Page 227 of Delicious

“I love you, too.” I handed him the glass and sat down beside him. His knee bumped mine. I pressed mine back against his. I felt more at home than I had in a long time.

ChapterTwo

Martin

Sometimes I ask myself why I even took the job and moved away. The obvious answer was the very large raise I received, but there was something else. An underlying fear that made me run away. I woke up one day and realized that I was probably going to spend the rest of my life alone. What was the chance of meeting my soulmate in a city I’d lived in for most of my life? My stagnant life of drudgery and routine – a life filled with gossip and dinners with my friends.

I needed something else, so I left Denver.

I didn’t hate the job or the money, but I came to realize something that shook me all the way down to my foundations. I missed Ryder. My life hadn’t changed. It was still filled with the drudgery of my day-to-day, but now, in my new city, I was alone and had no one to share anything with. I called Ryder. My free time was spent talking to the one person who had always completed me – my best friend for as many years as I could remember.

We had always been there for one another through everything. A bad date, a breakup, a spoiled dessert that I still ate – it was always Ryder who was there. It had always been Ryder whom I reached out to and wanted to share every little detail of my life with.

It was sobering, and I had no idea what it actually meant. I mean, he was Ryder. I knew more about him than I probably did myself, and vice versa. My family loved him, and his family loved me. His nephews called me Uncle Marti, for Christ’s sake. How many holidays had we spent with each other? How many secrets had we shared over the years?

That way lies danger. Maybe hewasmy soulmate, or maybe I was just lonely and too tired to try to rebuild a life all alone. But I had been ecstatic the week before my trip because I would be back with him. As soon as I could deplane, I ran out of the airport to the rental car because I couldn’t wait to see him. His arms felt so right wrapped around me as I lost myself in his hug. The smell of him alone was… comfort.

I loved him. But I would never, no matter how I felt, ruin what it was that we had. I couldn’t live the rest of my life knowing that I fucked us up by making a hasty decision based on my loneliness. Yes – he completed me. Maybe the love of my life had always been right in front of me, but the need for him outweighed anything else. Losing Ryder would be like losing my spine. I couldn't afford that.

He was all I had. Besides, he had never really thought of me that way. So…

“Are you masturbating?” Ryder’s deep voice pulled me out of my even deeper thoughts.

“Smartass. Come on in.” I sat up and pressed my back against the headboard.

The door opened, and his twinkling green eyes caused my heart to beat faster. “Did you actually take a nap?”

“No. It’s not a long flight, but flying always makes me tired.”

“It’s the canned air.”

“Are you a scientist now?”

“Yes, a nuclear one.” He raised his eyebrows and fell onto the bed. His sturdy, muscular body pressed into my legs. He raised his arms above his head and stretched. His shirt rode up, and I glanced away from the bare skin of his taut stomach.

Danger Marti… Danger.

“If you’re a nuclear scientist, then we’re in trouble,” I chuckled.

“We’re having a meltdown,” he whispered so seriously that I burst out laughing.

“Dumbass.”

“So, I guess I should start cooking if we want to eat before ten. I sat down on the couch and watched some stupid shit and realized I had taken a nap. Want to come down and join me? I could really use your sous chef realness.”

I huffed and kicked at him with my foot. “You know I burn water.”

“Not with me. I’m good at being in charge.”

“Well, you have always been bossy.”

“Says the bossy bottom.”

“Oh, you have bossy bottom energy, and you know it. Even tops can be… bossy.”

“I’m vers, so…”

“Oh, please, Mary. The last time you let someone into your cave of delight was when you were in college. I know everything, and I mean everything about you. Don’t you forget that.”

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