“We’re not?” I ask, in a voice that is most definitely not whiny.
“Just some friendly old fashioned spooning, which hardly counts when you think about it. We’re basically sharing body heat to stay alive.”
“It’s summer.”
“This is practice for winter. You don’t want to just raw dog stuff like that. It’s too important.”
And I want to ask if he really thinks we would both still be in The Bend long enough to see snow. But I keep my mouth shut and move over to make room. What I need to do is be present and enjoy things as they come.
“Then there’s your hugging issues to be considered,” he says. “Sharing your bed with me is just a good idea all round. I don’t even know why we’re still discussing it.”
He climbs onto the mattress and, as promised, stretches out against me. His front to my back and his arms beneath my neck and over my middle. My sleep shorts and tank leave my legs bareagainst the denim of his jeans. Though neither of us are wearing much up top.
The heat from his big body against mine is a beautiful thing, no matter how warm the weather. And the lingering sage and salt of his cologne and the faint feel of his breath on the curve of my shoulder and side of my neck is giving me goose bumps.
I’m so down bad for this man.
“Is this okay?” he asks.
“Yes. Yeah.”
“Why does Audrey think you weren’t hugged enough as a child?”
“It’s not a big deal. Mom just isn’t a touchy-feely type person, you know? She and Grandma don’t really get along.”
He ponders this for a moment and then asks, “What did you think of my surprise?”
“I think you have some explaining to do. Grandma has history with a tattooed musician who rides a motorbike,” I say, with no small amount of wonder. “That’s going to take me a minute to process.”
“I don’t know much about what happened between them. And you know it’s wrong to gossip…”
“Just tell me everything and nobody gets hurt.”
He laughs softly. “There was always a weird tension when they were together. Though it took me a while to notice. Then Audrey announced she was retiring and…I honestly don’t know.”
“Huh.”
“Something went down between them. Cause the day I threw Audrey a farewell party, Charlie calls me last minute to say he can’t make it. That he had to go to Canada for some reason.”
“He left the country to avoid going to Grandma’s party?”
“Yeah. I think so,” says Nash, meshing his fingers with mine.
I could do with more of being cocooned by the man. Because resting my head on his bicep is surprisingly comfortable. He also smells insanely good. I want to rub my face in his chest and breathe him deep. There’s no helping how I react to him. Damp panties and hard nipples are just a way of life now. He gets to me, and there’s no point denying it. There’s also probably no need, if he’s sneaking into my room to spoon me. As signs go, it’s a positive one.
“Then there’s what I accidentally overheard them talking about one time,” he teases.
“Go on.”
“We were preparing to leave on tour and would be on the road for more than a year. They were in the kitchen, and I just happened to be in the hallway.”
“Were you lurking?”
“Can one lurk in their own house?” he asks.
“Maybe it was closer to skulking.”
“Are you sure you want to hear this?”
