Chapter 17
Marc
Ireached for the pillow I normally snuggled with and frowned when I found it notably absent.
Grumbling to myself, I floundered around for it, assuming that once again I’d knocked it off the bed while tossing and turning.
Not that I recalled tossing and turning.
Come to think of it, the last thing I remembered was curling up on the couch and watching movies with JD.
We’d even traded a few kisses. I hummed contentedly.
Those had been awesome. Nowhere near the disastrous mauling I’d given him earlier in the evening.
More like sweet presses of lips with a light teasing of tongue that made me think of the way peach blossoms blushed and fluttered in the breeze.
Eventually, we’d dozed off. I’d woken up at some point, picked up the leftover pizza and beer bottles, made JD as comfortable as I’d dared, turned off the television, and headed to bed.
I hadn’t been sure if it was the loud thump or the shout that woke me, but I’d been out of bed and in the living room ready to throw down in a heartbeat.
When I’d realized JD was having a nightmare, I’d called out to him.
Then I’d realized it wasn’t just a nightmare.
I jerked the rest of the way awake, no longer looking for my snuggle pillow, and now searching desperately for JD. My gaze landed on the coffee table where I’d set the knife, but it was conspicuously absent. Oh shit-oh shit-oh shit.
“In here, baby boy.”
I whipped around, and only a frantic grab of the back of the couch prevented me from catapulting backward.
Sure as sugar, JD was standing in the kitchen by the coffeemaker.
For some reason his hair was wet, and he wasn’t wearing a shirt.
Not that I was complaining about either of those things.
I slowly got up and my back popped like a goddamn glow stick. I grunted.
“Fuck, getting old sucks.”
“Shut your face, Weathers. You’re four years younger than me.
” I darted a look at him, and he winked, dissipating my anxiety before it had a chance to build.
“I, uh, hope you don’t mind. I couldn’t really get back to sleep, so I went for a run.
Not at the preserve, just nearby. I was tempted to move you back to the bed, but worried that might be overstepping.
Anyway, I just got out of the shower, so that’s why the coffee’s late, and I hope you’re not upset I went running without you. ”
I finally made it into the kitchen and was only a little put out to see that the shower also meant his skimpy running shorts had been traded for looser workout shorts.
Not that I planned to be admitting that out loud anytime soon.
“I don’t mind at all. And as much as I appreciate you making me coffee every morning, you know you don’t have to. Right?”
He shrugged, and I tried really hard not to stare at what the move did to his muscles.
“I like doing it. And you’re sure you’re not upset I went for a run without you?
” he asked, reaching past me to start the machine, because I might have inserted myself between him and it.
If that brought him closer, sorry-not-sorry.
“Nope.” I grinned at him, loving how relaxed he looked this morning. What I really wanted to do was wrap my hands around his waist. He’d done it to me last night. Surely that meant it was okay. Then again, after an entire day of spiraling, I opted to take the smarter approach. “Can I touch you?”
Surprise flickered in his eyes, then turned into a smile that, while small on his lips, shone in his eyes. “I like it when you touch me.”
“Yeah?” I asked, suddenly breathless. Were we getting closer? Did I care? Solid no, because we weren’t close enough.
“Mmhmm,” he hummed.
“So… this is okay?” I tentatively touched his side, first with the tips of my fingers, and kept going until the warmth of his skin suffused my entire palm. Granted, I was a tad preoccupied, but I think both of us might have moaned at the contact.
“Green, Weathers. So much fucking green.” He leaned forward to rest his forehead against mine. The peaceful intimacy of the moment washed over me, and it was everything. Even better, I wanted more. More with JD.
As if occupying the same frequency, he shifted so his nose brushed along mine.
I tilted my head up, my eyelids already drifting shut in anticipation.
The initial brush of our lips was as electric as it was tender.
I sighed into him and used my hold on his waist to tug him a little closer.
He teased the seam of my lips, and I gladly opened for him, luxuriating in the unhurried, playful dance of our tongues.
I smiled as I continued kissing him as if it were the only thing I planned to do today and felt his responding smile.
Needing more, I brought my other hand to rest on his waist and pulled him close enough that we pressed together from hip to sternum.
Desire spiralled inside me as the kiss deepened naturally, making me a little dizzy.
Oh fuck. This. This is what I wanted, what I’d been chasing my whole life.
I mindlessly ground against him, pleased to find him just as worked up over something as simple as kissing.
God, I wanted to touch him everywhere. Suck bruises into his neck.
Learn what made him squirm. Tease his nipples.
Run my fingers through his hair. I wanted all of it.
My hold on his waist drifted lower, and I dug my fingers into the top of his perfectly tight ass, forcing him harder against me with a gasp.
I was point-five seconds away from suggesting we take this party horizontal before I blew my load.
So, naturally, the coffeemaker had to go and beep and ruin it all.
JD chuckled at the undignified sound I made when he pulled out of the latest heated kiss.
“I know, baby boy, I know.” He cupped the back of my head with his massive hand and peppered me with a few more kisses before finally pulling himself away with a groan.
“Probably for the best. Last thing I need is to come in my shorts. I don’t think I can handle two mortifying embarrassments in less than eight hours.
” He gave me a cheeky grin and grabbed a fresh set of coffee cups from the cabinet behind him.
I released a derisive snort, while also making a mental note to add a fun coffee cup to my ever-growing list of pebbles.
“Oh, got something to say, Weathers?” he asked, arching a bushy copper eyebrow in challenge as he poured a copious amount of sugar into his cup.
“Damn right I do. First off, there’s absolutely nothing embarrassing about having PTSD. I mean it. Look at me, Gallagher.” I waited for him to reluctantly meet my gaze. “Nothing. Do you hear me?”
