“Good morning. Did you sleep well?”
I nodded. “I slept great. It was the best night of sleep I’d had in…years probably.”
He hummed before pouring the eggs into another pan. “Are you okay?”
I leaned against the counter and didn’t speak until he looked at me again. “I’m more than okay. Am I sore? A bit, but even I know that’s to be expected. But I also know that question you asked me has more than one meaning behind it. So no, I don’t have any regrets. If anything, I’m now greedy or more.”
Stellan’s eyebrows shot up at my blunt words, but he recovered quickly as he snatched up the spatula to stir the eggs around. “Well, let’s see what we can do to satisfy your hunger.” I opened my mouth to respond, but he held up a finger to cut me off, “After you fill your belly.”
I pretended to pout, but if I were being honest, I was enjoying this. Jennifer couldn’t cook if her life depended on it, so if I wanted a homecooked meal I had to make it. There were no breakfasts in bed or lazy Sundays getting lost in each other. Usually it was a bowl of cold cereal while standing in the kitchen while I avoided her as much as possible.
“Where’d you go just now?” Stellan asked.
“Nowhere I wanted to be.”
“Well leave and come back to me.”
I looked at his shoulder, and even though it was covered in ink, I couldn’t help but think I’d left my own mark with my teeth. Not being able to help myself, I leaned over and placed my lips against his skin.
“I already did.”
Stellan growled in his throat and shifted away from me. “Behave until you eat. Burnt eggs aren’t the best after-sex food. The coffee’s also ready, and I have a mug on the counter if you’d like to help yourself.”
“Would you like some?” I asked after I poured myself a cup.
“Sure. I don’t know what you like, but there’s some milk and creamer in the fridge. Sugar is in the counter over the sink.”
“How do you take yours?”
“Bare.”
Fuck me.
I nearly dropped the mug I was holding, while Stellan turned back to the stove to flip bacon and turn eggs as if he hadn’t just rocked my world—again. We’d only had sex one freaking time, and yet that one little four-letter word had my mind racing and wondering what it’d be like for him to take me bare.
Dammit, it was all too soon to be entertaining such thoughts, but Stellan had gotten under my skin. In the short time I’d been with him, I was the happiest I’d felt in years, and it was all because of him. I just hoped I could hang on to that happiness for as long as possible, and that he didn’t take my heart with him when it was finally over.
“What time do you have to work today?” I asked when we were seated at his kitchen table while we ate.
It should’ve been odd, considering he was nearly naked except for his skintight boxer briefs while I was fully clothed, but it wasn’t at all. The eggs were cheesy and cooked to fluffy perfection, and the bacon was crisp. I had already devoured one plate and had gone back for seconds when I finally asked him my question. Sitting at his table, eating breakfast with him after spending the night in his arms, was definitely something I could get used to, and that was a thought I definitely needed to put the brakes on. My emotions were full steam ahead, and I was struggling to hold on to them.
“Whenever I feel like going in. Why? Are you in a hurry to leave?”
I shook my head. “No, not at all. I just didn’t want to keep you if you had somewhere you needed to be.”
“I am where I need to be. I have a car waiting for me, but they can’t pick it up until this evening, so there’s no rush.”
“Oh, that’s good. I don’t go in until later tonight.”
“When’s your next day off?”
I swallowed my sip of coffee and set my mug down. “Thursday, actually. Jimmy has some family thing and asked me to trade him. So I’m working for him next Monday.”
“Really? The guys and I are playing at The Tavern over in Littleton. You should come listen to us play.”
“You wouldn’t mind?”
Stellan’s eyes narrowed at my question. “Why would I mind?”
I shrugged and looked down at my plate, but Stellan’s finger under my chin forced me to look up and meet his penetrating gaze. I felt stupid about my reaction, but I was so worried about screwing things up, I was stumbling over myself left and right.
“Why would I mind, Foster?” he asked again. His tone told me he wasn’t going to drop the subject, and my cheeks flamed in embarrassment.
“I just… This is new, and I don’t want to wear out my welcome,” I struggled to explain. I tried to avert my eyes, but Stellan’s growl had me keeping them in place.
“Foster, did you suggest coming watch me play?”
I shook my head. “No. You invited me.”
“Exactly. If I didn’t want you there, I wouldn’t have asked. You’re my good luck charm, remember?”
I smiled at the reminder. “I remember.”
“Good. Now stop overthinking things and finish your breakfast. I figured we could hang out for a bit before going to work.”
“What did you have in mind?” I asked.
“Well, that depends.”
“On?”
“How sore you are.”
I thought how to answer him next. Should I be nonchalant and let him know I’d be okay or take the bull by the proverbial horns and give him the brazen answer that danced on my tongue? I decided to open my mouth and own up to whatever words tumbled out.
“Not nearly enough to feel you the rest of the night.”
“Then I’ll rectify that.”
24
Stellan
The next few days passed slowly for me. I divided my time like usual—working at the garage and band rehearsal—but I was getting anxious. I hadn’t seen Foster again. We texted a lot, and even had a few late-night conversations where we actually got to know each other a bit more, but I selfishly wanted those talks to be in person. Preferably in bed, with him in my arms as he talked to me about his parents and I told him a bit about mine.
While we weren’t at the stage of bringing each other home to meet the family, I knew if we continued on the path we were walking, we’d wind up there eventually. I just hoped his parents would be okay with him bringing home another man, especially after being engaged to a woman. I kept those fears of unacceptance to myself as I explained to him my own parents had retired to Florida years ago, with my sister and her family following a short while later, and that I saw them a few times a year. When he wistfully mentioned how much he missed the ocean, visions of us standing on the sand as water lapped at our toes filled my head, and I suddenly wanted to make that dream into a reality. A sunset kiss on the beach as the waves crashed into the shore would be the icing on the cake.
And it was at that moment, when I was under the hood of a car while I was elbow deep in an engine, that the truth hit me. My feelings for Foster had gotten deeper than I’d ever thought possible in such a short amount of time. This wasn’t just a crush, and he wasn’t someone I wanted to have a good time with for a while until both of our itches were scratched. I wanted to keep scratching them long after that itch had been satisfied. I didn’t care if my skin wound up raw and bleeding in the process, just as long as I was still with Foster.