“Self-sufficient,” I countered.
“A pain in my ass.”
I let out a startled laugh. “I have two garages I’m supposed to stop by this week,” I reminded him. “Both look promising. I’ll be making money pretty soon.”
“One of ’em’s in Springfield, isn’t it?” he asked, his fingers disappearing as he reached for his own soap.
“Yeah. I’m leaning toward that one. The owner seems like a good guy.”
“Longer commute, though.”
“Like ten minutes,” I replied with a scoff. “That’s nothing.”
“Just don’t take somethin’ ’cause you think you have to.”
“I have to pay my bills,” I reminded him. “I can’t just keep draining what we have left.”
“I told you I can cover us.”
“I like working, Curt.” I smiled. “Plus, the kids are back to school in two weeks, and then I’ll just be home alone, bored out of my mind.”
“Fair enough,” he said, leaning down to give me a quick kiss on the lips. He pulled away, but didn’t go very far. “As long as you remember the days of grindin’ are behind you. We’re good, baby. Even if you wanna go part time or somethin’.”
“You’renot working part time,” I reminded him.
“I make my own hours,” he said, scrubbing his body. “If I wanna take time off, I do it. If I wanna fuck you in the mornin’ and go in late, I do it. If I wanna get off early to go with you guys to the river, I do it.”
“Point taken.”
We changed positions so he could rinse off, and I watched in appreciation as the water sluiced over his muscled body. We showered together more often than we showered apart, but I still hadn’t gotten used to the view. Tattoos covered his chest, back, and both arms—all clean black lines, all meaningful.
“I like takin’ care of you,” he said, tipping his head back to rinse his hair.
“What?” I asked distractedly.
“I like takin’ care of you,” he repeated, lowering his head to look at me. “You and the kids. It’s always been just me and Dyl. That’s not what I wanted, even when I was a stupid kid, fuckin’ any woman who’d give me the time of day. I always knew I wanted a family.”
“Aw,” I said, my lips curving.
“Shut up,” he scoffed.
“That’s so sweet.”
“I am sweet,” he said, scooting out of the way so I could move under the spray.
“I know.”
“You’re my family,” he announced, his tone almost frustrated. “Right? I mean, that’s what we’re doin’?”
“That’s what we’re doing,” I confirmed, realizing a little late that he was taking the conversation more seriously than I had been.
“We’ve been livin’ together for almost three months,” he continued, watching as I rinsed off.
“I know.”
“Feels like we’re buildin’ somethin’.”
“We are.”
