some need for diabetes alert dogs. However, with continuous monitoring, they’re a lot less in demand. But there are so many other conditions for which service dogs are really useful. I mean, it’s a process. I’d need to learn to do basic dog training. Get that going more professionally. And then start to specialize.”
“You’re making it sound like it’s impossible,” Colter said, throwing the ball again. Then he turned to give me his full attention. “It’s not. It’s doable. You’re still young. You’ve got plenty of time to learn and then make that dream a reality.”
“It’s just an idea,” I said, my eyes lowering, always so uncomfortable admitting anything I wanted.
“Don’t downplay it,” he said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and curling me into him.
Saint and Syn were at the park with us.
But without either of us actually agreeing to it aloud, at some point, we’d both stopped pretending we weren’t screwing around. We weren’t hiding anything from the guys. And that, somehow, made it feel just a little bit more real. That it wasn’t a secret.
“I’m being practical,” I insisted.
“You’re afraid to admit it’s something you want,” he clarified. “They’re different. Luckily, you’ve got me here to tell you when you’re being a coward.”
“Hey!” I said, nudging him with my whole body. But I might as well have tried to move a brick wall. “I’m not a coward.”
“Not when it comes to kicking ass, no,” he agreed. His arm tightened around me to soften the next words. “But when it comes to anything that matters to you on a personal level, you can be a bit of a chickenshit.”
“I might not be able to take you in a fight,” I said, turning my head to glare at him, even if it felt forced. “But remember thatyou let a very delicate part of your anatomy inside the part of mine that has teeth.”
We were close enough that his chuckle vibrated through me. “You like that part of my anatomy too much to damage it.”
“You think too highly of yourself.”
“Do I? So, you weren’t crying and shaking while I fucked you this morning?”
“Shh!” I hissed, ramming him in the side with my elbow, painfully aware that there were people milling all around.
“We both knew that I could have you spread open for me on this table, panting and begging for my cock, with a whole audience watching.”
“You make me sound desperate. When you were the man who was telling me this morning that you couldn’t eat anything at breakfast because all you wanted was to taste me again.”
“Yeah, but unlike you, baby, I got no reservations admitting I’m down bad for you.” He wasn’t lying about that. He took every opportunity to make it clear that he wanted me, that he wasinterested inme. “If you want, when we get back to the room, you can put me on my knees again to prove it.”
“Stop,” I said, but my voice was breathless and needy already.
“You can ride my face until you’re shaking and screaming and—”
“Colter,” Saint’s voice broke in, making a pained little sound escape me that, of course, only made Colter chuckle.
“Yeah?”
