Chapter 20
Banjo
Opening up to me used all of Tavryn’s words for the week.
He doesn’t talk to me much for the next few days, and it’s kind of like when I first got onboard, except now he isn’t going out of his way to ignore me.
Instead of spending all day locked in the cockpit with Stells, Tavryn reads in bed or listens to me play when he’s not busy piloting the ship.
The company is nice, even if he’s quiet.
He doesn’t have to talk. I talk plenty for the both of us.
I manage to keep busy pretty easily. When I’m not daydreaming about all the things I want to do with Tavryn, I’m working on my music. I’m glad I have the time to focus since it’s flowing out of me. Good thing everyone loves a love song, because that’s all I seem to be able to write.
I sit on the floor with my guitar, tapping my pencil on the table as I hum through the chorus that’s been stuck in my head. I’ve hummed it at least a thousand times by now, but I can’t decide if the ending should go up or down. Maybe it should alternate?
I write that idea down to remember later, looking up when Tavryn comes out of the bathroom. He’s been in there for…honestly, I’m not sure how long. Long enough I figured he’d slipped out already, and I just hadn’t been paying attention.
“You doin’ okay?” I ask, eyes roaming down his body.
“You were in there for a while.” He’s wearing a robe, as usual, but this one is a soft green color and has lace accents around the hem and sleeves.
I watch as the lace brushes lightly against his upper thigh.
Wow. It takes effort for me to pull my gaze back up to meet his.
He has a towel twisted on the top of his head, just like Viola and Mamaw used to.
“I finally got around to washing my hair.” Tavryn tugs the towel off his head, wet, silky strands falling down his back. I’ve never seen it completely undone like this. No braids, no jewelry, no nothing. It softens his edges, makes him seem younger and more vulnerable too.
I like it. I like all versions of Tavryn. Strong or soft, it doesn’t matter to me. All of them are good.
“Oh.” I’m too busy looking at him to think of anything else to say.
We’ve done plenty of cuddling and kissing over the past few days, which has been great, but seeing him like this definitely gets my motor running.
I want to initiate something, but I’m not quite sure how.
I guess I’ve gotten too used to sitting back and letting Tavryn take the lead. He just does it so well.
“Oh?” Tavryn repeats, arching a brow. A smirk slowly forms on his pretty face. “I think this is the quietest you’ve ever been.”
I blush. “You can’t blame a guy when he’s got all this,” I gesture at Tavryn, “standing in front of him all hot and…and wet.” I swallow thickly, looking up at him. “You uh…maybe interested in startin’ somethin’? ‘Cause, babe, I’m totally down for whatever you wanna do.”
Tavryn laughs, his smirk settling into more of a happy smile. I’m quite proud of myself for being the cause of it, so of course I smile back.
“First, I have to finish with my hair.” He holds up a brush and some hair bands.
Yep, okay, proof my mind was in the gutter.
I had no idea he was holding all that. “Sit on the couch, and I’ll let you assist me.
” I set my guitar to the side before scrambling up to do what he says. “How good are your braids?”
“They’re alright,” I say, spreading my legs.
He drops a pillow on the floor between them before sitting on it.
Of course. What a princess. I go on as he hands me the brush.
“I used to do Viola’s hair sometimes, so I watched a bunch of videos on how to do all kinds of different braids.
She hasn’t needed help in a couple years, so I’m outta practice. ”
Maybe it’ll be like riding a bike and all come back to me. I run my fingers through Tavryn’s hair, carefully working a tangle free before going back through with the brush. His hair is so ridiculously soft, way softer than human hair.
“I’m sure you’ll tell me if I’m doing anything wrong,” I tease. Tavryn makes a sound I know means yes, so I continue on with what I’m doing.
In a few minutes, I’m back to humming the song I was working on. No matter what I do, I can’t get it out of my head. If everyone else thinks it’s just as catchy, it’ll definitely be a hit.
“What is that?” Tavryn asks. I glance up from his hair to follow his gaze, only to find he’s looking up at me. Do I have something on my face? The soup I made for dinner was a weird purple color, and I’m a messy cook. It wouldn’t surprise me if I had some splattered on my forehead or something.
“What’s what?” I reply, wiping my hand across my brow just in case. Tavryn’s own brow furrows at the action. Alright, so it must not be on my forehead. I drag my hand down my cheek. “Did I get it, or is it in my hair?”
Tavryn is looking all kinds of confused by this point. “What are you going on about?”
