“I’m a husk of a man.”
“I’ll take care of the food. Have a nap if you want.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Is this a regular thing for you?”
She grinned. “I’m pretty hyped after sex on the regular. I’m used to being the only one.” She patted my cheek. “It’s okay. You did way more work than I did today.”
I didn’t even know what to say to that.
Instead, I sunk into her honey-scented sheets. “I just need five minutes.”
She kissed my forehead. “Take all the time you need.”
FIFTEEN
Phoebe
After my shower,I let Mouse in. He was sunning himself on the porch while we’d been...busy.
Didn’t quite cover what we’d done today, but I was afraid to categorize it. I’d been fully on board when I’d told him we could just have fun. I think I’d underestimated the actuality of it.
That was on me.
It wasn’t like he hadn’t warned me, but now I had a taste for it.
Usually, sex was a bit of fun—and when it was really good I got the added benefit of adrenaline and endorphins.
This was different. I wasn’t entirely sure it was good or bad yet.
I padded down the hall to check on Dutch.
His big body filled my bed. I used to think the king-sized bed was indulgent, but after seeing him in the middle of it, I was glad I’d gone with the upgrade. His face smoothed in sleep. The lines between his brows eased, and his curls were pretty adorable.
I’d scoured my medicine cabinet and my drawers in the bathroom and found two condoms well within their allowed dates. One was from a promotional package I got at one ofthe Dreamer Bookshop’s reading nights. Thank you romance authors and your cheeky gift bags.
I couldn’t wait to see his face when he saw the bright purple condom.
Beggars couldn’t be choosers.
The other was a leftover from a less-than-worthy one-night stand the previous summer. Even the summer punch buzz hadn’t been able to help out that date night. He’d been a nice enough guy, just a bit handicapped by a pretty face. They often didn’t think they needed to try hard when they were attractive.
At least in my experience.
The same could not be said for Dutch. That man knew what the heck he was doing and he did it well. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been cross-eyed from an orgasm, let alone two.
I let him sleep and went back to the living room and put on Journey’sGreatest Hitsalbum. I was in the mood for a little epic arena rock while I cooked the sausage and bacon. I made a small white pizza with broccoli and nibbled on a slice as I prepped a larger one for the both of us. Since he was still dead to the world, I decided to make a salad to go with it. I crumbled one of the super crispy pieces of bacon over the salad and chopped up the rest for the pizza.
I snuck Mouse a bit of sausage and we shared a strip of bacon.
I’d changed into a loose tank dress since the house was warm from the pizza oven and the sun streaming through the living room. I was shredding cheese for the pizza when Dutch appeared at the mouth of the hallway. His curls a little wild, his jeans low on his hips, with his feet bare.
I resisted the urge to sigh. Damn that man for being so attractive.
“Found your jeans, I see?”
“Thanks for tossing them in the dryer.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “How long was I out?”
I glanced at my microwave. “An hour.”
