DACEN: Ignore that. I dropped my phone on my face. I can be there in like an hour if that works. I have to walk R.S. and shower.
ME: That works.
DACEN: *thumbs up*
I send him my address and then toss my phone aside. Closing my eyes, I prop my forearms on my head and clasp my hands together. My pulse is racing and an attempt at Rylee’s zen breathing shit once again does no good. After a few minutes, I get up and jog downstairs. Lily and Rylee are making cookies when I stick my head in the kitchen.
“Lily?”
She turns and smiles at me. “Yeah, sweetie?”
“Do we have stuff to make tacos for lunch today?”
She thinks for a moment and nods. “We do.”
“Any chance you’d be able to make some later?” I rub the back of my neck and shuffle one foot against the floor. “Dacen is coming over and he likes them.” I kind of mumble the last sentence but they get the gist of it because Rylee giggles and Lily’s face breaks out into a wide grin. She wipes her hands and comes to stand in front of me.
“Yeah, sweetie,” she says softly. “I’ll be sure to make more than usual so there’s enough for everyone.” She reaches up on her tiptoes and kisses one of my flushed cheeks.
My face is still red when I jump in the shower.
* * *
About an hourlater Dacen’s flipping through the clothes hanging in my closet. Fortunately, it no longer smells like a barn nor looks like a science experiment. “You have a lot of t-shirts with arrows on them. This is the fifth one I’ve seen today.” He pulls out a black shirt and holds it up. “And I’ve seen you wear this exact one in like three colors, at least. Are arrows your thing?”
“Keeping track of my wardrobe, D?”
He shrugs. “I like clothes. I notice them.”
I lean back in my desk chair and it squeaks in protest. “I bow hunt, so I’ve accumulated a lot of shirts with arrows on them I guess.”
“Whoa.” He holds up a hand to halt me. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Rewind.” His eyes are wide and shine brightly. “You legit hunt? Like camouflage clothes, black paint smeared on your face, hunting boots, the whole nine yards?”
“Hunting clothes, orange hat, a vest, and a kick-ass bow that shoots arrows. Yeah.”
Dacen blinks rapidly and shoves the t-shirt back into the closet, then stalks over and stops in front of my chair. “Why do I suddenly find that to be the hottest thing I know about you? This takes all-American Southern boy to a whole new level.”
“Would you shut up with that Southern boy shit?”
He waves his hand in the air, dismissing my comment. “I’m going to need to see you decked out all extra-Southern in your hunting gear one of these days.” He closes his eyes and stands there silently.
“What are you doing now?”
“Shh.” He reaches over and pinches my lips shut. “I’m imagining it. Don’t ruin my hot hunter fantasy by speaking.”
My lips twitch and I grip his waist and yank him into my lap. He yelps as he lands, grabbing onto my shoulders for balance. My chair gives another much louder, and much angrier, squeak but holds both of us. Dacen looks up and our eyes lock.
“Hi.” I brush my thumb over his cheek.
When his tongue slips out and wets his top lip, I want to lean forward and capture it with mine. He looks back and forth between my eyes and my mouth. “Um, hello.”
“What are you doing to me, Dacen?” The question slips out before my brain has a chance to stop my mouth from word vomiting everywhere.
His forehead crinkles and his eyes soften. “What do you mean?”
I don’t know how to answer that question without poking around inside areas of my brain I have no interest in delving into, so instead, I kiss him. His body relaxes in my arms and I slip my tongue inside that mouth I can’t get enough of. When he moans, my dick perks up. All the soft sighs and sounds he makes when our bodies are pressed together are like some secret code my dick intercepts and responds to immediately, every time.
I tighten an arm around his waist and draw him closer, deepening our kiss. He slips a hand underneath my shirt and slides his palm up my chest, then breaks away to pull my shirt up. When he leans down and flicks my nipple with his tongue, a shuddering breath rushes from my lungs, and when he sucks it into his mouth and swirls his tongue over it gently, a low hum rumbles from within me.