“The food on my—” I stop, realizing Tavryn never actually said I had something on my face. I laugh at myself and grin down at him. “Oh, sorry. I thought—you know, nevermind. What were you sayin’?”
Tavryn stares at me, mouth half open, before he shakes his head. “I was asking what song you keep humming over and over again.”
Heat creeps up my cheeks. I hadn’t realized Tavryn was listening to me, which is pretty stupid.
It’s a small ship. We spend a lot of time together.
“It’s just somethin’ I’ve been tinkerin’ with,” I tell him, turning my attention back to his hair.
“This song is stuck in my head, but I ain’t quite figured out how to get it out yet. ”
“Hm.” Tavryn is quiet for so long I think that’s all he’s going to say. I finish brushing his hair out and move on to adding some of the tiny braids he likes to wear. They seem to be randomly placed, so I just pick some strands and start braiding. “I like it.”
The grin on my face is so wide, it hurts. I try not to let my excitement show in my voice. Casual. I can totally be casual.
“Yeah? You think it sounds good?” Tavryn nods, keeping his gaze focused on the TV screen across from us. “When I finish it, I’ll add it to the lineup for your private performance.”
Tavryn lets out a bark of laughter. “I’d nearly forgotten about that,” he admits. He hands me one of the little hair bands so I can tie off the first braid. It doesn’t look anywhere near as neat as what he does himself, but it doesn’t look bad either. I’m pretty proud of myself.
“You’d forgotten?!” I exclaim, causing him to glance over his shoulder at me. I grin at him so he knows I’m teasing him. “I figured you’ve been so quiet ‘cause you’re plottin’ what you’re gon’ make me do.”
Tavryn snorts. “No, that’s not the reason.” His voice is softer, like he isn’t quite sure if he wants me to hear or not. “I’ve just…never told anyone some of the things I told you. I hate to admit it, but I’m slightly embarrassed.”
“Embarrassed?” I repeat, shocked. What does Tavryn have to be embarrassed about? None of what happened to him as a baby was his fault. “Tav, baby, you ain’t got any reason for that. I like that you talked to me. I wanna know everything about you.”
The next braid comes quicker than the last, though I may be a little distracted by the conversation. I really don’t understand how hairdressers manage to gossip and work at the same time. Must be some kind of superpower. “Plus, who am I gon’ tell? Once I’m back on Earth, I’m back for good…right?”
“Right.”
I try not to let that disappoint me. He just confirmed what I already knew.
“Why do you keep calling me a child?” Tavryn huffs, kind of out of nowhere, like it’s something he’s been thinking about a lot and just got around to asking. My fingers pause in his hair as I try to figure out what he means. “I’m not a baby.”
Oh. I laugh lightly, continuing the braid I’m working on. I tug at it when I’m done so Tavryn knows to give me another hair tie. “Tav, babe,” I chuckle, realizing that I just did it again. Oops.
Tavryn immediately gets all offended and tense, so I massage his shoulders to soothe him.
“When I call you babe, I don’t mean you’re actually a baby.
I do it ‘cause I like you. It’s a…” What do they call it?
“Like when you call me darlin’.” He doesn’t do it very often, but when he does, it gets me so hot.
“Ah. A term of endearment.”
“Yeah, exactly!” I snap my fingers in recognition. “A term of endearment.” Some of the tension in Tavryn’s shoulders eases a bit. Since my hands are already there, I dig my thumbs in, rubbing small circles into his skin. “If you ain’t a fan, I can stop. Don’t matter none to me.”
Tavryn lets out the softest little groan as my thumb finds a knot in his shoulder.
It has my cock remembering he’s currently sitting between my spread legs.
Wouldn’t take much effort at all for him to turn around and put my dick in his mouth.
The thought alone nearly has me drooling.
Luckily, Tavryn is back to facing the other way, so he doesn’t notice.
“It’s fine,” Tavryn says, clearly pretending he doesn’t care one way or another. But there’s something about his tone that tells me he likes it. Tavryn has an opinion about everything, after all, so I don’t believe he doesn’t have one about this too. He wouldn’t be Tavryn if he didn’t.
I give his shoulders one more squeeze before going back to his hair. If I keep massaging him, I’m going to have a full-on boner in no time. Playing with his hair is safer, even if only a little.
Tavryn seems to be in a mostly decent mood tonight, so I take a chance and ask a question I’ve been thinking about a lot. “So, uh, I was kinda wondering…” I trail off, feeling uncertain. I want to talk about our relationship, but I can’t help but be afraid.