“Sorry, toots,” I said quietly to Kara as I turned to follow Mack down the hall.
“It’s okay,” she grumbled, throwing herself onto the couch.
I felt kind of weird as I followed Mack into the bedroom. He’d answered for me before I could say that I wouldn’t mind driving Kara to my brother’s place. Actually, I hadn’t seen Molly or Reb in a while, and I was jonesing for some time with them.
“I could’ve driven her,” I said as Mack started undressing. “I don’t mind.”
“It’s not your job to cart her around,” Mack replied easily. “She shouldn’t have asked. Wanna lay down with me for a bit?”
“Sure.” I let him help me take my jeans off, then crawled in next to him.
I didn’t expect to sleep, but within moments of my head hitting the pillow, I was out.
* * *
After all of the drama and upset, life fell into a surprisingly normal pattern. I spent most nights at Mack’s, unless Kara was sleeping at a friend’s house, and then he’d meet me at my apartment after work. Kara went to camp for a week, and we spent most of the time she was gone naked and having sex on any available surface. We went swimming and barbecued on the weekends, had dinner with my parents and his, and when we could find the time, spent hours riding.
It was one of the best summers I’d ever had, and as fall approached and Kara headed back to school, I found myself more excited about the holidays than I’d been since I was a kid. I didn’t even mind the weather getting colder, which usually had me bitching to anyone that would listen. Everything just felt different, the future seemed wide open and full of possibility.
Unfortunately, that only made it worse when it all came crashing down around me.
Chapter 12
Mack
The morning started out just like any other. I woke up with Rose’s hair in my face and her leg thrown over my hip, her knee dangerously close to my balls. I wasn’t sure how she did it, but the woman could sleep like that all night and had never once made contact unintentionally. I slid my hand up her thigh and sighed.
Kara had spent one last night with my parents before they got back on the road, so Rose hadn’t bothered putting any clothes on before we’d passed out the night before, and the bare skin under my fingertips had me feeling all kinds of thankful.
“Morning,” Rose mumbled, kissing my chest. “That tickles.”
“Oh, yeah?” I swept my hand up her side, barely making contact, and smiled as she squirmed.
“What time do we have to pick up Kara?” she asked, shifting away from my hand.
Glancing at the clock, I groaned. “Little less than an hour.”
“Shit,” she breathed, dropping her head back against my chest. “I need to hop in the shower. I smell like sweat and sex.”
“My favorite scent.”
“But I doubt your mom would enjoy it,” she replied, propping her chin on my chest and smiling sleepily at me. She was fucking spectacular. Jesus. The way she looked at me hit me straight in the gut every time.
“Move in with me,” I blurted out.
“Okay,” she replied almost instantly.
“You don’t have to think about it?” I asked.
“Hell, no.” She sat up in bed and threw her leg over so she could straddle me. For a minute, I was mesmerized by the sight of all that soft skin.
“Eyes up here,” she joked, using her middle and index fingers to point at her eyes. “You’re serious, right?”
“Course I’m serious,” I replied. “I wouldn’t say somethin’ if I wasn’t.”
“Just wanted to make sure,” she said with a wide grin. “I mean, I haven’t even rode bareback yet.” She rolled her hips for emphasis and I almost moaned.
“Just waitin’ on you to be ready for that,” I replied, squeezing her hips.
“Who said I wasn’t ready?” she asked. “I was just waiting for you to say something.”
“Far as I’m concerned, that shit’s on your timeline, not mine.” I leaned up so we were face to face, and if I hadn’t already been sitting, the look in her eyes would have knocked me on my ass.
“Well, I’m ready,” she said, wrapping her arms around my neck. “I have an IUD, so we’re all safe there.”
“Baby,” I said in surprise, “I had a vasectomy years ago.”
Never in my life had I seen a person’s face go from joy to devastation so fast. It was like a switch had been flipped, and no matter how hard she tried to keep her composure, every feeling she had flitted across her face like a movie. Shock, horror, sadness and finally, anger.
“You did what?” she asked quietly, her arms falling from around my neck.
“I had a vasectomy,” I replied. Jesus, I thought it was common knowledge. I hadn’t been able to ride for weeks and the brothers had given me grief for years.