His eyes heat with desire and need. “After I feedyoubreakfast”—he dips down and kisses my neck, carefully nipping me—“You can feedmebreakfast.”
A soft tingling feeling creeps over my skin thinking about it. “Deal.”
Twenty minutes later I’m sitting at the bar wearing his shirt that fits more like a dress and a pair of sleep shorts.
“Do you want any help?” I ask as I watch him move around the kitchen. He glances up and smirks at me.
“The only thing I want you to do is sit there and look pretty, which you’re already doing, so your job is done.” I smirk and shake my head at him.
As he cooks, I can’t help but not pay attention to how his muscles move and contract. Currently shirtless since I’m wearing his shirt, I can see the softness of his core and the well defined muscles in his arms without issue. My legs cross under the bar and squeeze together when he reachesfor something in the fridge and every muscle in his back flexes with the movement.
He works in silence as he dices an onion and scrambles some eggs. I watch him intently, noticing how precise he is with every decision he makes. My hyper-awareness kicks in when I see his brows start to press together as he sprinkles in some salt and pepper into the egg mixture he’s whipping up.
“Something wrong?” I ask, tipping my head to one side.
His eyes dart to mine and while he does a good job of covering it up, I see the concern in them before it dissipates.
“No, everything’s fine. Just focused.”
“Miles,” I coax.
He lets out a sigh before looking at me. “I was just thinking about Carter, that’s all.”
From the way his voice turns down I know there’s more to this than he’s saying.
“Did something happen?”
He grinds his jaw and sets the bowl of eggs he’s whisking down on the counter. “I don’t know. He’s been acting strange lately. Distracted, not really like himself. And then a couple weeks ago, when Coop came to the firehouse to workout, he completely exploded on us.”
I tuck my hands into my lap and sit up. “Can I ask what about?”
His eyes scan over me for a beat before he shakes his head with an airy laugh.
“What?” I ask, looking at myself to make sure I look okay. “Why are you laughing?”
“Because, you just went full therapist on me,” he replies, continuing to laugh lightheartedly.
My shoulders slump and I feel my face screw up. “I’m sorry, I can’t help it sometimes,” I whine.
“No, no, it’s cute. I like it. Come here.” He leans over the counter, lips pushed out, and I lean in to kiss him. “I like it when you go full therapist, it’s another way you show you care. Plus I think it’s really cute.” Before leaning away, he reaches up and pushes my glasses back up onto the bridge of my nose where they belong.
Picking up the bowl, he picks up where he left off with making breakfast. “I don’t know why he was upset. He was acting like it was because Coop and I were asking him questions but I feel like it’s more than that. He kept trying to say we were ‘butting into his life,’ as if that’s not something we’ve done our entire lives anyway.” He rolls his eyes and pours the egg mixture into the hot frying pan. The eggs pop and sizzle as they cook. “It was so weird. He’s been on edge since the start of the year and when he found out Willow was moving in with her boyfriend he lost it completely.”
My ears prick up at what he says. I saw the way Carter and Willow were looking at one another when I went to family breakfast a few weeks ago. The way they kept passing a knowing glance at one another. I don’t think Miles or Coop saw it but I did.
“Have you tried talking to him about it?” I ask, leaning against the counter with my elbows.
“Well, yeah, but he just brushes it off. Or he gets pissy and storms off like a child.” He scrambles the eggs in the pan with a fork, adding a few spices here and there. When they’re done, he scrapes them onto a plate and adds some feta cheese, chives, and a sprig of cilantro on top.
“Can I have some buffalo sauce?” I ask, eyeing the plate.
He turns to reach for it in the fridge and drizzles just enough on top. I smile widely and clap my hands a few times when he sets my breakfast down in front of me.Taking a bite, my eyes roll to the back of my head when I finally get a taste of them.
“You make thebesteggs,” I compliment, taking another bite.
“I’ll happily make you breakfast whenever you want, beautiful.” He’s leaning against the counter, arms crossed in front of his chest, with a wicked grin on his face.
“Only if you do it like that,” I shoot back, pointing my finger at his shirtless chest.
