Chapter 12 Tate
tate
Death by sex wasn’t the worst way to go.
I propped myself up on my forearms. I was far too heavy for her no matter what she said.
Her face was soft and relaxed, her eyes closed.
“Hey.”
Those big gray eyes opened. “Hi.” Then her stomach roared.
I laughed. “Hope we didn’t burn all your hard work.”
She giggled. “Worth it if we did.” She reached up and pushed a hank of hair off my sweaty forehead. “You, sir, should have a warning label for that thing.”
“You seemed to handle me just fine.”
She stroked her foot down my thigh. “I certainly did. If you see me hobbling tomorrow, don’t laugh.”
“Will I see you tomorrow?”
Her hand lowered. “Well, I think we’re nearing tomorrow at this point anyway.” She looked away at my alarm clock. “Oh, man. I better text my folks so they don’t think I died.”
“Right.” I rolled off her, my body missing hers as I grabbed a tissue off my bedside table for the condom. “Do you want to take a quick shower? I can go check on the food.”
“That would be great. Can you grab my phone off the kitchen island?”
“Yeah.” I glanced back over my shoulder. Unsure what to say, I stood up and grabbed my sleep pants off a nearby chair, then stepped in them. “I’ll be right back.”
I shivered a little as the sweat cooled on my chest. The awkward post first sex thing felt heavier than usual. Knowing her for so long, but not really knowing her at the same time seemed intrusive.
I should be joining her in the shower to remind her that whatever was between us felt good and right.
It did, dammit. More real than it had any right to. I was aware most of the world longed to be in her orbit and I was lucky enough to own a little space, but before we got naked things seemed so easy between us.
Now...
I raked my fingers through my hair and nearly tripped over Velma. She dug her nails into the flannel of my pants and the tiny needles reminded me who was really boss in my life. I scooped her up before she dragged my pants off me. “Sorry, you missed third meal.”
She chirped at me and bumped my chin. I set her on the counter and opened a can of food for her. I took a few extra moments to stroke down her fur, grounding me back into the moment.
This didn’t need to be heavy. I rolled my shoulders and picked up her phone.
Steam billowed out of the door that was cracked open. Leaving her to shower, I tossed her phone on the bed then grabbed her some clothes. My pants sure as hell wouldn’t fit her, but one of my hoodies would probably work. I pulled out one of my old Haven High ones that was soft with wear.
Happy to have her scent on me a bit longer, I grabbed my cardigan against the chill then went back out to the kitchen.
The soup smelled amazing, but I didn’t know anything about building a ramen bowl, so I finished cleaning up from the prep. I changed the music to a Noah Kahan album on my turn table. I was wiping down the counters when she came out in my sweatshirt.
“Hey.”
I looked up. “Feel better?”
“I didn’t feel bad before.” She swirled her finger around a shape she found in the veins of the countertop. “It was amazing.”
I crossed to her. “It was. And I don’t want it to be the last time.”
“Yeah?” She nibbled her lower lip. “Me neither.”
“Good.”
She touched my belly. “This is unreasonably hot.”
“What?”
“This body in a teacher sweater. Just need the glasses.”
I reached around the edge of the counter for my drawer. “Like these?” I pulled on my readers.
“Oh, now you did it.” She went on her toes and lifted her lips to mine. “Professor Reynolds, I think I need some extra credit to boost my grade.”
I crushed my mouth to hers and banded my arms around her waist.
She laughed into my mouth and the tension between us dissolved.
“I’ll count your meal as some extra credit.”
She slipped out of my arms. “I can handle that.”
We worked together to finish the meal and at midnight we were cozied up in my breakfast nook to fill our bellies. Neither of us seemed to want the night to end and we both ended up on the couch watching Scream. ’Tis the season and all.
A very insistent Velma woke me the next morning. It was hard to get up since I had an armful of Amber and a nest of blankets creating a cozy cocoon.
“Your belly is a pain in the ass.”
Velma chirped and marched across my chest with her claws out.
“Dammit.” I pulled her away from me and raised her over my head. She pawed at my cheeks, her chirps getting louder. “You’re going to wake—”
“Too late.” Amber curled under the covers. “It’s okay, I have a similarly afflicted canine.” She peeked out of the covers. “Morning.”
“Morning.” I lowered my mouth to hers, but Velma wasn’t having it and leaped between us. She laughed and I groaned. “All right, all right.” I sifted my fingers through her silky hair before I rose off the couch.
Amber took all the blankets and made a blanket fort.
I hurried over to the kitchen and got Velma’s food ready, then boosted the heat before rushing back over to dive under the covers with her.
“It’s cold.” She shivered against me.
I gathered her in close. “I keep it pretty cool in here. I’m usually hot.”
She slipped her cold hands under my sweater and I yelped. “You’ll turn it up next time, now won’t you?”
“Understood.”
“Good.” She pressed her cold nose into my neck. “Are you part polar bear or something?”
I laughed. “Well, if we were in my bed, we’d be a bit cozier.”
“I didn’t mean to sleep over. Sorry about that.”
