He pulled me to a stop and said, "Um, can you show me to the bathroom first?"
I felt like an ass when I nodded. I really needed to get over using the nonverbal responses. "Yeah, sure." I changed direction and led him to the other side of the living room. "We’re in the living room right now," I explained. "When you come out of my bedroom and down that little hall, you turn right and follow the wall until you get to the first door. That's the bathroom."
Lex squeezed my hand the tiniest bit and I wanted to believe it was a good thing. Unfortunately, my cock had already decided it was. Suddenly, the vision of Lex's hand squeezing my shaft the same way he was squeezing my hand jumped into my brain and I nearly tripped over the threshold of the bathroom.
"There's a little step there," I said stupidly as I held on to Lex a little tighter. He used his foot to seek out the threshold and then nodded. My bathroom wasn't very big, so as I led Lex to the toilet, we ended up closer than I would've liked. I caught just a hint of whatever cologne or aftershave he used. I found myself fighting the urge to lean in and explore his scent further. Considering all he'd been through in the past twenty-four hours, the man shouldn't have smelled or looked as good as he did.
"So, um, yeah, this is the bathroom. It has a toilet."
I saw Lex actually smile and it did something bizarre to my insides. It lit them up, lightened them even. I found myself smiling back when I realized what I'd said.
"That's good to know," Lex said. There was a little bit of a twinkle in his eyes instead of just the blankness that was becoming all too familiar.
I didn't realize I’d gotten lost in his smile until it faltered and he said, "Gideon?"
I wanted to kick my own ass for doing the same thing I’d done to him before. He started to step away from me, so I grabbed for his hand again but instead of holding it, I lifted it to my face. I settled his fingers at the corner of my mouth and then said, "It has a heated seat."
"What?" Lex asked in complete confusion.
I kept his hand against my face so he could feel the movements of my mouth. I wasn't sure if it was helpful or not, but I didn't want a repeat of the living room incident. "I don't splurge on much because I simply don't have the money, but there's nothing worse in my mind than sitting on a cold toilet seat," I admitted. “I actually avoid public bathrooms because I can’t stand the idea of a cold backside.”
Lex didn’t react at first which had me feeling like an idiot. Then he smiled and that had me smiling. His eyes widened a little when his fingers moved as my mouth lifted. Even if his touch hadn't felt fucking amazing on my skin, I still would've felt like the king of the world for knowing I'd gotten something right with the man.
"Thank you," Lex said softly. His fingertips lingered at the corner of my mouth and I found myself wishing he'd move them just a little to the right so he’d be touching my actual lips. But after just a moment's pause, he dropped his hand, then his eyes. I wasn't sure if I was glad or disappointed that the move broke whatever spell I'd imagined was being weaved around us. I needed to remember that even if I was dealing with some newfound discoveries when it came to my sexuality, Lex wasn't. And that was a good thing because despite the pleasurable sensation his touch evoked, I was nowhere near ready to deal with any of it.
"So, I'll just leave you to it," I said awkwardly. "I'll wait for you outside the door."
I didn't give him a chance to respond. What I did was flee the bathroom and then hurried to my bedroom to grab his sweats. Or rather, my sweats. There was just no way in hell I'd be able to spend any time with the man when all he was wearing was his underwear. He was finishing up in the bathroom by the time I returned and when he opened the door, I casually handed him the sweats and said, "It's kind of chilly in here." I made sure to put the sweats in his hands so he could feel the material. I smiled when his eyes went wide and he looked down at his lower body as if expecting to be able to see he had no pants on.
"Oh God," he said. I didn't point out that he’d just been in the bathroom and so it shouldn't have been such a shock to him that he was only wearing underwear, because I was too busy enjoying how adorable he looked as he remembered that he’d been parading around in just the briefs and the sweatshirt for the past several minutes.
"Sorry," he said as he began to put the sweats on. I automatically reached out to support his weight and help him work the pants over his feet. The man was positively gorgeous when he was flustered.
I almost told him not to be sorry because I'd enjoyed the view, but I caught myself in the end and instead said, "I once photographed this naked tribe in Congo, so trust me, it's not an issue."
It was a lie, of course. Not the part about Congo, but the issue part. I definitely had issues because I could only feel disappointed as I watched Lex pull his sweats up. I cursed myself for the errant thought and then took Lex's hand in mine again. I led him through the living room, explaining how to get to the kitchen. Brewer, who'd been lying on the couch, jumped off and hurried to Lex's side. The dog's behavior both amused and intrigued me. The husky mix had always been protective of me, but I'd never seen him behave around someone like he did Lex. And the fact that he tried to protect Lex from bumping into things and even showing enough intelligence to try to lead Lex around objects was mind blowing.
Once I got Lex settled at the small kitchen table, I began working on dinner. "Do you want to test your sugar before we eat?" I asked.
Lex nodded. He seemed to hesitate and then he said, "Do you have my bag?"
I stilled in the process of reaching for a pan. I'd forgotten that I'd removed the bag from the room so he wouldn't hurt himself with the contents. If he was asking me about the bag's whereabouts instead of remarking about going back to my bedroom to get it, he likely knew I’d taken it.
"Um, yeah," I mumbled as I grabbed the bag from the bench where I kept my boots and coat. I'd actually taken his supplies with me when I’d gone to check on his cabin. I handed him the kit, but he didn't call me out on the fact that it had been in my possession the whole time. "You need any help?" I asked.
Lex shook his head. "No, thanks."
I returned to the stove and began getting out the various pots and pans I'd need to make the stir-fry I was planning. I watched Lex out of the corner of my eye. He moved with familiarity as he tested his blood. I heard a beep, meaning the value was on the screen, but when I started to move to his side so I could read it to him, he hit a button on the little device and a robotic voice called out the number. I was glad to hear that the number was in the safe zone. I continued to work on dinner as Lex slowly sorted through his little bag and pulled out all the different items. I watched from my peripheral vision as Lex took the insulin patch and lifted his shirt, or my shirt rather, and placed the little device on his abdomen. I found myself getting stuck on the ridges of his muscles as he made sure the small patch was secure. It wasn't until Lex said, "Is something burning?" that I realized I was staring.
"Shit," I barked when I saw that the veggies in the pan had started to brown. I let out a string of curses as I removed the smoking pan from the burner and dumped the pan in the sink.