Chapter 29 #2
Reid smiled, that knowing smile that said he knew what effect he had on me, and if he’d only come a bit closer, he would feel the evidence of my arousal. I needed to veer to another subject and fast.
“The first time I ever saw you, it was at Joe’s and you wore this pin on your suit jacket. Like right here on the lapel,” I said, running my fingers over the spot. “I never saw you wear it again, and I always wondered if it meant something to you.”
“Damn. You really did notice me, huh?”
I rolled my eyes, but knew I sported a cheesy grin on my face. “Well, you don’t see many guys wearing one.”
“No, I guess you don’t,” he agreed as he dropped lower so that his shoulders were covered.
“It belonged to my grandmother. She was obsessed with birds. She had about fifty birdhouses in her backyard, which was huge, at least a couple of acres. Every day she’d go out there and make sure the feeders were full and dry, and then she’d sit on her back porch and point out what kind they were to whoever was with her that day.
” His lips quirked up as a faraway look entered his eyes.
“Her favorite was the cardinal. She always said those birds were your passed loved ones coming to visit, so all the paintings inside featured them, and she swore my grandfather came to sit on her porch railing every day. He’d given her so much jewelry over the years, but her favorite thing to wear was the silver pair of cardinal wings he’d had engraved with their wedding date.
She gave it to me before she passed, and I always wear it for shows or for good luck.
I’m guessing if you saw me wearing it, then it was my first day teaching. ”
“Yeah, you would’ve needed luck for that. Damn kids,” I said, chuckling as a shiver racked my body.
“Cold?”
“Isn’t it supposed to warm up the more you swim?”
“Not this one. I think there’s a fifteen-minute max. Kinda like a reverse hot tub.”
After we got out of the water, we stretched out on the towel, side by side, soaking in the vitamin D as the sun dried us off.
Even with room to spare around us, Reid had scooted in close enough that our arms barely touched, and somehow, it was enough.
Completely content, I felt myself drifting off into sleep slowly, as I thought about the man beside me.
It was an absolutely perfect day. Not a cloud in the sky.
No one else around. Nothing could’ve been better—
“Ollie?”
“Hmm?”
“Am I still your Bluebird?”
—except for that. My eyes opened, spots dotting my vision as I pushed up onto my elbow. Reid stared up at me, his hand shielding the rays, and I found that I was…speechless.
His lips quirked at my stunned expression. “Nothing to say?”
I could only blink at him, and he chuckled. “I always liked that nickname. When I remembered the night at the bowling alley, I didn’t understand what it meant, but then I heard your voice telling me to hold on, telling me how you came up with it. I couldn’t see you, but I heard you.”
Without thinking, I put my hand on the side of his neck and ran my thumb over his lower lip. “You will always be my Bluebird.” I felt his chest hitch as I leaned in and pressed a kiss against his forehead. “Thank you for bringing me here.”
Fully dried off now, and with the sexual tension creeping back up, I knew if I lay there anymore, I was liable to take this much further than it needed to go, and he wasn’t ready for that.
“I think I’m gonna go cool off,” I said, getting to my feet, and I didn’t bother trying to hide the hard-on I knew was on prominent display. He knew how I felt about him, just as he knew I would never push him to do anything he wasn’t ready for.
The water felt even colder after having sunned for a few minutes, but I hadn’t gotten past my shins when I heard Reid behind me.
“Ollie?”
I turned around to see him standing at the edge of the towel. “Yeah?”
He took a few steps forward, his stride purposeful and his hands coming up like he was going to reach out for me, but at the last second, he hesitated and dropped his arms by his sides.
There were one of two things I could do.
One, I could pretend I hadn’t noticed what he’d been about to do, or two, I could say fuck it and go for it.
After all, Reid wasn’t looking at me with indecision.
No, he was looking at me like he was dying to make the first move but couldn’t figure out how to do it, and that was what made my decision for me: I fucking went for it.
I reached for him, my hands going to either side of his neck to bring his mouth to mine, and his lips instantly parted.
I didn’t hold back as Reid’s arms wrapped tightly around me, keeping us crushed together, his short nails scouring my back like he couldn’t get close enough.
My tongue dipped inside his mouth, and I savored my first taste of him like I’d never had a chance before.
It was like coming home. The way his body fit so perfectly against mine, the way we moved in sync to take greedy sucks and licks of each other…and I knew it would be the same way once he was back in my bed.
“Ollie,” he said, gripping my hair tight before diving in to tangle our tongues once more.
His cock punched against mine, rock hard and begging for attention, but even though I was dying to get on my knees to suck him senseless, my self-restraint won out.
I’d waited too long, had wanted him too much, and I wasn’t gonna fuck this up.
He was too important to me to rush things, and I wanted him to be sure of me, not just caught up in the moment.
But one thing was for damn certain—Reid Valentine was mine.