Chapter 5
Kota wrapped a towel around his waist, using another to dry his damp hair, grimacing when it stood up in wet spikes around his all head.
He jumped when there was a gentle knock at the door. “Y-Yeah?”
“It’s me,” Walker called.
Me.
There was so much implied intimacy in the short sentence.
Me. As if it was inevitable, like the only “me” Kota should know was Walker.
Or maybe Kota was just imagining things.
One blowjob didn’t mean the older man wanted him or that it would ever happen again.
That was the problem. Kota didn’t know what it meant or if it meant anything at all.
And for the first time in his whole life, he actually cared about the outcome.
Kota turned the lock, then peeked around the door frame, heart knocking off-kilter when he saw Walker standing there, drenched. He could hear the rain really coming down outside.
The idea of getting cozy in Walker’s clothes only to be caught in a torrential downpour landed heavy in his belly. But there wasn’t really much to do about it. He took the clothes offered, disappointed when Walker didn’t join him inside.
“I’ll wait here,” Walker said gruffly.
Kota gave a stilted nod. “‘Kay.”
Did Walker regret it? Was he even capable of regret?
Was he capable of any feelings at all? Jesus, Kota really was an absolute joke.
First, he almost gets murdered by one killer and now he’s crushing on another.
It had been hours. Not even a full day. Yet, there Kota was, wistfully thinking of a man who had literally just explained that he didn’t kill innocent people because they had the survival skills of a squirrel.
Squirrel.
That was what Walker had called him. A squirrel. He wasn’t wrong. His survival instincts were just as bad if not worse. No matter how many times Kota got hurt, he still kept venturing out into the road. Was it any wonder there were dozens of tread marks on his back?
Kota’s chest felt tight as he shoved his feet into black sweatpants that pooled at his ankles, then pulled on a sleeveless white t-shirt with faded lettering that fell almost to his thighs.
He plucked at the fabric as he stared at himself in the large mirror.
He looked like a kid playing dress-up in his father’s closet.
Not sexy at all.
He pressed the fabric to his nose, inhaling deeply. It smelled like clean laundry and something that was just Walker. He shook his head at the ridiculous thought. He was every bit the gullible idiot his mother claimed he was.
He slipped his socks and shoes back on, then realized his clothes were missing. Had Walker grabbed them before he’d left earlier? Kota had been too cum-drunk to notice.
He exited the bathroom, finding Walker standing guard, but still didn’t ask.
“All yours,” he said when Walker looked at him.
He gave Kota a hard once-over that had him wanting to cover himself. Especially when Walker smirked and muttered, “Cute.”
“What?” Kota asked, glowering up at him.
“I’ll use the shower on the rig,” Walker said, like he hadn’t said anything at all.
Kota blinked at him. “There’s a shower on the rig?”
Walker nodded. “Yeah, a toilet, too. A whole bathroom. But very small. This is far more comfortable.”
How? How had Kota missed a whole bathroom? He’d seen the small kitchen and the bunk, but a bathroom? How much had that cost?
Kota followed him out of the showers, stopping short when he walked into Walker’s wet back.
The rain was coming down in sheets.
“What do we do?” Kota asked.
“Do you want to try to wait it out?” Walker asked.
“Not really, no,” Kota admitted.
“Me neither. It’s just a little water,” Walker said. “Lets make a run for it.”
Kota nodded. Walker snatched his hand and took off, all but dragging Kota behind him.
The soles of his sneakers slipped on oil-slick asphalt and splashed in puddles, but Walker’s firm grip kept him upright.
They didn’t climb into the driver or passenger seat, but the one that led directly to the sleeper part of the cab.
Walker yanked the door open, then picked Kota up like he weighed nothing, practically hurling him into the rig. He caught himself before he went face first onto the floor. Walker hopped in behind him, then slammed the door shut with a finality that had Kota’s insides shaking.
The rain on the roof was white noise, the low rumble of a motor adding to the feeling of being isolated. Walker slipped between the seats and pulled down shutters, blocking the windows and the world outside.
It was cozy, or it would have been had Kota not been sopping wet.
He expected Walker to excuse himself to this mysterious bathroom to get dry, but instead he turned his attention to Kota, taking in his bedraggled appearance with a chuckle.
Once more, Kota glowered at him, but that only seemed to amuse Walker more.
He took a towel from one of the overhead bins, closing the small distance between them and roughly drying Kota’s hair, laughing when he pulled back the cotton cloth before combing his fingers through the younger man’s damp hair, like he was trying to tame it.
