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“I didn’t think you would. But I’m glad you are. Unless you don’t want to.”
“Stop talking.” With his finger under my chin, he lifts my face to his and kisses me firmly. “I want to stay. Thanks for the invite.”
I grin up at him before I nuzzle his chest. He reaches over and turns out the light, and we’re cast into darkness, with the glow of the lights of the city.
“How long will you be in Seattle?” he asks softly.
“I don’t have a return ticket.” His hands tighten on my back. “For the first time in a really long time, I don’t have a plan.”
“Is that unnerving?”
“Oh, yeah, it is.” I look up at him, enjoying the way the gray light is cast on his face. “Maybe we can just enjoy each other while I’m here.”
Keaton licks his lips. “I’d like that, but, Sid, I don’t want to lead you on. I like you a lot, and the sex is fucking incredible, but that’s all it can be.”
I have so many questions. I want to drill him, ask why he feels that way, but for now, I just nod.
“I respect that and appreciate your honesty. Friends with benefits, while I’m in town, works for me. But I have one condition.”
He turns wary eyes to mine. “Okay, what is it?”
“While you’re fucking me, you’re not fucking anyone else. And vice versa, of course.”
He moves quickly, pinning me beneath him on the bed, and kisses me long and slow. When he pulls back, he smiles softly down at me. “There is no one else I want, Sid. There’s no one.”
“Okay, then. It’s decided. We’d better stock up on condoms.”
I need a piano.
I can play guitar, as well, but I like to write on the piano, and there isn’t one here in this condo.
I’ll send the owner an email today to ask if they have any objections to me having one brought in. I can lease one while I’m in town.
I woke early, before Keaton, and silently slipped from the bed. Now, I’m sitting on the couch, with my second cup of coffee, watching the city wake up.
Feeling movement to my left, I glance over and see Keaton standing in the doorway, wearing only his jeans, which aren’t done up all the way and hang loosely on his impressive hips, showing off those abs.
“Coffee,” is all he says.
“There’s a fresh pot in the kitchen.”
He nods and pads over, pours himself a mug, and then joins me on the couch.
“I can see why my brother likes living in this building so much.” I take a sip of coffee and glance back out the windows. “Even though we grew up in a tiny town, Gray’s always been a city boy. He would love being in the heart of all the action.”
“Do you miss Coeur d’ Alene?”
I shrug a shoulder and glance his way. He’s watching me with those sleepy eyes.
“Sure, I do. I miss my parents. Mom’s been doing better now that she’s on the right medication.”
“Dementia is a bitch.”
I nod and frown down into my mug. “I have a lot of guilt. Maya’s the one who’s taken on the load of making sure that Mom has everything she needs. She left her job in Spokane so she could move in with them.”
“From what I hear, she didn’t mind doing those things.”
“No, she didn’t. But still. Gray’s in Seattle, and I’m…well, I’m everywhere. I hate that she shoulders that burden alone. Before I go back to Nashville, I’ll make a trip over to see them.”
He’s quiet for a long moment, and it’s nice. We’re just drinking our coffee, soaking in the morning.
“I have to find a piano today. I have a melody playing in my head, and I want to tinker with it. What are you up to?”
“Work.” He sips his coffee. “Always work.”
“We’re a couple of workaholics.” I grin over at him. “Thanks for staying last night.”
“It wasn’t a hardship.”
That makes me laugh. “I’m so happy to hear that.”
“I’m going to leave after this cup.”
“I figured.”
He sighs and pushes his hand through his messy hair.
“I don’t have your number.” He looks surprised, as if the thought just occurred to him.
I grab my phone and open an empty text. “What’s yours?”
He rattles it off, and I plug it in, then send a simple text to him and hit send.
We hear a ping in the bedroom.
“There, now you have it.”
“Cool. I’ll be in touch.”
“I’ll be around.”
Chapter 4
Keaton
“Dude, you should have won that game,” my cousin, Liam, says to Ike as they idly toss a football back and forth in my garage, where I’m currently buried in the business end of the engine of this classic Mustang.
“I can only do my part, man,” Ike replies.
Ike Harrison is the newest member of our clan, recently married to my cousin Sophie, who happens to be Liam’s older sister. Ike is also the star quarterback for Seattle’s professional football team, and given that our uncle is Will Montgomery, a football legend, the men in this family can discuss the sport ad nauseam.
