Chapter 7
Aisling
Four years ago
Leaning against the doorjamb to my bedroom, I watch Tanner position the headboard at the top of the frame, while using his other hand to carefully slot the bolt into place. After giving it a few rough flicks with his wrist he glances down at the tools on the floor, brow creased as he searches for something.
When he spots it he breathes out a laugh and his eyes meet mine, smiling bashfully.
“Didn’t realise that it was over there.” He jerks his chin toward the large hand-tool that’s lying near the foot of the bed, about three feet in front of me. “Mind grabbing that screw for me?” he asks.
I tuck a curl behind my ear and smile. “Of course.”
I quickly set down the mug in my hands and gently pad into the room, kind of excited to be involved in part of the process. I pick up the large hand-tool before making my way over to where Tanner’s standing.
“Once we’ve screwed these bolts into place, the frame will be finished. Then all we need to do is grab that” – he tips his chin toward my queen sized mattress resting against the wall in front of us – “haul it up on here, lay down some bedding, and then…” He shrugs. “All done.”
He glances down at the tool in my hand and then his eyes flash back to mine.
“Wanna do the honours?” he asks, in that impossibly deep voice of his.
“Me?” I ask, a little nervous.
I can’t help but fear that, if I touch the bed, all of Tanner’s hard work will come crashing down around us.
A smile tugs at the corner of his mouth, a beautiful warmth in his cheeks. “Yeah, you.”
“But what if I mess it up?” I ask, looking desperately at my gorgeous new bed.
He shakes his head. “You can’t go wrong with it, I promise. The drill’s not electric so the worst thing that can happen is that the bolt slips out before you’ve screwed it in tight enough. And that doesn’t matter either, because I’m still holding the frame in place.”
I cautiously flick my gaze over to his right arm, which is currently gripping firmly into the headboard, keeping it erect. I have to gulp down a little swallow as I watch his biceps flex and ripple.
“Okay,” I whisper nervously, sliding my eyes back up to his.
He gives me a small encouraging nod and then repositions his body, so that there’s a tiny Aisling-sized space between him and the headboard. He taps the bolt with his left thumb and says, “You’re gonna find the ridge in the bolt and slip the drill inside. Then start twisting clockwise until it feels tight enough to you.”
“Will you check that it’s tight enough after?” I ask breathlessly, not wanting to climb on top of my mattress tonight and then have the headboard smash down on top of me.
Tanner’s eyes are practically boring holes into the small bolt, his whole face on fire as he murmurs, “Uh, yeah, I can, uh… check how tight it is.”
Taking a steadying breath, I lean down slowly. Then after examining the bolt, I slip the drill into the little ridge.
Step one complete.
I look up at him with a hopeful smile and he breathes out a quiet laugh, returning it.
“Yeah, that’s it. Now start twisting it,” he says.
I drop my eyes back to the bolt and begin tightening it to the right.
“Keep going,” he instructs, and I nod in response. I keep my eyes on the bolt, not wanting to lose my concentration.
“I think it’s almost there,” I say quietly, as I begin to feel a little resistance in my hand.
“Yeah?” he asks, shifting slightly at my side. He removes his left hand from beneath the bolt so that he can grip it at the top of the headboard and he opens his right palm beside mine, crooking his digits in a silent question. “Want me to check?”
I move my hand up the drill so that he can take control of the handle, and then I back away slightly as he jerks his arm roughly. The screw undoubtedly twists another couple of turns.
But he doesn’t mention it. Instead he looks at me with a smile and says, “You did it perfect.”
I laugh and shake my head. “Yeah, okay,” I say, going along with his little lie.
He grins back at me as he moves to the other side of the headboard, grabbing a second bolt from his shorts and beginning to slot it into the next hole.
Feeling kind of bold I fluff up my ponytail and suggest, “Maybe I could, uh… do the other ones too?”
“Yeah,” he rasps immediately, quickly making room so that I can slip back underneath the cage of his biceps. I try to bite back my smile as his chest begins pumping unevenly against my back.
We work our way through every bolt on the back of the headboard, Tanner watching my handiwork carefully and then showering me with praise – even though he has to low-key fix every single bolt when I step back for his assessment. But he doesn’t mock me or complain. He just makes the little tweak and then smiles down at me, telling me what a good job I did.
And I enjoy every single second of it.
He screws the final bolt and then he gives the headboard a firm shake, making sure that everything is safe and secure.
I can’t contain my excitement any longer.
“Is it finished?” I ask him, clutching my hands in front of my chest.
“All done,” he confirms, chuckling quietly when I squeal in delight.
I clap my hands together and run around to the bottom of the bed, tears almost flooding my eyes as I take in the sight of my newly-finished investment.
“Well, almost all done,” he says, joining me where I stand. Before I can ask him what he means he’s gripping his hands around the bottom of the bed and shoving it forward with a low grunt. Then he turns to the wall behind us, rolls his shoulders, and hauls up the mattress. He drops it heavily onto the bed and smacks the edges into place.
Once it’s perfectly aligned he turns toward me with a crooked grin.
“Now it’s all done,” he rumbles, raking a large hand through his messed-up hair.
“Wow,” I breathe, falling back against the wall behind me. I’m pretty sure we both know that I’m not talking about the bed anymore.
He smirks and rubs the back of his neck, the stretch of his arm causing his shirt to slide up over his abs. “Anytime.”
