Page 28 of Crossroads

Bodhi moved with such powerful determination and grace that it nearly knocked me off my feet. He had pulled off his flannel and T-shirt and hung them on the fence beside him, and that left him shirtless.

My mouth watered, and I told myself I needed to pull away.

But I couldn’t.

The tattoos that covered his side and back were masterful pieces of art, detailed and glorious. The phoenix rising out of the ashes, with names etched on his ribcage, right above the burn scars that I knew covered the other side of his chest and hips.

The nipple rings were a surprise, though they shouldn’t be. After all, he had a nose ring, and once or twice, when I had been staring at him for a little too long, I noticed the outline of them against his chest, but I had thought I had been seeing things. He lifted the axe and chopped away at the wood in front of him, though I didn’t know if it was an axe or if it was called something else. All I knew was that he did it in one movement and split the log as if it were easy. His biceps and triceps bulged, the veins on his forearms stood out, and I licked my lips, trying to breathe. Sweat slicked down his back, and for some reason, I felt like I was in some form of lumberjack porn, asking him to spread those logs a little wider.

Okay, I needed to get a grip.

And not of Bodhi Ashford.

I must have made some moan or something, because Bodhi looked up sharply and narrowed his gaze at me.

Could he tell that I was turned on just by the sight of him being shirtless? I surely hoped not. That would be embarrassing. Not that getting turned on was embarrassing, but he was practically my landlord. This would be wrong.

Oh, so wrong.

And neither one of us was emotionally available, and I didn’t even know if he was physically available. So no, I had to be smarter than that. Stronger than that.

Was I still moaning?

“You better now?” Bodhi asked, that voice still as brisk and sexy as always.

“No, but I will be later. What are you doing?” I asked, knowing I was a dumbass.

“Chopping wood. We shouldn’t get another snowstorm, but I’d like to stay on top of things anyway. We lost more than one tree in the last mudslide, so I’m breaking them down as much as I can. A few of these pieces I’ll use for a project or two, though.”

“Oh.”

“After this, I’m going to work on staining my deck on the house. Do you want me to show you how to do that?”

The question and offer were so out of the blue that I paused, wondering if he was really talking to me. I knew that being anywhere near a shirtless Bodhi Ashford was a danger to mostly myself, but the fact that he was offering to do something? That had to mean something. Or I was looking too hard into it.

“Well, one day I am going to own a house, so I should probably figure out how to do things like that.”

His lips twitched, his nose ring glinting in the sunlight. “You can probably hire people for that, but it’s good to know. I’m almost done here. Just wait a second.”

I nodded, not quite sure what he was saying, since I couldn’t help but stare at him.

Bodhi made quick work of the last log and then sadly put his T-shirt and flannel back on before he led me toward the deck.

He had already pulled out his materials and started explaining to me what he was doing. He was a good teacher, I had to give him that, and I pulled out my phone to take notes. I might not ever do this, but I liked learning.

“Where did you learn how to do all of this?” I asked as we sat down on the older part of the deck, taking a break. He handed me his bottle of water, since the sun was shining, and I gratefully took it. It was cold down my throat; I hadn’t realized how hot it had been. He frowned at me, pulled off the baseball cap that he had put backwards, and slid it over my head.

“I don’t know if you have on sunscreen or not.”

“I always wear sunscreen, but thank you.”

The hat smelled of him and a little bit of sweat. That I didn’t mind.

“I learned it from my friends’ dads.” He leaned against the railing, and I handed him his water back. He played with the cap and didn’t say anything for a bit. I shifted so I was sitting next to him, our shoulders brushing. We faced the house, as well as part of the mountains, and I couldn’t help but feel at peace. How odd to feel at peace in a place that wasn’t my own.

“I’m not handy at all, so at least you know how to do a few things.”

“That’s true.”