Hell. Did I screw up big-time?
If I didn’t feel sleazy before, I’m starting to now.
From the kitchen, I hear a sequence of beeps from the oven. Then a faucet flips on somewhere in the house. A moment later, he pads onto the rug and kneels beside me, looking me right in the eyes. “I’m preheating the broiler.”
“The broiler?” I echo stupidly. “I don’t even know what that is.”
Roderick smiles at me. And then, in what feels like yet another miracle, he leans down and presses a slow kiss to my lips. “I need you to get up and follow me.” He plucks his underwear off the floor and rises to his feet again.
“Okay?” Maybe he’s not mad at me after all?
He steps into his briefs and marches out of the room again, beckoning me. Still feeling stoned, I follow him dumbly into the downstairs bathroom.
“Get in.” He points at the big, clawfoot tub, which is beginning to fill with water. “Wait for me.”
I look down at the tub, where water streams from the faucet. “Okay?”
“Go on.” He gives me a pat on my bare ass. Then he leaves.
I wipe myself up a little before stepping into the tub. When I sit down, the water is wonderfully hot against my cooling skin. I close my eyes and try to make sense of this crazy evening. I haven’t taken a bath since I was seven. And why does Roderick want me to?
He reappears a few minutes later. He drops his shorts, turns off the water, and steps carefully into the opposite end of the tub. I can’t help but gaze admiringly at his bare body. That V of muscle at his hips almost makes me feel horny all over again.
I’m not sure we’re both going to fit into this bath, and I don’t understand why he’d want to try.
Roderick lowers himself into the water. There isn’t enough space for his legs, so he weaves them between mine. The contact makes my heart jump. Nobody ever touches my naked body. I mean never. The brush of his leg hair against mine is seriously unfamiliar. So is the stroke of the arch of his foot against my inner thigh.
Heat rises from my skin, and it’s not because of the water. I don’t know if I can play it cool when we’re face to face in the bright bathroom light. “So…why did you call this meeting?” I ask.
The words come out sounding nonchalant, but I’m freaking out inside, and it has nothing to do with the fact that I just sucked a dick. That was fun, and I’m game to do it again. But now he wants to talk to me? I have never felt more naked than I do right now.
“Well,” he begins, leaning back, resting his elegant head on the rim of the tub. He looks as comfortable as ever. “In the first place, our oven needs a few minutes to preheat. And I’ve been wanting to try out the tub for a while. Plus, I think better when I’m submerged.”
“With me?”
“Yeah.” He gives me a sheepish grin. “It’s obvious that we were going to do that again, right? What with you giving me that…” He waves his hand in my general direction. “…brown-eyed smolder you’ve got going on. And me with insufficient self-control to resist a hunky farm boy.”
“Smolder?” I don’t know much, but I’m sure I’ve never smoldered.
“You’re just so—” He lets out a sigh. “So irresistible to me. I don’t think I can stay out of your bed. Or off your dick. If you want me on it, that is.”
I think he’s being flip, but I feel my blood stir anyway. “Does that mean you’re not going to freak out this time?”
Propping his head in his hand, he studies me. His gaze is warm, but I still feel uncomfortable. Just because I want Roderick, doesn’t mean I want to be closely observed.
“Look,” he says. “I never meant to break all my own rules tonight, but the truth is I like you way too much. So even though it’s a bad idea to jump on your roommate, I’m happier right now than I’ve been in a long time.”
All I can do is sort of stare at him for a long beat. Nobody has ever said anything like that to me before. I made Roderick happy, with rough kisses and clumsy hands.
It’s more miraculous than my chicken with garlic and herbs, that’s for damn sure.
“Say something,” he says suddenly. “Or at least smile, damn it. Did I just overstep? Did I freak you out?”
“Fuck no,” I say, but it comes out like a growl. “I’m smiling on the inside.”
He blinks. And then he tilts his head back and laughs so loudly that it bounces off the tiled bathroom walls.
“What?” I grumble. “I’m serious.”
“I know.” He reins in his laughter and smiles at me. “That’s why it’s funny. I never met anyone like you. I have zero filter, and you’re made of filter. It’s like armor. You never take it off.”
That’s probably true, but it’s also irrelevant. “Where do we go from here, though? What happens next?”
“Well, pizza,” he says, splashing some water onto his face and then shaking his head like a happy dog. “I went outside in my underwear and rescued it from your truck. I’ll pop it into the oven in a minute.”
“I meant after pizza.” Roderick is this bright, shiny thing in my life, and I need to know whether or not to feel hope.
“Oh. Well, that depends on you. Bend your knees?”
“What?” It takes me a beat to keep up, but then I do. His legs slide off mine when I lift my knees. And now I’m literally open and vulnerable in this ridiculous position.
But not for long. Roderick gathers up his smaller body and then moves forward into the space between my legs. “We need to eat that pizza,” he says, propping his hands on the tub rim on either side of me. “But then we could watch more of our show. Maybe in your bed?”
“Okay,” I say quickly as his blue eyes come closer.
“And here I thought tonight was a disaster,” he says, leaning down to kiss me.
If this is a disaster, I’ll take it all night long.
Roderick
I think I may have blown Kieran’s mind, along with his cock. When I carry a tray into his bedroom after our bath, he’s standing by his dresser, looking a little stunned.
“Grab your laptop?” I ask. “It’s under my arm.”
“Sure.” He unsticks himself and grabs it, dropping his towel in his haste.
“Thanks,” I say, giving his naked body an appreciative glance. God, the view.
I don’t know what I was thinking when I’d decided we couldn’t fool around. And I’m still not super sure why he’s even interested. Kieran should have a guy whose life isn’t a dumpster fire. A guy whose car isn’t dead, and who can afford to buy groceries.
“Come and eat this while it’s warm.” I sit down, settling the tray on my lap.
“Whoa.” He walks over to take a plate and looks at the pizza like he’s never seen it before. “It looks better than it usually does. Maybe this place is upping their game.”
“Well… I put some diced red peppers, minced garlic, and pecorino cheese on top before I broiled it. I hope you don’t, uh, hate peppers.” I really should have asked.