It did foster a few more ideas for his proposal, which he made a mental note of for later.
Donovan held both hands up. “Fair enough. Thought I’d pass it along.” He lowered his hands. “What is it you wanna do?”
If ever there were a more difficult question…
“Right now, I wanna take a minute to eat my damn sandwich.”
Donovan chuckled as he got to his feet. “Got it.”
“You don’t have to go,” he said when Donovan started toward the door. “You mean well, I know that. I’m just…”
“Confused?”
“Tired,” he admitted. “Tired of not knowin’ what I wanna do.”
Donovan stared at him from where he stood by the door. “But you wanna stay here? In Coyote Ridge, I mean.”
“Yeah,” he said, and meant it. “It’s about the only thing I do know right now.”
“Good. Believe it or not, I’m glad you’re back.”
“Thanks.” He glanced at his sandwich, then back to his brother. “You’re welcome to stay if you think you can shut up for five minutes so I can scarf this down.”
Donovan laughed and waved a hand. “I’m headin’ home. I was avoidin’ it because Tate’s at work. He’s only lived there for a few weeks, but it’s a little lonely when he’s not there.”
“You’re serious about this, huh?”
“More than I’ve been about anything in my life.”
Stone watched as Donovan waved and walked out the door. He stared at the space his brother had vacated while he ate his sandwich. As he did, his thoughts drifted to that night so long ago. The night that shifted something inside him, even though he hadn’t been willing to look too closely at it at the time.
“You awake?” Stone whispered, talking to Nico.
“Yeah.”
For the past hour, Stone had been drifting with Stevie in his arms. He was exhausted, but the adrenaline was still steadily flowing in his veins, making it impossible for him to relax completely.
Carefully, he eased out from under Stevie, tucking a pillow under her head and pulling the blanket over her. She didn’t budge, making him smile. He kneeled beside her for a moment, admiring her. His girl slept like the dead after sex. He loved that about her. He lovedeverythingabout her.
Convinced she wasn’t going to wake up, Stone crawled over to Nico, aware the man was watching him intently as he got closer.
“I told you I wasn’t done with you.” Stone urged Nico to his back, straddling his thighs, rubbing along the length of him as he got comfortable. “You have a problem with that?”
“No.”
“Then touch me.”
There was hesitance in Nico’s touch, but his hands flattened on Stone’s thighs, inching higher. They were both naked, so there was nothing to hinder him from exploring, but he didn’t.
“I’m not gonna hurt you,” he whispered. He flashed a grin and added, “Much.”
As he stared down into Nico’s eyes, Stone looked at him.Reallylooked at him. The guy had been dating his sister for years, but Stone had never paid too much attention to him. Superficial, sure. He’d noted that Nico was a good-looking guy with a body worthy of an exploration. Not that he’d ever thought about it. Not until today.
At the moment, it was all hecouldthink about. He wanted to lick this man from head to toe. He wanted to taste every inch of him, to learn what made him moan.
“You’ve really never been with a guy before?”
Nico shook his head.
