Chapter Ten
Donovan
T he house smells like tomatoes, garlic, and Italian spices when I walk in. Music blasts out of Eric’s phone, which sits on the kitchen counter. He’s got his back to me, hopping on one foot while singing into one of his crutches like it’s a microphone.
Not gonna lie, it’s probably the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. I can’t help smiling. This is what he does. Makes every situation, every mundane thing better and more fun.
I close the door quietly, then sneak up behind him. Eric turns when I reach him, startles, but he doesn’t stop, just grabs my hand and tries to spin himself, losing his balance in the process.
“Don’t hurt yourself.”
“I’m fine, D. I have no life. Let a man dance.”
He uses his crutches, though, and we do our best to move around together in a way that resembles dancing. He laughs when he stumbles again, but I catch him, and then the song ends.
“You’re adorable when you dance and cook.”
“I’m adorable all the time.” He waggles his brows, and like always, just being around Eric gives me a light, happy feeling.
“And of course, cocky.”
“Confident. There’s a difference. I’m confident when it comes to some things.”
And honestly, he should be and he’s right. Eric is adorable all the time.
“It smells good. I’m starving. I cleaned up some at work, but I’m gonna go change and be right back.” I kiss his temple, and Eric gives me what can only be described as a dopey grin. I mean that in the best way possible.
I head to my en suite and jump in the shower. My cock has a slight chub for some reason, and I reach down, giving it a slow stroke, but then decide I don’t have time to do that. Plus, maybe it’s weird to stand here and jerk it while Eric is waiting for me.
It’s been…interesting living with him again.
I forgot how much he walks around in his boxer briefs.
I can guarantee that after dinner he’ll strip down into those or a pair of low-slung nylon shorts where the band of his underwear sticks out the top, which everyone knows is the sexiest thing in the world next to gray sweatpants.
Having him so close again makes it hard not to notice how attractive he is.
Eric is…well, he’s gorgeous. He’s got that boy-next-door charm, a great body, and a smile that pulls you in.
It’s impossible not to notice that, and though I see him strictly as a friend, my cock doesn’t always get the memo—which is why I try not to look when he’s so willing to be naked or half naked in front of me, and also why I’m sporting a full erection now.
Fuck my life.
I will not jerk off thinking about my best friend, I will not jerk off thinking about my best friend.
I ignore my aching cock and clean up. By the time I’m done, I’m thankfully soft. After drying off, I tug on underwear, shorts, and a T-shirt. I make it into the kitchen just in time to see Eric trying to figure out how to carry serving dishes to the table.
“Hey, wait. Let me do that.”
“I planned on it, but you were in there for like ten hours. Here I am, spending my day making a meal for you after your hard day’s work, and you’re jacking it in the shower.”
My pulse jumps—maybe I’m feeling slightly guilty. “I didn’t. I thought about it, though.” But it felt weird since I was just thinking about you and your stupid underwear band.
I take the bowl of pasta from him.
“You should have. Christ, I think you were right. I need to get laid. Ana was over today, and my brain was doing some weird stuff.”
The bowl almost slips out of my hand, and I set it on the table. “See? I knew you liked her. And you said the two of you were just friends.” I head over and grab the sauce.
Ana would be good for him. Eric deserves someone like her, and I really like her, so I know she’ll never be strange about how close Eric and I are.
Malcolm hated him, and Eric hated Malcolm too.
He was always jealous of Eric and accused me of being secretly in love with him, which couldn’t be further from the truth.
He also accused me of cheating on him with Eric, which is rich, considering he was the one with numerous boyfriends.
“What? No. I wasn’t thinking about her. Just…other stuff. It’s hard to explain. I need to get off my feet.”
“Shit. Sorry.” I pull out one of the chairs at my small table, and Eric plops down. I take the crutches and lean them against the wall for him. “What do you want to drink?”
“Just a beer is fine.”
I grab one for each of us and set them on the table, before getting plates and cutlery.
Then I join Eric, and we scoop food onto our plates and begin to eat.
“God, this is good. You’re going to spoil me, and I won’t know how to handle it when you go back to work—not that you have to keep cooking for me every day. I don’t mean that.”
“I like cooking for you. I can try to when I’m working too. Your job is more important than mine, so I can do more around the house.”