“Heard, Spec. Weathers,” he said with a huff of laughter as he transitioned to preparing the other cup of coffee.
“And second, if coming in your shorts is embarrassing, then I’d have to be embarrassed too, which I wouldn’t be.
So, there.” I smacked a kiss on his mouth, then spun to grab his essence of sugar creamer, and my milk.
I set them on the counter by the steaming cups and raised an eyebrow in challenge. “What do you think of them apples?”
His rich laughter wasn’t full-bellied, but it still filled the small kitchen and my chest. Before I could react, he’d cradled my head again in his ridiculously large hand and stolen an achingly sweet kiss. “I think I’m really glad Jones bailed.”
I’d commit actual murder before admitting to anyone who wasn’t my twin, but I completely melted. Like “left a chocolate bar on the dash during the hottest day of the summer for the whole day,” melted. Because yeah, me too.
JD stepped away, leaving me with my happy floating hearts to finish topping off the coffees. “Drink up, baby boy. Pretty sure there’s a delivery today and someone slept in.”
“Oh shit! The refrigerator.”
His laughter followed me as I bolted into the bedroom to change.
It wasn’t until I was hopping out, trying to put my last sneaker on, that I realized I’d never shut the door.
I doubted he would have watched me change without an invitation—perving was apparently my thing—but surprisingly I found I wouldn’t have minded.
I liked the idea of getting naked with JD. I liked that idea a hella of a lot.
I flashed JD a smile as I accepted the to-go cup he’d put together for me.
Before I could second-guess myself, I planted a kiss on his cheek, earning myself a brilliant grin.
On cue, my phone chimed with a notification.
I was still bouncing on my toes when JD finally caught up with me at the bottom of the stairs.
“I have literally never seen anyone so excited about a refrigerator.” He laughed to himself and took a position beside me with his arms crossed over his chest.
“Shut your face. That’s because you’ve never seen a totally kick-ass walk-in flower refrigerator.” I checked my watch and debated stepping outside, you know, in case the delivery truck needed me to flag them down or something.
He raised a skeptical eyebrow. “If you say so.”
“I do say so. Now stop raining on my parade,” I clapped back, leaning to peer out the propped-open delivery door—again—despite the increasing humidity. Without warning, a pair of strong, hairy arms wrapped around my middle, and my feet left the ground. “What the hell!”
When JD deigned to let my feet touch the floor again, we were several feet back from the open delivery door.
“Not raining. I like seeing you excited.” His husky voice so close to my ear sent a shiver racing down my spine and had goosebumps prickling my arms. Then the fucker went and bit my earlobe. “It’s fucking adorable.”
I groaned, officially so turned on it was a problem. No one had the right to sound that sexy. Especially not when I was due to get a delivery that I’d basically been waiting on for over four years and couldn’t act on all the sexy things his voice promised. “You’re. Evil.”
He chuckled, sinister asshole that he was, nipped the side of my neck and stepped back.
I shot him a glare. Where I expected more teasing, he pointed back toward the delivery bay.
I turned back around to where a guy in a uniform was holding a clipboard and glancing expectantly between us. Oh, I was so getting JD back for this.
Thanks to all the work we’d done getting the place cleaned up and the preemptive electrical update, the installers had a relatively easy time installing the unit, which was perhaps ambitious in scale.
I signed off on the work, bid the crew goodbye after recommending some good eats in the area, then fiddled with the unit to my preferred settings.
At last, I stood back and stared at it with pride.
“Explain to me again why you needed one so big,” JD said as he stood beside me, arms crossed over his impressive chest. I was beginning to think that had more to do with what it did to his muscles and less to do with it being a comfortable position to stand.
He glanced around the back of the shop. “It takes up over a third of the space back here.”
Okay, that was fair, but it was only because the stairs were sort of in an awkward place.
Mostly. “Because while it might take a bit to ramp things up from simple arrangements and general bouquets, eventually we’ll be doing all kinds of events.
Sweet sixteens, graduation ceremonies, anniversary parties, weddings.
God, I can’t wait for us to do weddings.
” Excitement filled my chest until I thought I might explode from it.
I turned to JD, who was giving me his usual indulgent smile when I went off about flowers.
“Seriously, do you have any idea how much fun weddings are?”
“Oh yeah, I hear bridezillas are a real treat to work with.”
I rolled my eyes. “Sure, bridezillas can be a lot, but they can also be some of the best. Because when you get it right, when you really get it right, she’ll remember them forever.
We can help preserve her bouquet so it becomes a memory she can cherish and revisit again and again.
For future anniversaries, we’ll always know exactly what flowers brought tears to her eyes.
There’s something unbelievably special about being able to give someone that. ”
JD stepped closer, a sweet smile on his face, and brushed his thumbs under my eyes.
Shit, I hadn’t realized how emotional I’d gotten.
Oh well, I doubted it even surprised him at this point.
“That sounds beautiful, baby boy. I hope you get all of that.” He placed a kiss on my nose, then stepped away, adding belatedly, “What do you say we grab a bite to eat before you drag me to all the shops on your list?”
I replied by rote, but I couldn’t have told a soul what I actually said, because it wasn’t until then that I realized in my excitement I’d said “we” and I’d meant it.
Even though it was hella presumptuous and didn’t make a lick of sense, when he responded with a very clear “you” it was as if he’d stabbed me with that knife after all.
Needing to rebalance and knowing Alex was busy with a presentation, I went with an equally suitable alternative.
“What would you say to bringing said bite to Aunt Petunia?”
“I’d say, what the hell are we standing around here for? Let’s go.” He smacked my ass as if nothing was wrong, because nothing was wrong.