Page 72 of Courageous Hearts

“In Plum Valley,” I clarify. “You said the place is tiny.”

Bo nods slowly, not saying a word, their eyes low on their screen.

“Cow tipping?” I tease.

“Uh, there’s…” They fall silent.

“Bo?” I ask with a laugh.

“I’m sorry, you’re just… You’re strokin’ your chest, and I’m distracted,” Bo says with a huff, their cheeks pinking.

With a start, I grin. Slowing my movements and making them more intentional, I rub my pecs, fingers drifting over my nipple. “This is distracting?” I ask, panning the screen down slightly and thrilling as Bo’s chest expands with their inhalation.

“Mhm.”

“Should I stop?” I ask cheekily.

“Don’t you dare.”

I bark a laugh, sliding my hand a little lower, wondering how far I should take this. How far Bo wants me to take it. As I slip the sheet down to my hips, giving Bo a peek at where my happy trail ends, a moaning sort of hum reaches my ears. My cock really likes that, bucking against the inside of my sweats.

“Jamie…”

“Bo, you ready to head out, darlin’?”

Bo freezes, as do I, and I bring the camera back up to my face in time to catch Bo’s wince.

“Be out in five, Sara,” Bo calls.

“All right,” she calls back, presumably through the closed door.

Bo groans when they look back my way, and I huff out a laugh.

“Don’t,” they say lightly. “It’s all your fault.”

“Too sexy for my own good?” I tease.

Bo presses their lips together to hide their laughter, but then their face sobers. “You are,” they say quietly, eyes downcast for a moment before lifting to my face. “I, uh… I know I’m not good at sayin’ that sorta stuff. Not like you are.”

“Bo, it’s fine,” I cut in to make sure they know I was only joking. And that I don’t need those sorts of verbal confirmations from them. Bo makes it surprisingly easy for me to read what they think of me. At least physically.

But Bo shakes their head firmly. “No, listen. It doesn’t come easy to me. My family wasn’t big on talkin’, not like yours. But that’s not how I want to be.” They pause for a moment, licking their lips. “Jamie, you are sexy. Very much so. I want you, like, always. But…”

They shake their head again, as if frustrated at themself for having trouble getting out whatever it is they want to say. I wait patiently, giving them time to sort through it.

“But it’s not just that,” they say at last. “It’s… You make me feel safe. Safe to be with you. Safe to be myself with you. I’ve never had anyone look at me the way you do, like you really do like everythin’ you’re seein’, inside and out. And…”

My heart thrums inside my chest as Bo collects more of their words. Tingles race across my skin, like pop rocks cascading over my nerve endings.

“You want to know me,” they finally say, voice soft. Their dark hair falls over their forehead as they lean closer to the screen, and they brush it back. “You want to understand me in a way no one else ever has. You ask questions, and you’re not afraid to tell me how you feel. About us. About me. Even though we’re new, you see me. And you make me feel safe enough to let you, Jamie.”

Bo falls silent after their rush of words, but I sit upright, my pulse hammering, a steady thump-thump, thump-thump singing through my veins.

“Blue—”

“But now I really gotta go,” Bo says quickly, averting their gaze, as if they’re self-conscious about their own words.

They shouldn’t be. They were honest and raw. The most transparent Bo has ever been with me.

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