Chapter 15
Mikey’s teal eyes take on a glassy, faraway look, and I’m once again cursing myself for being unable to tone back my intensity.
“Where’d you go, Mikey?” I murmur.
Mikey blinks at me before she clears her throat and scoots to the edge of the counter.
Reluctantly, I move so she can hop down.
She glances around for her discarded pants.
I pick them up from behind me, hand them to her, and watch as she slides them on to cover herself like my face wasn’t just buried in her pussy.
“Talk to me, please.”
Mikey chews on her bottom lip and fiddles with the hem of her shirt. “I thought this was a one time thing. Just for tonight. Something fun to release some tension, I guess. But now you’re talking about wanting my heart, and I don’t know what to do with that. You can’t mean it.”
I run my fingers through my hair, my cock twitching with the memory of having her hands in it just minutes ago. “When did either of us clarify this was just a one time thing? When did I give you the impression this was only for tonight?”
“Well, I don’t know.”
“Do you think I just fuck anyone who sleeps in my house? It’s been over five years since I’ve had sex, Mikey. This wasn’t just something fun for me. And I absolutely mean it. You may not believe me, but it doesn’t make it any less true.”
Mikey blinks at me with a furrow between her brows. “Five years? And you don’t want to do anything other than eat me out?”
I grab her hands, dipping my chin to look her in the eyes. “I want your complete trust, Mikey. If it takes until tomorrow, next week, seven years down the road, or never, I won’t change my mind. I’m a patient man.”
“Why, though? We barely know each other. How can you possibly…” She trails off, like she doesn’t want to say it out loud. Like if she says it, it’ll be real, and I think it scares her.
Maybe it’s crazy. No, it is crazy. I may not know how she takes her coffee or her birthday. I don’t know her comfort meal or her favorite movie, but those are things I can learn with a simple question. Things I will learn as soon as she gives me the chance.
What I know now is she’s resilient. She’s been through so much in her life, and it hasn’t made her cynical to the entire world, just to love.
I can work with that. I can help her learn to trust, if she’ll let me.
I know I feel connected to her in a way I’ve never felt with anyone and being unable to get to know her fully this past year has been agony.
So yeah, maybe we barely know each other, but I know what I feel.
“I can’t possibly… be falling for you? Sweetheart, I’ve spent the better part of a year thinking about you daily.”
“That can’t possibly be true.”
“Ask Ruby. Or Slater. They’ll both confirm they had to talk me out of driving over to Salem just to see you.
Do you know how many times I thought about calling the shop just to hear your voice?
I knew the moment I saw you I wanted to get to know you, I knew you were someone special.
I was too chicken shit to make a move, though. ”
“So, why now?”
“Because through some stroke of fate, you’re here.
In my town, in my home, in my clothes. I wasn’t lying, if you’d told me no earlier, I would have been ecstatic I got to kiss you.
I would have left you alone, amazed you trusted me enough to sleep over here.
But I’m lucky you gave me the gift of the hottest experience of my life, and I don’t take it for granted.
I hope my luck stretches just a bit more, and I can be lucky enough to have you sleeping next to me tonight. ”
I want to confess exactly how gone I am for her. I want to admit to breaking my own damn vehicle in order to have a single interaction with her, but Mikey’s eyes are wide with slight panic, and I don’t know if it would push her over the edge.
“If I were to say I want to sleep in the guest room and forget this ever happened?”
“I would respect your decision. Your needs outweigh mine.” I hope she doesn't want to. I would be devastated, but I’d rather stay awake sad all night than ever make her do something she doesn’t want to do.
Mikey glances back at my closed bedroom door, but my eyes never leave her. I swear I can see the wheels turning in her head. Finally, she puffs out a long breath. “And if I didn’t want to go back to the guest room?”
“I’d be the happiest man alive.”
“I want… I want to sleep next to you.”
Fuck yes.
While I finished cleaning up the kitchen last night, we decided to ask each other two more questions before we finally crashed around eleven o’clock. I would have stayed up all night with her if I didn’t have to be up early.
I learned how she takes her coffee—hot with sugar and cream. She asked me about the latest book I’ve read, and it led to us discovering we have the same favorite author, which led to us talking about our must-read authors.
We have very similar tastes when it comes to reading, and now I have a whole list of books to add to my Tbr.
