Chapter 6
Amos
Morning light crept in through the curtains, and I lay there watching Shelly sleep.
I told myself last night didn’t mean anything. But the second I looked at her, that lie didn’t hold up worth a damn.
I’d known she mattered before I ever touched her.
Last night just proved how much.
I’d walked away from a hundred women without a second thought. But the idea of doing that to Shelly sat wrong in my gut.
What was it that she did to me that no other woman ever had?
Normally, after sex, I was itching to get free again.
But I didn’t want to let her go.
Not yet.
She was pressed against me with her wild curls spread across my shoulder. Her lips were slightly parted, her body warm and heavy with sleep, and I couldn’t stop looking at her.
I traced the edges of her lips.
I’d always been fascinated by her mouth.
It was expressive and told the story of her heart without the need for a single word.
I knew when she was mad. When she was scared. When she was happy. Or feeling shy.
All I had to do was peek at her mouth to see how she was feeling.
Right now she was happy in her sleep, if the tiny, satisfied curl at the edge of her lips was any indication.
She was so beautiful it almost made me ache. And I was also hard enough to drive nails, because she smelled like sex, and every instinct I had was screaming at me to wake her up slow and sweet and give her a howdy sunshine morning greeting.
But I’d promised.
Thirty days.
No sex.
It had sounded like a long time when she said it.
Now it felt like a clock ticking down.
I was already regretting that agreement with every fiber of my being.
When her eyes finally blinked open and found mine, I smiled down at her.
“Morning, gorgeous,” I rumbled, stroking my hand through her hair.
She looked up at me for a moment, still soft with sleep, and then a small smile pulled at her lips. “Amos. Holy shit. I can’t believe what we did last night.”
“Mmm. I can.” I kissed her hair. “And I understand the purpose of the after-fuck cuddle now. But I don’t think I’d want to do this with just any woman.”
I paused, then rumbled, “But I like it with you.”
The words came out easier than they should have. Even though I wasn’t entirely sure what they meant yet.
She raised an eyebrow. “So you’ve really never cuddled with a woman after sex? What’s the difference between this and a couch cuddle?”
Heat crawled up the back of my neck.
“That’s special. I only do that with you.”
“Are you teasing me right now, Amos Nelson?”
“Naw. Did I say something funny?”
She gave me a curious look, then sat up after a moment and stretched, the movement pulling her shirt up over her gorgeous thighs.
And I watched her with absolutely zero shame, my cock already trying to decide how to spend the next twenty minutes.
But sweet Shelly-Rae had snuck that no-sex clause in, so I kept those thoughts to myself.
“I can let the guys know to stay out of the showers for a bit,” I offered. “If you want to clean up.”
She blinked at me. “The guys?”
“We just have a group shower room here,” I said. “And a row of toilet stalls. It’s a logging camp, not a hotel.”
Her mouth fell open. “The other women you’ve brought here didn’t mind that?”
“I’ve never brought anyone here before,” I said.
She stared at me in shock. “I thought you were joking about that.”
“Nope. Not everything I say is a joke.”
She was quiet for a second, looking at me with an expression I couldn’t quite read.
“Sometimes you surprise me, Amos.”
She dropped a kiss on my cheek. “I’ll skip the group shower. Can you drive me home? And… do you still want to pick me up this afternoon for the festival?”
Shelly was looking at me with hopeful, wide eyes.
“Yeah, Shelly.” My voice sounded alien to my ears. It was all soft and gushy instead of deep and rumbly like normal. This girl was doing something to me. “Of course I can.”
I hadn’t known how dangerous it would be to bring her home last night.
It felt like something seismic was shifting in my universe, and I didn’t know what to do for once.
My whole experience with women up to this point had been flirting with them long enough to get them in bed with me.
But what to do with one of them afterward? I was in uncharted territory.
And Shelly wasn’t just any woman.
She was the only woman I’d ever deeply cared about.
“About that no-sex rule,” I joked. “Can we discuss that?”
Her eyes flashed, “Absolutely not! If we spend thirty days having sex, you won’t learn a thing, Amos. And we’re supposed to be reforming you.”
I slipped the covers down so she could see how hard I was for her.
Then I rumbled, “Okay, Shelly-Rae. We’ll do it your way. But at the end of thirty days, I’m hoping you give me a nice reward for all my good behavior.”
Her mouth dropped open as she eyed my cock.
Then she laughed, her hand landing comfortably on my chest.
“You might be a hopeless case, Amos.”
