“Favorite cousin?”
“I am, yeah. He looks up to me. If all else fails, I can always bribe him with football tickets, but I’ll try to get through to his good nature first.”
I let out a long breath. “Guess that ruins our morning together.”
He ran his hand down my cheek—the touch tickled. “I’ll be back in a few hours. Why don’t you make yourself at home here, get some more sleep? And then when I get back, maybe we can do more of what we did last night.” He winked.
I smiled like an idiot; I was fine with that plan, but didn’t I have work, life, or something? I didn’t know and didn’t care at that precise moment.
I rubbed my head against the comfy feather pillow and closed my eyes to show exactly how happy I would be to stay right there.
“You’re definitely something to look forward to coming home to. Be right back.” He slipped into the adjacent bathroom and reappeared a few minutes later with wet hair and drips of water here and there where he hadn’t completely toweled himself dry.
He wondered around the room as casually as if he weren’t completely naked and with an audience of one watching him.
I did watch.
I barely blinked for not wanting to miss a moment of that treat.
How many people get to admire his naked, damp, freshly showered body moving about his own private habitat as he sorted out whatever he was about to wear for the day.
And I mean, admire every exposed muscle?
How many women get to see a quarterback pulling up his underwear and tucking his dick away?
Like I said, I wasn’t about to miss any of it.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can, but it’ll be a couple of hours, at least, with the journey. Hey, help yourself to anything you want in the kitchen, okay.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll find my way around your kitchen with no trouble,” I assured him. And, don’t worry, I’ll be gone by the time you get back, I thought. “I can jump up and leave right now if you need me to go?”
“No, stay. You don’t need to go,” he replied. “I want you to stay, make yourself at home.”
Which made me wonder why he assumed I could laze around and didn’t have stuff I needed to do. I was too comfortable to overthink it, and I definitely didn’t want to think about going in for a work shift.
He picked up his wallet, opened it, and for a second, I had the horrible feeling he was going to give me money. Thankfully, he pulled out a card which he passed to me. “My personal number. Please use it. If you have to go before I get back, text me to let you know you arrived home safely, and then I’ll have your number. But feel free to stay.” He then opened his wallet again. “Get a cab home. Please, I would have driven you home, so...” And he pulled out forty bucks. “How far do you live? Will this be enough? I don’t want you to go, you know. But if you do...”
He should have been more self-assured, but it turned out the sexy quarterback was just human like the rest of us.
“Stop it.” I giggled and held out my hand. The cab fare was a kind gesture. I could afford my own taxis, but I didn’t want to offend him, so I said, “It’s plenty, I’ll give you the change next time we meet.”
“Then I hope it’s soon. I’m free this evening, you know. But hey, no pressure. As I said, send me a message, and we can sort something.”
Thrilled or what?
I didn’t expect to get his number.
Of course, later, he might change his mind about setting something up. Nevertheless, I couldn’t stop grinning.
I had his number!
I silently screamed with delight just inside my mind.
When he was completely dressed and decent, he leaned over and kissed me on the forehead and then another square on the lips before leaving.
After he left, I closed my eyes and expected to doze off but failed. I was, in fact, wide awake and hungry, but I felt too gross to investigate the man’s kitchen before taking a shower.
The bathroom was entered directly from the bedroom, and the room itself was massive and luxurious with a walk-in shower that felt like I was standing under a waterfall. His toiletries were rich and creamy and came out of glass bottles.
Back in the bedroom and wrapped in the biggest, fluffiest towel I’d ever used, I eyed up the clothes strewn on the floor.
I was reluctant to put on the clothes I’d worn for a night of kitchen work; they’d normally go straight in the laundry basket. Instead, I picked up off the floor the shirt Ethan had worn. He didn’t strike me as someone who typically left things on the floor. Everything else was so immaculately tidy in the apartment.