“Um…I have to make a confession,” I begin, and Colt raises an eyebrow.
“Does this confession involve something illegal?”
“Not unless you consider not liking mushrooms on my pizza illegal.”
Colt mock gasps and slides the mushrooms toward him. “Not even with cheese?”
I shake my head. “It’s a texture thing. I’m not a fan.”
“That wasn’t as big a confession as I thought it would be. Do you mind if I put them on my half of the pizza?”
“No, go ahead.” We chop in silence for a beat, and I glance over as he spreads sauce on the flatbread. He’s still shirtless, with his hair a little messy from drying after the shower. A slight scruff of beard dusts his jaw, and he’s so completely comfortable in this domestic moment, my chest squeezes again when I think of leaving here. When I think of how different it feels to be in these quiet moments with Colt than any of thetime I spent with Trevor, it’s almost jarring in the contrast between them.
How did I ever think my life was full then?
“What?” His lips quirk as he tops the pizza and glances my way.
“I know you want me to stay over tonight, but would it be too much to ask if I could be here every night?”
Colt drops the stack of pepperoni on the pizza. He clears his throat and slowly shakes his head. “No. I wanted to ask you that, but I didn’t want to seem too eager.” He huffs a breath as he stares at the pepperoni pile on the pizza. “I’d really like to have you here every morning and watch the sunrise with you or make you coffee. I like you here in my space.”
“Okay.” I grin at him. Unable to contain the happiness of knowing he likes me here with him. “I don’t know about sunrise, but you can make me a coffee. I’ll never turn that down.”
Somehow, over a homemade pizza with mushrooms on his half, we talk for hours in his kitchen. He shares more about the town and what it was like to care for his uncle before he moved to a retirement home. I tell him about how I sometimes struggle with my parents being away so much.
“You’re close to your parents, though? You said you talk to your mom a lot.”
“I do. Since Mom was a journalist, we had that curious spark we shared. My dad is great, but as a military guy, he was sometimes more strict than I would’ve liked. We get along. Sometimes I wish…”
Colt, the man who never knew his father and lost his mother far too young, has endured more than I can pretend to understand. It seems rude for me to tell him how I long for a stable family.
“I wish they’d be around more for me. I know that’s selfishof me, but sometimes I wish I had that proverbial home to run to when I crash, you know?”
“I know.” He nods, and my gaze meets his. In that single fleeting moment, I feel safer with Colt than I have in my entire adult life.
“Do you think we could clean the kitchen in the morning? It’s been a long day.”
“Absolutely.” Colt doesn’t even hesitate as he pushes away from the table and holds out his hand to me. It’s such a perfectly gentlemanly thing to do as he leads me to his bedroom.
Random boxes litter the room, some open and some still taped up. His bed is a tangle of blankets with a single nightstand next to it, and in the corner, a hamper of dirty laundry is dangerously close to falling over.
“You weren’t kidding when you said it was a mess in here.”
“Sorry. I hate laundry, and I started unpacking but got distracted and never finished. So…yeah. Don’t mind the mess.”
I’ve already straightened the blankets on his bed and added the one he wrapped me in. Shucking off my boxers, I dive underneath the covers on the side without the nightstand and snuggle into the pillows.
“This is comfy. Are you joining me or what?”
Colt strips out of his sleep pants and slides under the covers, turning to face me. My feet find his, and I tangle them together while shamelessly pulling him closer to me.
“Heat thief,” he mutters into my hair as he arranges me against his naked body. There’s a smile in his words, and I laugh softly.
“Are you complaining?”
“Not a bit.”
Our breaths slow as we both begin drifting to sleep. It feels so right to be here with Colt in his apartment and messybedroom. Everything about Colt feels right. From the warming-up shower to the pizza and conversation at dinner. Even the way he kissed me the first time when we went fishing.
