Page 7 of The Way Home
Riley cupped himself and yelled, “Jeremy! What the fuck! Get out of here!”
I lowered my water bottle and offered him an apologetic smile. “Sorry, Ri.”
I closed the door behind me, went into our old room, and plopped down on the lower bunk, banging my head against the top on the way down. Rubbing the back of my head, I hunched over in thought.
What the hell was Riley doing here? And naked? Damn, it had been a long time since I’d seen him nude, and even with the brief glimpse, he lookedreallyfucking good. A part of me wished I could go back into the bathroom and look my fill, but that wasn’t going to happen. I sighed heavily and rolled back to lay down on the bed, staring up at the top bunk. My mind was all over the place as I stared at the familiar knots in the wood, mentally tracing patterns and constellations above me.
The bathroom door opened, and I thought he might come in here so we could talk out what happened, but I heard his footsteps move away and another door close. Was he staying in our parents’ room? I wanted to check in on him, butfuck, I just didn’t know what to do.
Riley
Still in my towel, I paced around the bedroom, wondering if I should leave now while my bags were still packed. I needed this trip, though, needed the time away. The idea of leaving now made my stomach sink, because I would be going right back into the same situation I was trying to get out of. But then, so did staying if Jeremy was going to be here.Why was he here?
I grabbed my phone from where I’d left it on the bed and called my mom.
It rang once and then went to voicemail. Did she end the call? After the beep, I spoke in a loud whisper, “Mom! Did you know Jeremy was going to be here? I was supposed to have some time to myself. How can I do that if he’s here? I… don’t know what I’m going to do. Can you just… call me back?”
Ending the call, I tossed the phone on the bed and flopped down beside it. It had been a while since I’d been eye to eye with Jeremy. I usually tried to avoid such close contact because it was too hard. After all this time I was still incredibly attracted to him, and there were too many feelings under the surface. Then he was there, right in front of me, and I was completely naked.
When I was in the shower, I figured I might as well try to relieve some stress and had just started stroking myself when he burst into the bathroom like he was going to jump me. The panic and excitement of it all confused the hell out of me—and my dick. Jeremy staring at my junk didn’t help either. Was that a flash of desire I saw on his face or was that just my imagination?
My arm fell over my eyes.Fuck! This was so screwed up.
A knock sounded on the door, and I wasn’t mentally or physically ready to deal with him. “Go away!”
“Riley, come on!” Jeremy shouted through the door.
“Fuck off, Jem!” Using the nickname I hadn’t said since our first summer together seemed to give him pause. I heard a soft thump against the door before his footsteps moved away.Good. Maybe. I didn’t know. I was tempted to run to the door and call him back, but I couldn’t, because the nickname affected me, too. It was the name no one else called him. He told me once it was mine alone for him, and it made me feel special. We had this unique bond, just the two of us. I missed it, I wanted so badly for it to be true again.
It took all of my brain power to stand up, but I figured if nothing else, I needed to get some clothes on. Laying around in a towel wasn’t going to help, especially with such conflicted feelings about being back here and alone with Jeremy.
Dressed in a hoodie and gym shorts, I stayed in the room, checking emails and scrolling endlessly on social media. Anything to occupy my thoughts and distract me from a presence I could feel through the walls. Hours passed until mystomach started to grumble, and I had to admit to myself that my childish stand-off wasn’t proving anything to anyone.
Taking a deep breath, I braced myself to face the person I’d been avoiding for ten years. When I opened the door, I was hit with a delicious aroma that made my empty stomach roar. I’d been up early, and it had been a long travel day, so I hadn’t eaten anything since I landed at the airport. Following the scent to the kitchen, I was surprised to find Jeremy standing at the stove. He was shirtless—because of course he was—and wore an apron. His golden back was on full display, and the bow of the apron strings at his waist only added to the sight.
“Do you always cook without clothes on?” I asked with an edge to my voice. The edge might have come from trying to hide how incredibly sexy I found him.
Jeremy turned around and put his hands on his hips. “Only for you, darling.” He gave me a wink.That fucker. He had no right looking as good as he did and looking at me like that. His brown hair was trimmed short now, looking like a more mature and sexy upgrade from his hot, purposefully messy style once had as a teenager.
I shook my head. I couldn’t handle him teasing me the same way he used to, or the way I’d seen him with the plethora of people he’d brought home. “Don’t. Don’t do that, please.”
He shrugged and turned his attention back to the stove. “I got hot, and there’s no breeze right now.”
With the kitchen window and the front door open, it usually created a decent cross-breeze, but it was pretty warm in here, especially since it appeared the oven was on. I forgot how much it heated up the place. I wandered around the living room for something to do. It shouldn’t be this hard, but I spent a lot of time tryingnotto be in exactly this kind of situation with him.
“I don’t know if you’re hungry, but I made enough beef stew to share. There’s no onions in it.”
I tripped and hit my shin on the coffee table, muttering a curse.No onions? I used to have a sensitivity to eating onions, more so if they were raw, but I tended to avoid them in general when I was younger. Did he really make the food special because of me? Jeremy was the type who typically put onions in and on everything.
“You okay?” He called out from the kitchen.
“Yeah, just knocked my shin.”
He took a bowl and a plate with bread on it and sat at the small round table that barely fit the four of us when we all lived here together. I made my way back to the stove and stared at the delicious-looking stew. It was thick and hearty and smelled incredible. Beside it on the stove top was a sheet pan with a loaf of bread. When did he have time to do all of this? Oh, right, when I was in the bedroom sulking.
Scooping a bowl, I considered taking it back to the room and retreating but instead decided to man up and sit at the table with Jeremy. After all the effort he went through, I probably owed him some face time.
I forced myself to hold my head up and meet his gorgeous brown eyes. “Thanks. This looks… good. I didn’t know you cooked.” My cheeks warmed, and I quickly shoved a bite of food into my mouth, trying to suppress the moan that wanted to escape at the explosion of flavors.
