Shift Happens (Providence Family Ties 2)

“I like having you here.”

“Because it’s convenient when you’re not feeling well and refuse to see a doctor,” I teased, poking him in the chest.

“That’s true,” he admitted. “But you make me feel…” he paused, leaving me hanging, “settled. I’m a calm person, but I don’t know if I’ve ever felt settled before.”

This statement made the question I’d thought the other day rear its head. I didn’t know if I should ask it given how new we were, but I also really wanted to know the answer to it.

“Have you ever thought about moving home to be closer to your family?” I asked hesitantly.

“You missing home?” His hand was soothingly rubbing in small circles, and it calmed the worry I’d had at being forward—relatively—for me.

“Yeah. I know I can’t go back while those people are at my old college—”

“Do they know where you live?” he asked irately.

“Well, yeah? They sent stuff and rang my dads for weeks. They’d come home, and the answering machine that never had more than one message a day on it was full. The mailbox was full of letters, weird parcels, admail, information leaflets, you name it.

“The day they reported it all to the police was after someone spray-painted ‘slut’ on the garage door and fence surrounding the pool.”

“Jesus Christ.”

“It’s… it’s just not safe for them.”

He was silent for a moment, but his hand never stopped moving. “Okay, I’ve got an idea. Can you give me all of the girls' names tomorrow? I swear your name won’t be involved in it, I just want to look into some things.”

There was nothing he could do, but if he wanted to look them up, that was fine. “I can do that. Are you going back into classes tomorrow?”

“No, I’m doing them from home until Monday after Ryan and Sam leave. I’m still taking antibiotics, and even though I feel better, I don’t have the energy to go in.” I could still hear the difference in his voice, so I agreed with his decision. “How are you feeling?”

“Dad took me to my appointment with Zach today, but I don’t have much pain aside from the normal ache. He says I’m doing well, and he’s impressed with how much work I’m putting into it.”

“What about a fever or sore throat?” When he asked it, I realized he was worried about passing on what he’d had to me.

“I feel fine, I promise.”

Nudging my head back with his chin, he kissed me softly. “You let me know the second that changes so I can look after you, okay?”

“Technically, I owed you for looking after me first.”

I felt more than I saw him shake his head as the scruff on his jaw swept over my nose. “No, we agreed—that was a fifty-fifty thing, so me looking after you is obsolete.”

Bursting out laughing, I wrapped my arm around his back and squeezed him. “We might well be the only couple who have to make taking care of each other either obsolete, or I owe you one.”

“Like I care. We’re the best couple there ever was because we don’t go for dramatic bullshit, we respect each other, we care for each other without expecting it to be returned, and we just match perfectly.”

“Like a puzzle,” I said softly, repeating his words from three days ago.

“Exactly. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to make love to my girlfriend.”

He probably couldn’t see it in the dim lighting in the room, but my eyes almost popped out of my head. “My dads are in the room next door.”

Reaching over beside him, he pulled out a t-shirt. “You better bite down on this, then.”

From the smell of it, it was fresh out of the laundry. “You had this planned.”

Dropping his head to kiss me as he pulled my t-shirt higher up my neck, he muttered, “Fucking right, I did. Now, lie back, and I’ll do all the work. I’m suddenly feeling better.”

“Better enough to go back to school tomorrow?”

The prospect was kind of depressing, even with his hands skimming over my nipples as he kissed a trail over to one of them.

“No,” he mumbled, circling the hard nub with the tip of his tongue. “Definitely not well enough for that.”

The grin that broke out at the news disappeared quickly as I groaned when he sucked it into his mouth.

Then, begrudgingly, I picked up the clean t-shirt and bit down on it, ignoring the chuckles coming from him.

The reason I was able to ignore them, though, was because of what the vibrations did to me when he didn’t let go as he did it.

By the end, I was glad for the t-shirt and his problem solving skills. I also fell asleep almost immediately, with my head cushioned by his bicep and chest, and my arm tucked snugly around him.

Yeah, we fit like two pieces of a puzzle. I would have laughed if someone had suggested it years ago, but age changes people.