Page 174 of As They Are
As usual,sunlight woke me up from my slumber.
But what was unusual was the woman I was curled around.
Night two of her being in my house only proved that I would never let her go, especially since she fit into my home like she was meant to be here. She let me read while she worked on planning out the books she was getting for the library, and we tumbled into bed by nine, though we stayed awake far longer than that.
There was a bite mark on her shoulder, and my cock stirred at the memory. Every time we were together, it was right. I felt whole.
And I owed it to her.
“Is that a flashlight in your pocket,” Wren asked softly, “or are you happy to see me?”
“Why would I have a flashlight in bed?” I laughed. “And neither of us are wearing clothes.”
“The joke made much more sense in my head. Give me a break, I just woke up.”
I kissed her cheek before sitting up.
“Your beard grows fast,” she mused as she turned around.
“I have to shave it every morning.”
“So, this is just for me?”
“There are a lot of things that are just for you,” I said softly, leaning down to kiss her. “But I do need to get ready for the day.”
I wondered if she would pout and ask me to stay, but I forgot that she was just as busy as I was.
“Me too,” she said, stretching. “I hope I brought my good overalls from Mollie’s. I’ll need them.”
Wren was easygoing in a way I didn’t expect. I spent as much time as I could with her, but both of us had careers and lives. She wasn’t bothered when I had work. Back when I was with Norah, she’d been annoyed when I evenstudied.
I got up and shaved before getting dressed. Wren was heading for the door when I came downstairs.
“Wait,” I said. “Are you not having breakfast?”
She paused. “I’ll eat a big lunch.”
“Really?”
She slowly turned. “We’re both pretty busy today. I’ll figure it out.”
“There’s a reason I follow a routine, you know. I usually make a smoothie in the morning. Can you spare five minutes for me to get you one too?”
“That sounds great,” she admitted. “Do you use frozen fruit? I bet that would besogood with how hot it is.”
“I do, but I also have something else for you.” I reached down and grabbed one of my extra water bottles. “I’ll fill this up before you go. You need to hydrate.”
“I’ll have a bottle of water a day.”
“Those are sample sizes,” I reminded her.
Her cheeks went red. “Fine.I’ll take care of myself. But no promises on refilling it if I finish it. That’s always the step I don’t have time for.”
“I’ll come by on my lunch and refill it for you.” I was used to being on camera and finally relaxing at home. I was starting to feel like myself again, so taking care of her was easy.
“You have work to do. Don’t worry about me.”
“Rule number one of having me as a boyfriend is that I’ll always worry about you.” I set down the bottle. “And take care of you.”
