Colby smirked. “I have a feeling Georgia would have no problem going to the mat for the people she cares about.”
Keats’s smile was wry. “It was kind of hot, her going into badass mode.”
“Yeah? Maybe one day we can convince her to try out the domme role on you for real. I know a good trainer who could show her a few things.”
He shifted on the bed. “I’m not sure I’d survive both of you topping me, but I’d sure be willing to try.”
“Such a martyr, Keats.”
He laughed. “Yep, a really horny martyr.”
Colby moved Keats’s guitar to the floor and scooted up the bed to sit next to him. “Not getting tired of us old folks yet?”
“Shut the fuck up with that crap,” Keats groused. “You act like you’re hobbling around on a cane.”
“I do own a cane.”
Keats sniffed. “I’m not talking about the kind you torture people with.”
“There’s another kind?” Colby asked innocently.
Keats shoved him, but Colby captured Keats’s wrist before he could take his hand back. He dragged Keats closer, bringing their faces inches apart. “No one’s ever put themselves out there for me like you did. I can’t tell you how much that means to me, Keats. But you know that you don’t owe me anything, right?”
The light in Keats’s eyes darkened, and his jaw clenched. “You think I did it because I owed you?”
“You’re a guy who doesn’t like to leave a debt.”
“No, I’m the guy who has your back. You needed my help. I gave it to you. Maybe you should learn how to accept help as much as you like to dish it out.”
The comment landed square. “You know, sometimes you’re smarter than you look.”
“Fuck you,” he said, his smile returning.
“Funny, that’s exactly what I had in mind.”
Keats gave him an up-and-down look. “Yeah?”
“Yeah, Georgia’s cooking dinner over at her place to celebrate with us. What do you say I bring my toy bag, and we give her a go with a little control tonight?”
“I say I’ll be the happiest fucker in the neighborhood.”
Colby closed the last sliver of space between them and kissed him, letting his appreciation for all that Keats had done for him spill into it. This guy was turning out to be so much more than a fun time or a training relationship. Colby knew it before today, but now he couldn’t pretend to deny it. This was getting serious. He was getting serious—about a twenty-three-year-old kid who would soon realize he still had oats to sow and a woman who was going to move away in a few weeks.
He’d waited this long to let his heart get involved with someone, and he’d picked the two people with the highest flight risk.
Way to go, Wilkes.
THIRTY-SIX
The package waiting on her doorstep Thursday morning made Georgia’
s insides twist. She recognized Leesha’s familiar scrawl and knew what the innocuous-looking box contained. She’d asked for it. Now she wasn’t sure she wanted it. But when she heard heavy footsteps on the stairs, she bent over and grabbed the box.
Colby stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her neck. “Mornin’, gorgeous.”
She leaned back into him and managed a smile as she nudged the front door shut with her foot. “Morning. You lazy boys finally decided to get up?”
“Hey, you wore us out last night, George,” Keats said as he made his way down the last few steps and joined them. “We need our beauty rest to keep up with you.”