She swallowed hard. Gus was big…all over. She could see his thigh muscles under the gray cotton, but more than that, she could see the outline of his cock. Her nipples tightened involuntarily and all she could think of was how perfectly beautiful this man was.
Then she thought about the fact his sweats and T-shirt weren’t actually all that big on her. They were close to the same height, and weight, and she was embarrassed at how well she filled out his clothes.
“Eyes, Reese,” Gus ordered.
She jerked in surprise and whipped her gaze up to his.
“As much as I love your eyes on my body, I don’t like the look that crossed your face just now. What were you thinking?”
“Um…that those memes about gray sweatpants weren’t wrong,” she blurted, then wrinkled her nose in embarrassment as she looked anywhere but at him. She was always a little out of it when she first woke up.
“Uh-huh. It’s pretty clear you like what you see, and I’m thrilled. But after that part. What put that look of discomfort on your face? Do you not want to stay here anymore? I promise you’re safe with me, but if you want me to figure out other sleeping arrangements, I will.”
“No! It’s not that. I just…you thought your clothes would be big on me, and they aren’t,” she told him honestly as she tugged on the bottom of the T-shirt. “Most guys want girls to be slender and petite. They like when their clothes swim on a woman.”
“I’m not most guys. And while I haven’t thought much about what I look like in my sweats, I have to say, I like them on you much better.”
She looked at him skeptically.
“I love your curves, Reese. I love that I can see every dip and valley while you’re in my clothes. It’s sexy as hell.”
She looked down at herself and saw her nipples pushing against the fabric of his shirt. Her thighs were definitely defined in the sweatpants, and she could just imagine how her ass was stretching the material.
“I tried losing a bunch of weight a few years ago,” she told him. “And I did lose a bit. But I felt like crap. It sucked all the joy out of my day when I had to count every single calorie that went into my mouth. I’m always tired after work, and having to go for a jog or to the gym always made me dread going home. I decided that while I wanted to be healthy, I wanted joy back in my life even more. I’m usually okay with who I am and my size, even if sometimes societal pressure gets to me. But generally, I eat what I want in moderation, work out when I can—but don’t beat myself up when I don’t—and try to love myself for who I am.”
“Being healthy is good, but accepting yourself is better,” Gus said. He’d taken a step toward her, and they were standing extremely close now. “And from where I’m standing, I wouldn’t change a single thing about you. To be crystal clear, I’m not turned off by your size. I have to confess, I checked on you a few times while you were napping, and the sight of you in my bed…” He exhaled heavily. “Let’s just say that I liked it…a lot. And as I said, you filling out my clothes is sexy as fuck.”
He placed a hand on the side of her neck and pulled her even closer. Her breasts brushed against his chest, and Reese raised her hands and put them on his sides as she studied him.
“You asked if everything was all right after I talked to your brother,” he said.
Reese licked her lips nervously and nodded.
“He was basically telling me how awesome you are. And that he approves if I want to court you.”
“He said that? Court me?” Reese asked in disbelief.
“Well, not in those exact words.”
“Thank God. Because if he’d said the word, ‘court,’ I seriously would’ve hauled his ass down to the doctor myself because something is seriously wrong,” Reese joked.
Gus grinned. “But I’ll tell you something—even if he’d told me that you were off-limits, I would’ve told him to fuck off.”
Reese’s heart began to beat faster. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. What I want to know is how you feel about being courted by me. I’d like to go out with you. Get to know you better. I’m attracted to you, Reese, but if this is weird for you, if you don’t want anything other than friendship, I’ll accept that.”
Was this real? Was this actually happening? “No!” she blurted. “I mean…it’s not weird. I’d like to get to know you too.”
His smile grew. “Good. And as far as I’m concerned, you can wear my sweats and tees anytime you want. But not in public. Only here.”
She frowned. “Why?”
“Because if the other guys saw you like this, looking all sexy, sleepy, and rumpled, I’d have to kill them.”
A shiver went through Reese. A good one.
Gus’s eyes darkened, and his thumb caressed her jawline. “Can I kiss you?”
Reese licked her lips again. “Yes,” she whispered, holding her breath as his head lowered.
His lips brushed hers once, twice. Before he took a deep breath and pulled her into his embrace.
The kiss had been so short, so chaste. She wanted more. But she didn’t want to push her luck. She could hardly believe she was standing here at all, in Gus’s arms, wearing his clothes, and he’d said he wanted to go out with her. She’d take what she could get, as long as she could get it.
“Are you hungry?” he asked as he pulled back but didn’t let go.
Reese couldn’t help but grin. “Starved,” she told him as she looked at his chest.
He laughed, and Reese felt the rumble move through her since they were plastered together.
“For food,” he clarified. “I made cauliflower mac and cheese. It doesn’t have any pasta in it, but small cauliflower florets. I promise while it doesn’t taste like pasta, it’s still delicious.”
“It sounds awesome,” she told him honestly.
He breathed out a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness. I was afraid you were going to tell me you hated cauliflower.”
“Nope. I mean, I don’t want to eat it at every meal, I love me some bread and carbs, but as I said earlier, I’m okay with eating healthy, just not counting every calorie that goes into my mouth.”
“Well, I’ll tell you right now that I’m not sure how healthy it is. I used a shit-ton of cheese,” Gus said with a grin.
“Cheese makes everything better,” Reese told him.
He stared at her for a long moment.
“What?” she asked.
“You’re more awake now,” he observed.
She shrugged. “I’m always a little out of it when I wake up. I sleep hard.”
“It’s cute. You need coffee in the mornings?”
“Need? No. Want? Yes.”
“Black?”
Reese wrinkled her nose. “Um, no. Cream or milk, sugar, and some sort of flavoring.”
“So you don’t need coffee, you need a cup of flavored sugar masquerading as coffee,” he teased.
Reese wasn’t offended. “Pretty much.”
“It’s gonna be fun to grocery shop with you,” Gus said. “Learn what you like and what you don’t, and what your go-to foods are.”