I blushed again and he said, “Don’t be embarrassed, that’s a really good thing. Most people these days forget to say please and thank you. You never forget. I like that. Sometimes, though, you apologize too much.”
With a grin I said, “I’m sorry.”
He laughed.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“Do your brothers know…about us? I mean that crack Ryan made at lunch last week.”
“Yes, they know,” he said. He didn’t explain how or why. I was torn between being afraid they would tell someone and being flattered that he told someone.
“You’re not worried that they’ll tell someone?”
“No, not at all. My brothers can be all kinds of annoying and sometimes belligerent, but the one thing we always have is each other’s backs. We’ve always only had each other. Ryan and Max would no sooner betray me than I would them.” That made me feel a little better, knowing he was so confident about it.
Then he said, “I’m sorry about Ryan, though. He has no tact and I know that made you uncomfortable. I’ll ask him not to say things like that again next time he sees you.”
“It’s okay. I’m honestly kind of glad you thought enough of it to tell someone about me.”
He smiled and said, “I thought more of it than I should.” We both dropped that touchy subject and finished eating. The food was delicious, and once we’d just about wiped it out, I helped him clean up. It was getting kind of late at that point, and I said, “Maybe I should take off.” I didn’t have my car.
I suppose I could have walked home, or taken the bus, but he said, “Stay just a little longer…please. I’ll take you home in a
bit.”
I didn’t hesitate. “Okay.”
We sat down on the couch and began watching an old movie on television. It was in black and white and we had missed the first part so I didn’t know what it was or what was going on. I think James Cagney was in it.
“Have you ever seen this? I asked him.
He looked at the TV; he’d been looking at me. “No, not this one,” he said. “I like old movies, though.”
“Me, too,” I said. “The world seemed like a lot simpler place back then.”
He laughed. “Or harder, depending on how you look at it. We definitely have a lot more luxuries these days.”
“This is true.”
I continued watching and I was about to ask him another question when I looked over and saw his head was extended back and he was sound asleep. He looked beautiful and uncomfortable.
I got up and nudged him over so he would lie down and stretch out. Once he did that, I laid myself down next to him. I don’t know what I was thinking other than he felt damned good and I had no desire to leave him.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Jace
I woke up with hair in my face. I can honestly say that was a new experience for me. Before I panicked, I breathed in the fresh coconut-lime smell of it and smiled. It smelled like Daphne.
I opened my eyes and saw that it was, in fact, Daphne. We were still on my couch and she was cuddled against my chest. Her top leg was draped over mine and I had that pesky morning wood.
I suddenly felt like I couldn’t breathe. I told her just friends…that’s all this was supposed to be. Now I was waking up, on a Sunday morning no less, all tangled up in her and physically excited.
Jesus, Mother Mary, help me. The temptation to touch her was almost completely overwhelming. I’d dreamt of this moment nearly every night since the first time we made love. I wake up next to her and I wake her with a slow, sensuous kiss. She smiles and opens her eyes and then I kiss her again, this time harder and more passionately as my hands begin to roam her sexy body.
I have to stop this. My cock was aching. I have to get in the shower…the cold shower. There’s no way I can do this again, especially not right before I have to go say mass on Sunday morning. No way.