Page 43 of Only One Tent
“Yeah. Well, you’re practically living with me anyway. I expect you’ll have all your stuff moved in by the end of the month.”
I chuckled, because it was cute. But. “Crow. We haven’t even talked about that.”
“Okay. Let’s go home and discuss it in the morning.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine. Let’s get dressed.” I was determined to stick this out and make that stubborn man talk more.
Chapter twenty-two
Camping Again
The water was crystal clear and cold. The sun was hot, even after my dip. I slid my shades and hat on and glanced over at Skyler. He was standing up on his own paddleboard, and behind him, lush trees lined the bank. Cyprus, pines, and oaks drippingSpanish moss. Low brush, shrubs, and ferns filled in every gap. I knew better, but it felt like we were out in the middle of nowhere.
“Crow! Crow! Look.” He pointed to a large floating mass of weeds, seagrass, and lilies.
I paddled a little closer to see what he was so excited about. Deep in the center, a tiny alligator floated. It would have been easy to miss. “You have eagle eyes.”
“Shh…Don’t bother him.” He paddled away. I had to get him his own board. He wasn’t sure about it at first, but he enjoyed paddling independently and not being attached to me. And I loved seeing him do it. The joy on his face. He was so relaxed. And after several months of difficult cases, he needed the break.
Since he officially moved in with me, I tried to make it as relaxing as possible for him. Drinks at the pool, soaking in the tub, or just sitting in the living room together. He read while I researched the latest investment opportunities with the fireplace on and the TV off. But there was nothing like getting away from everything out here in nature.
We’d arrived early so we could spend time on the water before dinner. I’d rented an RV for this trip. No fucking on an air mattress this time.
“Ready to head back?” I asked, stomach growling. I had burgers ready to pop onto the grill at our campsite.
“No. But let’s go ahead and turn around. We can take our time getting back. Right?”
“Sure.”
Skyler hooted and jumped in the water. He was clever enough to strap his board to his ankle so he could swim around without worrying about it floating off or needing my help to hold it. I shouldn’t have been surprised; my boy liked all kinds of straps. We now had an assortment at home. And we often put them to good use. We also had been back to Afterglow several times, but not to the swing room. That was going to be a hard pass. Even ifSkyler wanted to try it again, I wouldn’t let him. That had scared the ever-loving life out of me. But it had also been a turning point for our relationship.
When we returned home, we made sweet, slow love, and Skyler finally admitted he loved me. But he also laid down the law. We now had a once-a-week check-in on how we were feeling and what was going on with the relationship. When I shared well, he rewarded me by riding my dick. Nothing like watching him pleasure himself like that.
Fuck! I was so gone for him.
And I had a huge surprise. We hadn’t been together long, but there was no way I was letting him get away from me now.
After swimming a bit, Skyler climbed back on his board and paddled over to me. He sat and propped his feet on my board, so I sat as well, and we drifted along. I only paddled to avoid crashing into the trees, but mostly we stayed in the middle. It was late summer, nearly fall, but still hot with plenty of other people on the river.
“This reminds me, I saw the pictures Levi’s nephew took at the PRIDE trip. He got a few great shots of me.”
“I’d love to see them.”
“I’ll send them to you.” I could practically see his brain churning as he leaned back with his hands behind him to prop himself up.
“What’s on your mind, Skyler?”
“I don’t know. Just. We don’t have any pictures of us together.”
“We’ll get some. Promise.”
“I’m not much on selfies. But…”
“Right. We’ve been together too long to not have any. You know Warner and Cody are coming out tomorrow. We’ll get them to take some.”
“Sounds great. But…”
“Out with it already.”