All I could picture is us reading a book about BDSM or one with a kinky sex scene and her begging me to recreate it. I’d try anything with Mikey as long as she’s happy and giving me a chance.
My last question of the night was “What’s a dream you’ve never told anyone?
” and though she was hesitant to answer, she eventually did.
She told me she wants to own her own shop, specializing in vintage restoration.
Her eyes lit up talking about restoring her truck, and I wanted to bottle her joy.
I want to hear her talk about what makes her happy—be someone who makes her happy—for the rest of her life.
When my alarm goes off at three-thirty, I quickly shut it off so it doesn’t wake the sleepy dream girl next to me. Mikey’s curled on her side facing me, with one hand on my chest. My hand is on her side, feeling the gentle rise and fall of her inhalations.
I barely resist the urge to give her a forehead kiss, but I don’t want to wake her.
I gently roll myself out of bed, shuffling quietly across the floor before locking myself in the bathroom. I brush my teeth and run a comb through my hair before securing it in a bun at the back of my head.
Padding out of the bathroom and through the bedroom, I shut the door as soundlessly as I can before making my way to the kitchen.
I start the coffee maker then pull out the croissant dough I prepped the day before yesterday and start rolling it out, adding chocolate and rolling them into perfectly shaped pillows.
When the coffee’s done brewing, I fill a cup and add in my preferred sugar cookie creamer before I get back to rolling. An hour in, my front door clicks, and Ruby appears, still in her pajamas with her hair in a haphazard, lopsided bun on the top of her head.
“Morning, Rubes.”
“It’s morning, all right,” she grumbles as she pours herself a cup of coffee.
I chuckle at her attitude, but I don’t blame her for not wanting to be awake.
She’s never been an early riser. I thrive in the early mornings.
Being awake when the rest of the world is still asleep fills me with calm.
I love seeing the sun peek over the horizon, waking up the rest of the world.
“You know you don’t have to be here, right? I can handle this on my own.”
“I told you I’d come help. I figured you’d be up late, anyway. Also, happy birthday, big brother.” Ruby lifts her cup in cheers.
My cheeks heat at her insinuation. Ruby and I don’t discuss our sex lives. I know she’s not some pure, virginal angel, but I don’t want to hear about her escapades, just like I don’t want to tell her about mine. “Thank you. It’s been the best one so far.”
“I’m going to pretend you just held hands and went to sleep. I’m glad she’s here, though. What do you want me to start on?”
“You can work on the danishes. The cream cheese mixture needs to be—”
The front door creaks open, and Slater walks in. Ruby squeaks, dropping the plastic bowl she’d just picked up.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Ruby and I ask at the same time.
Slater holds out his hands like he’s presenting himself. “Happy birthday, brother! I’m here to help prep and make your day easier.”
“Absolutely not. You can transport, but that’s it.”
Slater’s eyes cut to Ruby, and he pushes his lips out in a pout. “C’mon, Ruby. Let me help.”
Ruby doesn’t spare him a second glance. “Saint’s in charge of the pastries, so take it up with him. I personally wouldn’t let you anywhere near my kitchen.”
Slater clicks his tongue and shakes his head. “You wound me. Fine, I guess I’ll sit here and look pretty.”
I glance at Ruby just in time to see her roll her eyes. Slater makes himself comfy on one of the barstools. “Your girl in your bed?”
“Yes. Stop yapping so she doesn’t wake up.”
Slater whistles. “Damn, you keep her up all night? Show her exactly what you like? Tell me—”
“I’m not telling you shit—”
“Thank god,” Ruby interjects. “What they did is none of your business, pig. What, you can’t find a girl of your own to fuck, so you have to live vicariously through Saint?”
Slater smirks, unperturbed by Ruby’s barb. “I think we both know I have no problem finding someone to warm my bed, precious. Saint’s been living like a monk for so long, excuse me for wanting to make sure my best friend is satisfied after he finally finds the balls to make a move.”
Ruby clenches her hand so tightly around the spoon she’s using her knuckles go white.
When did Slater start calling her “precious?”
Before she can add gasoline to the fire, I say, “Not that it’s any of your business, but Mikey and I are taking things slow.”
Slater stares at me blankly for a beat before he barks out a laugh. “Slow? S, you’ve been drooling over her for a year. You even went as far as—”
“I know what I did,” I whisper harshly. I don’t want him to say it out loud. Mikey could be listening, and I need to be the one to tell her.