He dropped the towel, then reached for the hem of Kota’s t-shirt that was plastered to him like a second skin. “Arms up.”
Kota hated how easily he complied, letting Walker pull the dripping fabric from his body and drop it into the small sink built into the wall.
“Shoes, too.”
Kota slipped them off, watching Walker do the same. The older man rid himself of his hat as well.
Kota’s mouth went dry when Walker kneeled before him for the second time that night—morning?—slipping off his wet socks and tossing them in the direction of his shirt.
When Walker’s large callused hands reached for Kota’s waistband, he panicked, grabbing his wrists, earning a stormy look.
“I-I don’t have any underwear on,” he stammered.
A slow smile crawled across Walker’s face. “I know. I didn’t bring you any.”
“I’ll be naked,” Kota said, sounding far more scandalized than he should have, all things considered.
“You do realize it was me kneeling in front of you forty-five minutes ago. Right?” Walker teased.
“It’s different,” he whispered.
“It’s not,” Walker assured him. “Let go, squirrel. I’m not gonna ask you nicely again.”
Kota gasped, his cock twitching with interest at Walker’s harsh tone.
He flushed when Walker laughed. “Oh, you like being bossed around, do you? Noted.”
Kota looked away but released Walker’s wrists, letting him strip his wet pants from him. He fought the urge to cover himself. Walker was still clothed, but Kota was naked as the day he was born…and half hard. What now?
Walker stood, cupping Kota’s face for a second, scanning him. He sighed, then pointed to the bunk. There was now a thick blanket on the mattress along with two pillows.
“Get under the covers,” Walker said softly.
“What?”
When Walker gave him another sharp look, Kota scurried to get beneath the heavy wool blanket, hating how warm and cozy he instantly felt in Walker’s bed.
He rolled onto his side, snuggling deeper into the pillow to watch as Walker slowly peeled his wet t-shirt over his head, like he was putting on a show.
Maybe he was.
Kota drank in the sight of him, now bare from the waist up.
Sweet Jesus. He had one of those bodies that seemed impossible. Broad shoulders, narrow waist, not ripped like the guys on television, but belly flat, abs defined, like his body had come from hard work, not time spent in the gym.
Kota’s eyes locked on the trail of hair that started just beneath his navel and disappeared below his waistband. His stomach tightened hard enough to hurt, and he grew fully hard just from the view.
Kota was starting to think that man had actually killed him and this was heaven or maybe purgatory. How had he ended up here?
Walker unbuttoned and unzipped his faded jeans, shoving them down thick thighs dusted with hair. Kota swallowed the lump in his throat, licking his dry lower lip, forcing his gaze upwards only to find Walker grinning at him like he could read his mind.
Kota’s cheeks flamed, his heart hammering like a hummingbird against his ribs. Heat crawled up the back of his neck, embarrassment and desire tangling together until he couldn’t separate them anymore.
He quickly rolled onto his back, staring straight up at the roof of the truck, terrified to make eye contact again. He’d never been so attracted to another human before. Walker was such a…man. Big. Confident. Dangerous in a way that should have terrified Kota more than it did.
He gasped as Walker’s silhouette suddenly appeared above him, just hovering, looking down at him. Kota opened his mouth and closed it again, unsure what to say in this situation. He couldn’t figure out if he was scared, horny, or both.
Probably both.
Definitely both.
Kota watched with a strange feeling of inevitability as Walker leaned down…
down…down until they were nose to nose, close enough for Kota to see the flecks of greenish gold in his eyes.
Close enough that Kota could feel the warmth of his breath ghosting over his mouth.
He held his breath, heat rushing through him as his dick fully hardened under a blanket too loose to hide it.
Walker grinned, one large callused hand closing around the pillow beside Kota’s head, before standing up again.
“You’re not sleeping with me?” Kota heard himself ask, hating how desperate he sounded. Like he already missed the weight of the older man before he’d even touched him.
“You sound disappointed,” Walker said. “I told you I’d sleep on the floor.”
Kota’s face fell. “You just blew me in a truck stop bathroom but you won’t sleep with me?” He hated how hurt he sounded.
Surprise flickered across Walker’s face. “Do you want me to sleep with you?”
Kota shrugged. “I mean…there’s plenty of room.”
Walker studied his face. “You say that, but you seem awfully anxious about the prospect.”
He wasn’t wrong. But…