I frown. “My job isn’t more important than yours.” Why would he say that?
“You’re an RN. You work in the emergency department, dealing with traumas and sick people. I mow lawns.” Eric shrugs as if that’s not important.
“You do more than mow lawns, and even if you didn’t, that’s important work that needs to be done as well. Do you really feel that way? You’re just as needed as I am.”
He shakes off my concern. “Sorry. I’ve just been feeling weird lately. I think it’s the injury and getting fired. I’m really not that down on myself.”
“You better not be down on my best friend. Seriously. I won’t put up with it. Not even from you.”
He smiles, and then I smile, and we just sit there smiling like idiots.
“You’re a dork,” he tells me.
“Takes one to know one…though we both know you’ve always been way cooler than me.”
“You better not be down on my best friend. Seriously. I won’t put up with that. Not even from you,” he counters, using my own words against me.
“Good point. Now let’s eat.”
We ramble about our day while we finish dinner. He tells me about Ana spending her lunch here, and how cool she is, and what a good time they have together.
The truth is, I’ve never heard Eric talk about someone this much.
He’s never dated seriously, never went on and on about how he feels about someone, unless you consider silly crushes when we were kids.
I think that’s partly why it was weird when I first started dating Malcolm.
Eric and I would actually argue about him, and we never argue about anything.
He would also act weird and get annoyed when I spent time with Malcolm, which then made Malcolm think Eric had feelings for me.
That always ended in Malcolm and me fighting too.
I knew Eric didn’t have feelings for me, though.
I saw it for what it was: Malcolm was my first relationship, so it was the first time Eric had to share me with anyone.
It was probably just an adjustment for him.
That makes sense to me because as much as I would love to see Eric with Ana, part of me feels uncomfortable when he talks about her.
I don’t think jealous is the right word, but…
off . When two people are as close as us, it has to be difficult when someone new comes around.
“That was good. Thank you.” I grab my plate, stand, and take his too. “I’ll do the dishes since you cooked.”
“I won’t argue,” he teases.
“Somehow, I didn’t think you would. Remember that time when we were kids and you hid all the dirty dishes instead of washing them? Like your mom wasn’t going to notice all her dishes disappearing.”
He laughs. “Yeah, didn’t think that one through. And then she made me wash them all, and not only were they harder to clean, but my room stank like old food for two weeks. You helped me clean up, though…and wash the dishes.”
I toss a grin over my shoulder. “Most of them. I washed most of them.” He’s always hated doing dishes.
Eric grabs his crutches and walks over to me. “One of the reasons I love you, husband.” He kisses my cheek, then pumps his eyebrows like he does when he’s being silly. “TV night?”
“Works for me.”
“I’ll be back.” He heads to his room, and I wash dishes, stressed out that he’s going to come out half naked again and I’m going to be the worst best friend ever who is suddenly popping boners thinking about said best friend. This new development isn’t pleasant…at all.
I finish the dishes just as Eric comes out in…yep, the shorts with his underwear waistband showing. I guess that’s better than in just his underwear, but what the fuck. Is he trying to kill me?
Living with him feels harder than it used to. Was I always noticing him like this? It was a lot easier to ignore when we weren’t sharing such a close space.
I sit in my corner of the couch, but Eric immediately lies down with his head in my lap. He feels totally comfortable with me, and I’m suddenly perving on him. Awesome. This is why I’ve always been so cautious when it comes to the whole being around each other naked .
“What are we gonna watch?” Eric asks.
“What do you wanna watch?”
“What do you wanna watch?”
I roll my eyes. “How about that show where the people get stuck in that small town and creepy things come out at night to kill them? I’ve heard good things about it.”
“Bet.” Eric has always loved horror-type shows.
I go into the streaming service as Eric rolls to his side, nuzzling his face into my thigh.
This is nothing new. He’s the cuddliest person I’ve ever known, and his favorite person to cuddle with happens to be me.
I’ve always loved that about us, but now it’s making me nervous.
I’ve done so well with not ever even allowing myself to consider Eric as anything more than a straight friend I’d never hook up with or fall for, but this marriage is already giving me random Eric-induced hard-ons.
The show starts, and there’s a slight glare from the overhead light, but I don’t want to get up and turn it off.
“You’re not petting me. You always pet me.” He turns slightly and looks up at me.