“I like waking up with you.”
She was quiet. Damn, too fast, Reynolds.
“Me too,” she whispered.
“How about some breakfast?”
She nodded. “Tell me you have coffee, first.”
“Of course I have coffee. You might be out of luck if you like the crazy creamers, but I have those Nespresso pod things.”
“Sold.”
I kissed her forehead. “Anything you hate?”
“Peppers.”
“Got it, no peppers in your coffee.” She giggled as I slipped away from her and tucked the blankets around her. “Be right back with coffee.”
“You are a prince.”
I huffed out a laugh and started a few mugs of coffee for both of us. I broke into my holiday pods and the warm scent of caramel and espresso got me moving. I checked on Amber, who had fallen back asleep. I held off on her cup and sipped mine as I diced up some vegetables and started some bacon.
The domesticity of it should have freaked me out. Instead, it felt right to take care of her. I wasn’t sure if that made me a chump or not, but I couldn’t stop smiling.
When cold hands slipped under my sweater, I jumped. “Geeze, you’re quieter than a cat.”
She huffed out a breath and pressed her cheek to my shoulder. “Sorry, I fell back to sleep.”
“No problem.” I reached over to the coffee maker and set it to brewing for her. “You hungry?”
“Starved. I’m gonna go use the bathroom.”
“There’s an extra toothbrush in the cabinet behind the tub if you need it.”
“Bless you.” She tossed a smile over her shoulder and I damn near swallowed my tongue. Her legs should be illegal, especially when my ancient hoodie only covered an inch past her ass.
When she came back from the bathroom, she’d gotten dressed. Reality was quickly intruding, but her mussed hair and beard-burned neck had me whistling to the tunes I’d put on.
Mumford & Sons’ quick beat matched the sun streaming into the kitchen.
“Am I holding you up?”
I shook my head and held out a mug for her.
“Thank you.” She brought the mug right up to breathe it in. “That smells divine.”
“Yeah, I’m a sucker for flavored coffees. You good with an omelet?”
“That sounds amazing.” She climbed on one of the stools at the kitchen island. “I didn’t know you knew what a day off meant.”
“Feels like it.” I flicked the pan to coat the eggs around the sides to keep it thin to add the veggies and cheese. “There’s not much we can do until the cement cures. Since everyone has been working their ass off, I figured a few days off would help boost morale.”
She propped her head on her fisted hand. “You’re a good boss.”
“Thanks. Why do you say that?”
“If they hated you, they wouldn’t have stayed that late to hang after the parade.”
“I did feed them.” I folded in some cheese and mushrooms along with some caramelized onions.
“They’d take it and run.”
“Well, thanks for the vote of confidence. I’ve worked for a lot of shitty bosses. I definitely don’t want to be one.”
“No worries there.”
I added some bacon to her plate and slid the omelet beside it before setting it in front of her with a fork.
“Did you get chef lessons too?”
I laughed. “My mom said I had to learn how to cook three things when I was a teenager. I found out that I actually liked cooking. I’m pretty basic, but I won’t starve.”
“If this is basic, I can’t wait to find out what you call trying hard.”
“I do make a mean shrimp scampi.”
“Sold.” She took a bite of her omelet and crossed her eyes with a moan. “Also this, daily.”
I laughed and finished up my own and we ate together at the kitchen island. “What are you up to today?”
“I don’t know, to be honest. I’m not used to having a whole day to myself. I usually have interviews or end up in the studio. I’m not really good at being bored.”
“Do you have studio space around here?”
She shook her head. “But I have a music room at my parents’ house so if I feel the itch I can always work on something there. Have iPhone will travel with the notes app.”
“Really?”
“Oh, yeah. More than half of my songs are from me messing around at the piano or with an acoustic. I just blather on into my phone. Sometimes it’s great, but most of the time it’s crap.”
“I can’t imagine anything you do is crap.”
“Oh, it really is.” She licked the tines of the fork to get the cheese off and my chest tightened remembering just what that tongue did to me the night before.
I leaned on the counter when she held out a piece of bacon to me and took a bite.
“Do you want to come with me to the Brothers Three Orchard?”
“I’ve never been there.”
“It’s a little over an hour away.”
“Actually, that sounds fun. Let me go change. I’ll meet you back in an hour?”
“That works.”
“Let me just help you clean up.”
“Nah. Don’t worry about it. I got it.”
“Okay, I’ll let you do the dishes.” She leaned in and kissed me.
It was so natural and easy, that I felt something in my chest twist. She darted outside with a grin over her shoulder. I chased after her, making sure Velma didn’t follow us out.
“Wait. You need a code to get out. Or my app.”
She paused at the gate. “Oh, wow. That’s some serious hardware.”
“Yeah. Things got a little dicey when I first came into my money.”
She laid a hand on my arm. “I’m sorry you know what that’s like.” There was a wealth of knowledge in her eyes.
I waved my phone over the sensor and the lock clicked. She waved before she darted across the field to the pass-through between our properties.
I was in trouble.
Because I didn’t really want her to leave.