Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 79968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
“Next time I want to turn you on I’ll just toss a box of tissues your way.”
“Fuck yeah, baby. Make sure it hits me in just the right spot.”
We both lost it in a fit of laughter and Shawn fell into my arms. I held him tight, kissing the side of his head. In another minute I went to the hall closet and grabbed a rag, wetting it down and wiping away the mess I’d left on the rug.
“See? Good as new,” I told him.
“It really did clean up well,” he said. “I’m always going to know it’s there, though.”
“So be it. Now get in bed with me before I fall asleep standing up.”
We tucked in together and he wrapped an arm around me. “And what about the other thing?” he asked softly.
“What do you mean?”
“Me telling you how much I love you, and being sweet, and all of that very, very coupley stuff,” he murmured, stroking his fingertips along my shoulder. “I know you hated that for a long time, and I just wanted to make sure it wasn’t making you gag, or anything.”
I settled in on the pillow. “The scariest part is that it didn’t make me feel weird at all,” I told him. “It was exactly what I wanted. It felt like I needed it. Needed to hear it again. Something I’ve never heard during sex.”
“I meant every word.”
I exhaled slowly, reaching down and lacing my fingers in with Shawn’s.
The moment bloomed between us.
“I know I’m hard to love,” I said past the new dryness in my throat.
His fingers gripped tighter around mine. “You’re so easy to love, Rush.”
Now my throat was feeling tighter. The silence settled for minute or so between us.
I didn’t know what I’d done to deserve someone as sweet as Shawn, but I wasn’t going to question it.
Instead, I was just going to show him exactly how much it meant to me. And hopefully make him laugh his ass off every day along the way.
“Best fucking orgasm of my life, by the way,” I told him.
“There’s a lot more where that came from,” he said.
“Better be.”
“You know, for two people who don’t really know how to do relationships, I think we’re doing pretty damn good,” he said, pulling me in and being the big spoon.
My heart leaped. “Fuck. I never get to be the little spoon.”
“Mmm,” he hummed behind my ear. “You like it?”
“I like both. I like everything with you, and you know it.”
How long had I denied myself of these moments? Of feeling like I belonged somewhere with someone?
Or was it really the truth that I never could have belonged with anyone the way I did with Shawn?
I finally had something I really cared about that wasn’t just another career milestone. And I was starting to think that I could spend the rest of my life finding new ways to be with Shawn. New ways to have fun. New ways to love him, more than I’d ever known I could love anyone.
EPILOGUE
SHAWN, THREE MONTHS LATER
Rush handed me back the cheap plastic ballpoint pen that he’d just used to sign a metric ton of paperwork.
“That’s it?” he asked. “Is it really done?”
“That’s all there is to it,” I said. “A bunch of money, a bunch of signatures, and months and months of work, and you have a beautifully renovated house. I’d say the flip job was a smashing success.”
“No kidding,” he said. “The Fixer Brothers are magic, as far as I’m concerned.”
We were standing in the kitchen, which had transformed completely from a shoddy mess into a gorgeous, craftsman-style haven at the heart of his home. All of the house had transformed just as drastically. We’d managed to save some of the best features of the house, and anything made out of oak, while transforming other parts into something new, fresh, and beautiful.
The warm wood cabinetry of the kitchen looked fantastic against the zinc countertops Rush had chosen, modeled off of the style he had in one of his San Francisco breweries. The dining room had all-new built-in shelves along its wall, while keeping the quirky sticker-covered table that had always been there.
And the backyard was a foresty oasis straight from heaven, as far as I was concerned. The deck was brand-new. The hot tub was where he’d really splurged, getting one that seemed to have jets from every angle. At night, glowing lights illuminated the plants and trees, which our landscaping contractors had knocked out of the park.
It was a true home, now.
Rush’s home. Not just a house he inherited from his dad.
“And it’s a good thing you signed all of this so fast, because people are supposed to start getting here… five minutes ago,” I said, checking the time on Rush’s new retro chrome clock hanging on the kitchen wall.
“As long as there’s food, people will be happy,” Rush said. He walked over to me, wrapping his arms around me and kissing me slowly. “We fucking did this.”