I blink away from his big muscles and sexy smile creases and I push off the wall, walking on unsteady legs toward the doorway.
“Is there anything else I can get for you?” I ask without turning around. The sound of his footsteps behind me tells me that he’s already following.
When I see his wallet by the doorjamb I lean down to pick it up.
“Fuck, thank you,” he says, accepting it as I pass it over to him, but as it leaves my hand something begins to slip out of it.
“Sorry! I’ll get it,” I say hastily, but he bends at the same time, alarm in his voice when he says, “No, no, I’ve got it, I’ve got it–”
By the time that we’re both on the floor I realise exactly what just slid out of his wallet.
I blink up at him, alarmed, my cheeks burning pink as I hand it back to him.
A mile-long strip of condoms.
XXL condoms.
“Fuck,” he rasps, his chest heaving as he frantically tries to stuff them back inside his wallet. Like that’s going to happen, there’s about seven million on that strip. “I’m so, so sorry,” he says quickly, eyes flicking to mine with apologetic concern.
“It’s fine,” I breathe out, although my walls instantly go up a little bit. Because Tanner is gorgeous and that is a lot of condoms. Which immediately has me thinking, is this guy a total player?
But then again all of the guys that I know are proud of their prowess, whereas Tanner looks kind of mortified, so maybe he’s not–?
He shakes his head, looking anguished. “No, it’s not fine, I’m sorry. I swear I’m not… I’m not like that. I’m not like this.” He swallows hard. “My guys have been pulling this kind of shit on me all week.”
I instantly exhale with relief, my lashes fluttering shut for a small moment.
My guys have been pulling this kind of shit on me all week.
It’s just a prank from his friends. He isn’t that kind of guy.
He’s gorgeous, from a small town, and he doesn’t fuck around.
Let’s be honest – he’s kind of perfect.
I gently still his fumbling hands with the tips of my fingers, and his eyes fly up to mine, his chest stilling on a deep inhale.
“It’s your personal property, I shouldn’t have even seen what was inside there,” I tell him quietly, although he still doesn’t look convinced. I drop my eyes and whisper, “And, just so you know, I’m eighteen. It’s not like I don’t know what a condom is.”
I mean, I assumed it was pretty obvious that I’m eighteen seeing as I’m living alone in this condo. But I want to make it crystal clear because I know that I’ve got kind of a baby face.
And as soon as I say the words, I’m really glad that I did.
“You’re eighteen?” Tanner asks, sounding low-key excited.
I nod my head, breathing out a little laugh. “Yeah, I’m about to start at Carter U.”
His eyes widen even more, and he grips a hand at the back of his neck.
“You’re a freshman?” he breathes, and suddenly I think that I just messed up.
Because how old is Tanner? This guy is huge – is he too old for a freshman?
He shakes his head fervently as if he can sense exactly what I’m thinking. “I’m eighteen, too. I’m also about to–”
“You are?” I squeal, so relieved that I almost hug him. Instead I just throw myself on the floor and moan, which causes Tanner to sit back against the wall opposite me and release a chuckle of his own.
“What, you think I look old or something?” he asks, his tone teasing.
I sink my teeth into my smile and cover my eyes, laughing hard.
“No way!” I lie, and I feel his sneaker nudge gently against mine, immediately releasing a new onslaught of giggles.
When I peek up at him from under my arms he’s smiling back at me.
My laughter gradually dies down, until the only sound in the corridor is our heavy breathing after the sudden whirlwind of emotions.
I slowly push up onto my elbows, his eyes never leaving mine, until my back is against the wall and I’m mirroring his position.
“Aisling,” I say quietly, revealing another tiny part of myself. “That’s my name.”
He exhales calmly. “That’s a beautiful name.”
A smile tugs at the corner of my mouth as I slowly rise to my feet. He follows my lead while slipping his wallet back into his shorts.
“Um, I don’t really have plans this afternoon, except for putting my bedding on and settling in,” I tell him. I gesture toward one of the couches in the living room and explain, “I’ve been sleeping on the couch so I’m pretty excited to finally have a bed again.”
Tanner glances at the couch, frowning.
“Wasn’t it too small?”
I point toward the size of my body and he drops his chin, smiling. “Right.”
“So anyway,” I continue, swiping the floor with the toe of my trainer. “I was thinking… if it’s still raining or if you wanted to hang out… you could totally stay here for a little while, if you want to? Like, I’ll probably watch some football or–”
“Yes,” he says immediately. “I mean, yeah, I’d like that. That sounds really great.”
“The football part, you mean?” I say with a teasing smile.
He pokes his tongue in his cheek. “Uh, sure. Football. Yeah.”
I breathe out a laugh, trying not to get all shy.
“Okay, great,” I giggle, gently biting into my lower lip. “I’ll just grab my laptop. We can watch it on my bed.”
I hear a choking sound behind me as I pad into the living room to grab my Macbook.
“Your bed?” he asks, and I glance back at him over my shoulder.
“Yeah,” I say, like duh. “I’ve been living on this couch. I don’t plan on leaving that bed for, like, one whole week.”
“A week,” he pants, his tanned biceps straining.
I grin up at him and then point to the bedding on the couch.
“Wanna help?” I ask, and then I stifle a giggle when he launches into action.
“Yeah,” he rasps. “Put me to work.”