Page 66 of Loving a Warrior

Matt chuckled. “The life of wannabe SEALs, I guess.” He leaned down to press his lips lightly against the bruise. “Go to sleep.”

“How about you kiss all my owies first?” Shane’s voice was plaintive. “I have a lot of them. Everywhere.”

All his blood rushed south at the thought, but Matt managed to sound stern as he snapped, “Are you always this pathetic when you’re hurt or sick?”

“Oh, yeah, I’m the worst. I admit it.”

“Such a big, tough frogman,” Matt said in disgust, rubbing soothing circles over Shane’s chest. “You’ll feel better next time you wake up, I promise.”

Matt waited until his breathing evened out, then undressed and slid into bed next to him. When he woke again, he was the most comfortable he’d ever been in his entire life. Sprawled on his back in the middle of the big bed, Matt struggled to focus, slowly becoming aware of Shane’s head resting heavily on his chest.

“Hey, clown.”

Shane’s breath wafted over Matt’s nipple, which tightened painfully. “Hey, pillow. Sexy pillow. My favorite pillow.” He contemplated the pebbled bud, darting his tongue out for a taste before drawing it into his mouth.

Catching his breath on a groan, Matt pushed on his shoulders. “Stop.” Shane did, releasing that nipple only to kiss his way over to the other one. “Oh, God.” Matt arched his back as Shane sucked hard on it, rolling the abandoned wet one between his fingertips. “Stop!”

“Don’t wanna,” Shane mumbled. “Want you.”

“I want you, too, but you’re not up for this—”

Shane looked at him incredulously. “Reach between my legs and tell me how ‘not up for this’ I am.”

Shaking with sudden mirth, Matt wiggled out from under him and sat up. “Poor choice of words,” he allowed. “It doesn’t change the fact you were screaming in pain not—” he glanced at the clock “—two hours ago.”

Shane rolled to his side, a wince crossing his face that he tried to suppress. He peered at Matt to see if he’d noticed, quirking his lips when Matt raised an eyebrow.

“See?”

“But don’t they say sex is the best medicine?” Shane asked hopefully.

“Um, that’s laughter.”

“I vote we make it sex. Blue balls won’t help my recovery.”

“Well, I’m not fucking someone who’s half-dead.” Matt rose from the bed and snatched up his clothes, suppressing a smile when he saw Shane checking out his ass with a wistful expression. “Plus, I’m hungry.” He paused. “How about you? My repertoire is pretty much limited to spaghetti, burgers and tacos, but I’ll be happy to make enough for two.”

“I can always eat.” Shane pushed to sitting and swung his legs over the side of the bed with a grimace. “Hand me some clothes and I’ll hang out with you in the living room for a while.”

Matt wordlessly passed him some sweatpants and a T-shirt, sticking close while Shane hobbled to his recliner and sank down into it. Bringing him a fresh bottle of cold water, Matt made sure the remote was within reach before he headed to the kitchen to whip up some tacos.

He found TV trays stacked in a corner and set one up in front of Shane. As they ate, they watched some stupid comedy together until Shane leaned back in his chair again with a contented sigh. “Usually on date night I’m hoping to get lucky at the end of it, but this wasn’t bad. Thanks for cooking.”

“Date night? Yeah, right.”

“Dinner and a movie with a cute guy.” Shane grinned at him. “Sounds like date night to me.”

“In your dreams, Hovland.” Matt snatched up their empty plates and stalked to the sink.

As he washed the dishes with a bunch of unnecessary clatter, he couldn’t help but think of what it’d be like to date Shane. What it’d be like if they were both different people, with different lives, able to put the time and effort into building a relationship.

Furious with himself for letting his thoughts go there, Matt stomped back into the living room to pick a fight. “I bet you’re the type who’s friends with all your exes, aren’t you?”

To his intense disappointment, Shane didn’t engage. “There aren’t that many,” he said mildly, “but yeah, pretty much. How about you?”

Matt blinked as the last guy he’d been with came to mind. “I, uh, kind of owe someone an apology right now, actually,” he admitted, sinking to the couch. “I was a shit to him.”

“You? Hard to believe.” Shane laughed when Matt flipped him off. “What’d you do?”