“Mm,” I growled, “Maybe I am.” Then I stood up and did a slow tease of putting on my clothes for her.
By the end of it, I knew she was slicked up and horny for me, but my sweet Shelly pretended I had no effect on her at all.
***
I couldn’t stop looking at Shelly.
She was sitting beside me on a hay bale under a canopy of purple-pink redbud blossoms, as she stole the last piece of funnel cake right off the paper plate we’d been sharing.
“Hey! Is that good girlfriend material?” I joked as I watched her theft occur. “Maybe we should break up if this is how you treat your men.”
Shelly turned to me with that wide, bright smile of hers and held up the last bite of funnel cake, dusted in powdered sugar, offering it to me like she was feeding a very large, very grateful bear.
I leaned in and took it right from her fingers, and she laughed when my lips brushed her fingertips. Then I took the moment to suck the sugar off them.
“You’re going to get powdered sugar in your beard.”
“Worth it.”
She brushed at my beard, wiping the sugar remnants off it.
Charlie was up on the main stage doing a solid job on a wild Ozark tune that he’d written about a diamond he’d found in the river, his voice carrying easily across the park grounds. I knew he was singing about his new wife. The whole town did.
I resisted the urge to join him up there and belt out a few tunes like I normally would.
I liked to be the loudest man at a party, but today I wanted Shelly’s attention more than anyone else’s. I was trying to be a good fake-boyfriend to Shelly, and I figured that meant sticking by her side.
Around us, springtime was in full bloom.
The white flowering dogwood trees lined the festival, and patches of cheery daffodils sprouted in clumps along the ground.
Mountains rose green and hazy in the distance behind the food stalls. The town square was full of vivid spring colors.
I’d never been big on town festivals before, but Shelly made damn near anything more fun.
We stood and started walking again, drifting back toward the main row where the game booths lined up in a cheerful, noisy row.
I took her hand without thinking about it, lacing my fingers through hers, and she let me, her palm warm and soft against mine.
“So when do the actual lessons start?” I asked. “Because I’ve been on my best behavior all day and nobody’s given me a gold star yet.”
It was hard to imagine that last night I’d been wrecking this woman. And now she was back in the no-touch zone.
I wanted to tackle her to the ground and take her right here with the whole town looking on. But I kept my hands to myself.
She glanced up at me with a playful look. “Amos, the lesson has already started.”
I frowned. “It has?”
“Step one is taking a woman on an actual date. Not just hanging out or fucking them. Women want to feel special, and hanging out is nice, but it can’t be everything.
” She swung our joined hands lightly between us.
“You took me on the Ferris wheel. You walked me through the dogwoods. You bought me a funnel cake. You already got a gold star from me.”
“Can I trade gold stars for blow jobs?”
She laughed and swatted my arm. “Maybe. Ask me again after our thirty days are up.”
I considered what she’d said. Not the blow job part, but everything before that.
Most of what Shelly and I had ever done was hang out.
Pool games at the Bear Den. Bonfire parties all around town. Sitting on her couch, watching whatever was on. Or hanging out with the gang at Hidden Lake.
Those were the kinds of things we tended to do together. And other than the couch-snuggling, it usually involved a bunch of our friends.
It was easy and comfortable, but… not exactly intentional.
Today did feel like more of a date, since we’d come here together.
“What else?” I asked.
“No wandering eyes,” she tilted her head and assessed me. “You’ve been doing great with that today, for the record.”
“Nice to know I’m passing the class.”
I hadn’t even noticed any other woman today.
Actually, I hadn’t since the moment Shelly approached me last night with fire in her eyes.
The rest of womanhood had ceased to exist for me after that. I was one small heartbeat away from total domestication.
“And showing a woman she matters,” she continued. “You also got good marks on that today. The next step is opening up. You could learn to communicate without hiding behind jokes all the time.”
I considered that, then grinned. “Well, hell. Sounds like I’m ready to date for real.”
Shelly’s smile stayed on her face, but her eyes flickered for a moment, so fast I almost missed it.
But I didn’t miss it.
I turned it over in my head while we walked, trying to figure out what I’d said that landed wrong.
And then I dug down a little deeper than I usually let myself share. “I don’t mean to joke all the time. I know I do it.”
She looked at me, and this time the smile was softer and more real.
“It’s who you are. I get it. But sometimes, it’s nice to let people in. At least… if you want to get to know a woman for real.”
The lessons were getting harder. But I forced myself to try it out.