Texas Big Man

I spend a few minutes organizing my things and grabbing the towels that I brought from home along with my shampoo. But when I wander down the hallway looking for the bathroom, I find it half gutted. There’s a toilet and sink, but where the tub and shower used to be are just bare pipes sticking out from the wall and bits of plaster from what I assume was the old tub.

What the fuck?

Trevor promised me that there was electricity, plumbing, and satellite internet. Maybe there’s a shower in the bathroom downstairs? I walk down the creaky stairs and poke my head through different doors, hoping to find a full, functioning bathroom. But the only bathroom down here is a powder closet, with a small sink and toilet. Crap. I’m going to have to find Harlan and figure this out. There has to be a shower somewhere on this property.

I sigh. There was a small part of me that was hoping that I could just ignore him for the rest of the day. There goes that plan.

When I step outside, he’s still working on those steps. Good thing since I really don’t want either of us to have another accident. He’s still gorgeous, still shining with sweat. Only now I know what it feels like to touch him and that’s a dangerous, dangerous thing.

He doesn’t look up until I’m a few feet from him, and he immediately notices the towels and shampoo I’m holding. “This house is pretty big, but it seems to be missing something. A shower.”

The smirk on his face is just as dangerous as his body. Dropping the hammer on the ground, he stands. “Right this way.”

But my stomach drops when he doesn’t lead me back up the stairs and into the house. So there’s not a secret shower closet that I missed. No, he leads me to the side of the house closest to us, where there’s a three sided shed and a curtain hanging in front of it. It looks like the kind of shower most people use to rinse off from the beach before they go inside and use the real shower.

“Are you serious?” I ask.

“As a snake bite.”

I shake my head, unable to wrap my brain around it. “There’s no shower inside?”

Harlan chuckles. “Not right now. Eventually, yes. But this is what we have.”

He leaves me standing there gaping at the little space. It’s tiny, and looks like it’s barely standing. There are some hooks to hang your towel, but the little walls don’t even reach the ground. There’s a concrete drain in the ground. I wonder where it goes?

I step inside and look around. At least it looks clean, although I try not to inspect it too closely. There’s nothing to fasten the curtain to either of the walls to keep it closed—something I’m very, very aware of as I get undressed. I toss my clothes and my towel over the top of one of the walls. Harlan is working so close, one breeze could open this curtain and show him everything.

Would he look?

New heat blooms in my stomach and between my legs at the thought of him seeing me like this. I shouldn’t want that. I definitely shouldn’t care at all. But I can’t stop imagining it.

It seems like a miracle, but there’s hot water that comes out of the pipes. With how hot the air is, it seems almost like a crime to take a hot shower, but it feels good to get clean. I move quickly, trying to get through it as quickly as possible. From time to time a breeze picks up and I grab at the plastic curtain, trying my best not to draw attention to myself, but also hoping I catch his eye. I’m too aware of how close Harlan is for my own good, and I don’t like the direction my mind is going in.

If feels amazing to wash my hair, and despite the wonderful feeling of my body relaxing under the spray of water, I wrap up my shower quickly, hoping to exorcise these dirty thoughts about Harlan. I reach up for my towel and start drying off, but then I realize that I didn’t bring any clean clothes with me. Only the ones that I was wearing. There’s no way I’m putting back on those filthy, sweaty clothes. All I have is the towel. Which means that I’ll have to walk past Harlan. In a towel. Oh my God. The universe is really trying to test my self-control today, that’s for sure. Thankfully I like my towels large, and the thing wraps all the way around my body.

I pull back the curtain, and jump when I see how close he is—just a few feet away. “Were you spying on me?”

He grins. “As enjoyable as that would be, I’m sure that you would hand me my ass. You’re not the only one that needs a shower, you know.”