Page 37 of Digging Deeper

I hold out my hand and say, “Alright, deal.”

He shakes it, then sighs. “Sometimes you are ridiculous.”

“You like it when I’m ridiculous.”

He snorts. “Uh huh, sure.” He points to different spots in the living room. “I see that one, that one, and the one under the TV. Are there more in here?”

“If you think I’m going to start giving you hintsalready,then you don’t know me very well.”

He stares for a second, then lifts a shoulder. “Fair.”

He pulls himself up to standing, and I watch him collect three more, including the one in the Dracaena Michiko plant that Holds gave him, and all I can do is smile. Okay, no, all I can do is stare at the way his back and arm muscles contract when he’s walking. It’s mesmerizing. I think I even drool a little.

Dammit, Gav, stop checking out your roommate!

I jump up and hurry into the kitchen to stop my eyes from roaming all over him for a moment, and I call over my shoulder, “I bought something for you to put them in.” I pull out a plastic orange pumpkin bucket that little kids usually use for trick-or-treating, and I walk back into the living room, holding it out to him. “Here. You can put them in this.”

He lifts a brow. “Seriously?”

“What’s wrong with this? It’s cute.”

“It’s for three-year-olds.”

I roll my eyes, then take the handle and hook it on one of the little knobs on his walker. “See? Perfect.”

He shakes his head, but pulls the spider rings off the tips of his fingers and the pole of his walker where he’s been putting them, and I can’t help put chuckle. He shoots me a fake glare, then smiles and holds up a purple spider to me, saying, “For you.”

I chuckle and take it, putting it on my pinkie, then hold my hand high in the air. “Beautiful.”

He snorts out a laugh and shakes his head, but says, “Alright, come on, then. Let’s find some more.”

With a big smile, I follow him into the dining room where he finds six more. To my amusement, both dogs are following him everywhere he goes, even if it’s only one step. And Drix keeps stopping to pet them both. It’s sweet and endearing and makes me melt a little bit.

“I think my dogs are obsessed with you,” I say.

He smiles and pats Nana on the head and scratches Brutus behind the ears. “They just like following their favorite human.”

I gasp. “Rude. I’m their favorite.”

“Nope. They like me better because I sneak them treats.”

I shake my head goodnaturedly, then watch as he bends down to kiss Brutus and Nana’s snouts, but my eyes automatically go to his ass. Because it’s aniceass. More than nice. A lot more. It makes me want to squeeze it. And bite it. And lick it.

“What did you do?” Drix asks, snapping my attention to him.

“Huh?” I try to blink my embarrassment away, but I feel my cheeks heating.Please tell me he didn’t see me staring at his ass!

He chuckles and shakes his head, pointing up at the light fixture over the table. “How the hell did you even get one up there?”

I blow out a relieved breath that he didn’t notice my ass-staring. “I have my ways.”

“How the hell am I supposed to get it down?”

I shrug. “That’s the point of this whole thing. You gotta figure it out yourself.”

“I’m not climbing on the dining room table.”

“I didn’t climb on it.”

---