“All I’m saying is, much slower and you won’t be getting her pregnant until you’re forty.”
Don’t think about Mikey being pregnant.
“Not everyone has a breeding kink, Slater,” I deadpan.
“No, but you do have a Daddy kink so…”
Slater and I know entirely too much about each other.
We’ve been friends for over twenty years, and when we were discovering our…
sexual preferences in our early twenties, we had many conversations about what we enjoyed.
It started with Slater getting drunk and asking if the thought of coming inside a woman and getting her pregnant turned me on.
That led to us taking kink surveys. Slater realized he has a breeding kink, and I realized I have a “Daddy” kink.
“Oh. My. God. Will you shut your big, stupid mouth? I don’t want to hear about my brother’s kinks before the goddamned sun is out! Or yours for that matter,” Ruby snaps, glaring at Slater like if she stares hard enough he’ll disintegrate.
Slater and Ruby have argued our entire friendship.
One of them is always getting on the others’ nerves like siblings, but even Ruby and I don’t fight like they do.
Something’s shifted in the last month or so, and Ruby’s sass is notched impossibly higher, and Slater’s antagonizing is more persistent.
I don’t know what the hell has gotten into them.
My bedroom door opens, and Mikey blinks at the lights, shuffling into the kitchen. She glances at Ruby and offers her the most adorable, sleepy smile, then her eyes dart to Slater, and she freezes.
“Well, hot damn, Saint. You didn’t tell me she was so pretty,” he says, appraising Mikey.
“Fuck you, Slater.” I flip him the bird. “Good morning, sweetheart. Did we wake you?” I round the counter, wiping my hands on my apron.
Mikey glances at Slater again. “No, I’m usually an early riser. Sorry, I didn’t think anyone would be here.”
Slater hops off his stool and offers his hand to Mikey. “Hey there, sweetheart, I’m this guy’s best friend, Slater. So nice to finally meet the object of Saint’s obsession. I was starting to worry he’d made you up.”
Mikey shakes his hand. “Nope, I uh, I’m real. Nice to meet you, too.”
“Don’t call her ‘sweetheart,’ you asshole,” I grumble, wrapping my arm around Mikey’s waist. She tenses briefly before melting into my side.
Part of me worries Mikey will find Slater more attractive with his lean frame and tattooed biker vibes.
Like me, he’s got a beard and long hair, currently pulled into a messy bun, but his is dark brown.
He’s wearing a sweatshirt, but underneath is a full sleeve on each arm, and a hint of a tattoo peeks out above the collar on his neck.
After the introduction, my worry vanishes because Mikey doesn’t spare Slater a second glance. Instead, she gives Ruby another smile.
“Hi, Mikey! Do you want some coffee?” Ruby asks, motioning to the pot.
“You didn’t offer me coffee when I got here,” Slater scoffs.
“That’s because I don’t like you,” Ruby sasses back.
“You seemed to like me just fine when I had my—uh, tools fixing your godforsaken VW for the third time in eighteen months.”
Ruby’s eyes flash with defiance, and I can tell whatever she wants to say will be scathing, but Mikey speaks before she can.
“Wait, you’re a mechanic?”
Ruby’s mouth clamps shut, and Slater’s eyes meet mine, full of panic and apology.
Fuck me.
“Uh, yep. Yeah. I own Lovestruck Motors here in town. Saint didn’t tell you?” Because I’ve known him forever, I see the glimmer of humor in his eyes. Fuck this asshole for finding this funny.
My whole cover is about to be blown, and Mikey’s going to bolt out of here so fast all I’ll be left with is the ghost of her touch.
“Why would he tell her? It’s not like you would have been any help when he broke down in Salem,” Ruby interjects.
“I could have towed your van back here so he could work on it, then you wouldn’t have had to come all the way back to Salem.” Mikey sounds skeptical and rightfully so.
“How would he find another excuse to see you again if you did?” Slater teases.
Mikey’s face flushes at the implication, and I can barely hold myself back from tracing the color with my fingertips.
I wish Ruby and Slater weren’t here right now so I could give Mikey a proper good morning kiss.
Having her here feels natural, perfect. Part of me wishes it was stormy all the time so I could keep her here forever.
Instead of shying away or denying it, I decide to lean into what Slater is saying. “Yeah, sweetheart, how would I convince you to spend another night with me?”