“Luke?” He reached over and placed his hand across my chest, resting it over my left pectorals. “Is this about last night? Because of me not saying it or…”
“No.” I placed my hand over his that was currently resting on my chest and flattened it against my skin. “No, it’s not.” I turned my head to look at him. “I just didn’t want to freak you out. I know that it’s fast and I…” I blew out a breath. “I just don’t want to frighten you.”
“You didn’t.” He stroked his fingers gently against me. “I mean, yeah. At first, when you said the L-word, it panicked me a little that it was too fast, but I…” He stopped talking when I looked away from him and stared at the ceiling. “Hey.” He reached up and gently grabbed my chin, turning my gaze back to his. “Don’t hide from me.” He rubbed his chin across my cheekbone before he spoke again. “How have we swapped places?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, in the beginning, I was the emotionally unstable one.” We both chuckled when he said that. “Now you’re the one avoiding talking to me.”
“I’m not.” I rolled onto my side and turned to face him. “It’s fast. I know that. I just want to enjoy being with you. Since we have started this…” I stopped and wagged my finger between the two of us. “It feels like we have just had drama. I just want to enjoy it being the two of us. Just you and me.”
“I like the sound of that,” he whispered. He leaned over and pressed his lips to mine. “What do you want to do today? Are you working?”
“No. You are, though, aren’t you?” I reached across and linked my fingers with his as he nodded his head at me. “I need to check in with Thomas later.”
“Is everything okay?” He tightened his fingers on mine before he pulled my hand to his lips and kissed the back of it.
“I don’t know. I want to check in and see how Christopher is doing. I haven’t heard from him lately. I normally get an email or something from him, but I haven’t received anything in over a month. At first, I thought maybe he was being a badass and charging off into danger.”
“But you’re worried?” he asked.
“I am, yes.” I bit my lip, nibbling it. It was my worry habit. “I don’t normally worry about the gang back home too much, but when I don’t hear from them…” I shrug my shoulders, not sure how to end that sentence.
“Call Thomas.” He stroked his fingers through the sides of my hair. “I’ve gotta go home and sort some bills out and stuff before work, but can we see each other later?”
“I’d like that.” I reached over and kissed his lips quickly before I pulled back. “But first breakfast.” I gave him a cheeky wink before I swung my legs out of bed. I grabbed my gray joggers and pulled them on, grabbing my white t-shirt and slipping it on. “Don’t fall back to sleep.”
“Are you sure that I can’t convince you to come back to bed?” He moved the blankets down his body to his waist.
“Fuck.” I could see the blankets were tented from his erection and as much as I wanted to join him, I was more determined for us to have some moments out of that bed. Sex with him was amazing, but I wanted there to be more for us than just bodies touching. I spun back around, the temptation too much. “I’ll be in the kitchen!” I walked out, hearing the sound of his laughter following me.
Grabbing the ingredients from the fridge, I decided to make Freddie a proper English breakfast. Sausage, bacon, egg, fried toast, baked beans, mushroom, tomatoes, hash brown… If I was on death row, I’d probably make that my last meal. Screw lasagne or pizza. You could not beat a well-cooked British meal.
“Do I have time for a shower?” Freddie called.
“Sure, I…” I stopped speaking and gawked at him. He was standing in only a pair of boxers—tight ones, I might add—and leaning against the back of the sofa.
He laughed when I just continued to stare at him.
“You have twenty minutes.” I turned around to face the stove. “He is going to be the fucking death of me.”
As he walked away, I heard his laugh and then the shower turned on. I quickly got to work, looking forward to seeing what he would think of my cooking skills. I was determined to please him in the bedroom and out of it.
* * *
“Knock knock,” I called as I tapped my fist against the closed bathroom door. “Breakfast is ready.” Seconds later, the door opened and I couldn’t have contained the groan if I tried.
Freddie was dressed with only a towel wrapped around his waist. Water droplets trickled down his chest and I wanted to follow the path with my tongue.
“Did you mention breakfast?”
I looked up into his eyes and saw him smirking at me. He knew how powerful he was over me, and it looked like he was willing to use it to his advantage.
I closed my eyes and shook my head. “You have ten minutes.” I turned around and left him to get dressed. I popped some bread in the toaster and placed the dishes in the oven to keep them warm. There was nothing worse than serving up a cold breakfast.
As I buttered the toast, I grinned when I felt a pair of arms come around my waist. He placed his chin on my shoulder before I felt him kiss along the column of my neck.
“It smells delicious,” he complimented.