“You stay there.” I hopped up to sit on the ledge, rubbing his shoulders when he acted like he was about to exit. “It feels nice on my legs. I’m going to go grab my phone, then you can tell me what to order for food while you soak.”
“Use my phone with the meal-ordering app.” Joe gestured at his phone over by the towels. “It’s got my info all saved.”
Something about the gesture rankled with me. I loved him taking care of me, but I didn’t like the idea of him seeing me as needing it. “Okay, but I’m paying for half.”
“Levi.” Touching my calf, he met my gaze with a tender smile. “How about you let me try out the sugar daddy role for once, and not worry about who is paying for what?”
“I don’t need a sugar daddy.” I sounded way too snappy for how light and joking he’d been. Reaching down, I stroked his face before dropping a kiss on the top of his head. “I just need you.”
“Thank you.” He tipped his head back so we could kiss. It was sweet, but admitting to needing him made my skin feel too tight. I didn’t need presents or meals out. But I did need Joe, the warm comforting presence in my life, and that feeling was big and scary.
Especially because I wasn’t sure it went both ways. I wanted to believe I could add something important to Joe’s life, but he was so settled—house, career, family, and friends. Even his free time was responsibly allocated with the volunteering. Heck, he might need a dog more than he needed a younger guy brimming with uncertainty. Unlike Joe with his carefully ordered life, I wasn’t sure what would happen when my sublet ended, or how exactly I was going to cope with student loans and bills coming due in the fall.
“What’s wrong?” Joe frowned up at me.
“Nothing.” Exhaling hard, I tried to will it so. “The summer is going by fast.”
“How about we slow it down together?” Turning in the water, he moved between my legs. His damp hands were gentle as he cupped my face. The seriousness in his eyes made my stomach wobble.
“I’d like that.” Maybe we’d only get this summer. Maybe we’d get longer. I’d worry about that later. Right then, I only wanted to bask in the perfection of this moment.
Chapter Nineteen
Joe
“No one warned me it was going to be this hot.” Levi’s voice crackled in my ear. I was leaving a building site, and July had fully arrived. Not the warmth of June when I’d first met Levi or the heat of early July, but the full-fledged muggy, sticky, roasting oven that we spent most of the year pretending didn’t exist here.
“It’s July in Pennsylvania, Levi. It gets hot.” I tried for a teasing tone, but I was a sweaty mess after hours of dealing with a botched installation and a pending inspection and a junior electrician who was away at the lake this week.
Levi was on break over at Bold Brew and didn’t need my tale of woe clouding up his day. Every day he got a little more comfortable in his work there, and over the last few weeks of our friendship, it had been really nice watching him come out of his shell.
“I know. At least Bold Brew and the condo have A/C. Old electrical, newer duct work. Go figure.”
“Consider yourself lucky. A lot of older homes in Laurelsburg don’t have air conditioning. I’m going to have four fans on tonight.” Every year I said I was going to get some portable units, and every year I talked myself out of it until it was too late, and the stores were all out. But I’d survive. Damply, but I’d be okay.
“No, you’re not.” Levi’s voice was surprisingly firm. He usually only got bossy with me when he was spoiling for a scene and a spanking, but midday phone sex wasn’t either of our styles.
“I’m not?”
“You should come sleep over tonight.” He kept up the take-charge tone. The last few weeks, we’d spent more nights together than not, usually at my place, but also some at his. “Then you can have a me on you and air conditioning to boot.”
“Tonight? I’ve had a day.” I groaned because I was going back on my resolution not to burden him with my complaints. “I don’t want to get into it, but everything that could go wrong has.”
“All the more reason to come over.” If anything, Levi made his voice even more upbeat.
“I don’t want to inflict my bad mood on you.” I pulled into a parking space at the next site, but left Levi on speaker. At least his sunniness was a bright spot in this day from hell.
“Joe.” Levi sounded like he was trying to mimic my tone when someone screwed up a task. “I don’t only want to see you when you’ve had a good day or are in a good mood. Let me be a friend and take care of you for a change?”