I lifted my hands to help coax all of the conditioner out of my hair and didn’t stop until it no longer felt slick.
When I was done, I opened my eyes and found Hoax’s on me, burning.
I smiled weakly at him and he just shook his head, leaning past me to put the soap back on the shower caddy before reaching for the showerhead.
“Why don’t you towel off and get dressed while I rinse off?” he suggested.
I would have, but I didn’t want to move.
Which he noticed and smiled over.
“Go. Then I’ll order us pizza…” He stopped at the shake of my head.
“I don’t want pizza.”
He frowned. “I can go get you anything you want.”
I felt emotion roll over me. “The only thing that sounds good right now is food that’s forty minutes away, so I think it’s best if I just find a snack.”
He looked at me for a long few seconds. “Which restaurant?”
I told him about my favorite taco place that happened to be all the way in Hostel, Texas. I then went on to explain how good the tacos were, and how great they reheated the next day for lunch.
“Tacos make you animated.” He chuckled.
I pushed open the shower door on my side and stepped out, reaching for the towel—the only towel—that was on the rack. Once my body was sufficiently dry enough to get off the bath mat, I shuffled my way into the main part of the house, wincing when the harsh lights of the living room burned through my retinas.
As I moved, I flicked the lights off. By the time I got to the laundry room where a load of towels sat folded on the dryer, I was in near darkness.
As I moved back through the living room toward the bathroom—slowly since movement made my headaches worse—I glanced outside and saw a weird light through the almost sheer curtains.
I blinked and focused in on a car that was parked next to the curb.
“Hey, you got a towel I could use?” Hoax called out.
Putting the car out of my mind, I walked back to the bathroom and tossed him the towel. “Sorry, I haven’t actually done laundry in a few days.”
He caught it easily and unfolded it, then roughly started to run it over his body in quick, jerky movements.
I stood there and watched him for a few long seconds before turning on my heel and heading back into the bedroom.
I found Hoax’s clothes laid out on the bed and smiled when I saw his t-shirt on top of his pants.
Reaching for it, I snatched it up and dropped the towel just as Hoax came into the room.
It was over my head and I was threading my arms through the holes when Hoax’s amused voice sounded from behind me.
“I do believe that’s mine,” he drawled.
I sighed when I had it pulled all the way down.
It smelled like him—a mixture between a strong deodorant smell and pine.
Unable to help myself from bringing the fabric to my nose and inhaling, I heard Hoax sigh dramatically behind me.
I didn’t spare him a glance as I crawled into my bed, then collapsed onto my side.
My eyes closed, and I didn’t open them again until I heard the clink of Hoax’s belt buckle. And even then, I only opened one.
I watched him go to my closet where he’d somehow started a collection of clothes and reach for one of the three shirts that I’d hung up on the hanger the night before. I wasn’t sure how I was finding his clothing since he had never spent the night, but there they were.
He pulled it down roughly and caused the hanger to swing furiously for a few long seconds before it finally stopped.
I let my eye fall closed and felt a wave of exhaustion roll over me.
My body grew heavy, and even the depression of the bed at my side didn’t cause me to open my eyes.
At this point, the only thing keeping me awake was the steady throb of my head that had started to feel like something was tearing through my right eye.
The covers pulled up over me, and I moaned. The warmth felt good, and I hadn’t realized I was cold until my soft blanket was up around my ears.
Then I felt his heat as he got closer.
He bent over and pressed his wet lips to my forehead, then blew on it after pulling slightly backward.
The cool air in the shape of his lips on my forehead felt divine…and damned if I didn’t ask him to lick me again.
Though, not in the way I would’ve wanted a few hours ago.
I fell asleep with him blowing on my forehead.
***
It was the smell that woke me.
I had no clue how long I’d been asleep. An hour, possibly.
My headache, although not gone, was definitely no longer the roaring pound that it’d been before I’d succumbed to sleep.
I opened my eyes to see a brown paper bag sitting on my nightstand, and Hoax beside the bed stripping his boots off one by one.
I sat up, feeling my breasts jiggle where they were free-wheeling underneath Hoax’s shirt, and stared at the bag in hope.
“Is that what I think it is?” I whispered.
I knew it was.
“If you’re wondering if it’s the taco place you were telling me about, it is.” He paused as he stripped off his socks next. “But, since I didn’t know what exactly you wanted, I got a little bit of everything. And the lady suckered me into a piece of her fried pie, which I tasted in the store. I bought three more, though I’m not sure I want to share those.”
A smile grew on my face at his admission. “At least you’re honest.”
A weird look crossed over his face but was gone before I could examine it further.
“Do you want to eat in bed, or do you want to go to the kitchen?” he asked.
I looked at the bed and wondered if I could deal with crumbs for the rest of the night.
I must’ve studied the bed too long because before I could tell him an answer, he was up and moving, whipping a sheet off the shelf in my closet and unfolding it. Moments later, he was spreading it out on the bed and then reaching for the food.
I spied my usual and reached for it, happy to see that he’d gotten two of the tacos.
But then I saw a new taco that looked fairly good and reached for that one as well.
He sat down on the bed across from me and waited until I’d made my selections, and then started reaching for his own.
He peeled open the foil and took a bite, groaning right along with me as I expressed my pleasure at the taste.
“This is good. I can see why you like it,” he exclaimed. “How’d you find the place?”
I waited until I was finished with my bite before saying, “My dad’s business took me there. Plus, that’s where Janie lives now.”
“Janie the crazy girl who always had her nose stuck in the computer?” he asked. “The one with the just as crazy best friend?”
I laughed. “That’d be her. Her best friend’s name is Kayla. She lives down there now, too.”
He grunted. “One of my club brothers, Rome, has a good friend that’s the chief of police down there. His name is Tyler. Know him?”
I nodded my head. “He’s married to Reagan, another one of our band of misfits.”
He took another bite of his food. “She lived in the compound with you.”
The compound where I’d lived growing up, where my father still lived, hadn’t always been considered a compound. But, when my father and his team retired one by one from the Army, they built a line of duplexes on some land so that they could all live near each other. Over time, they’d built it into the compound that it was today.
“Yep,” I agreed, licking my fingers free of the sauce that had leaked out of my taco.
So. Fucking. Good.
A growl had me looking up, and I smiled at the tortured look on Hoax’s face.
“You’re driving me mad.” He laughed. “Did you know your pig’s still laying in the bathroom?”
His change of subject had me smiling. He didn’t want to be thinking about sex.
Either the food was too good, or he was looking out for my welfare.
Either possibility made me like him even more.
“He’ll lay there until the water’s evaporated,” I told him. “He really, really likes the water.”
“I’m getting that,” he stated as he took a bite of his next taco.
When I was done, I opened my eyes and found Hoax’s on me, burning.
I smiled weakly at him and he just shook his head, leaning past me to put the soap back on the shower caddy before reaching for the showerhead.
“Why don’t you towel off and get dressed while I rinse off?” he suggested.
I would have, but I didn’t want to move.
Which he noticed and smiled over.
“Go. Then I’ll order us pizza…” He stopped at the shake of my head.
“I don’t want pizza.”
He frowned. “I can go get you anything you want.”
I felt emotion roll over me. “The only thing that sounds good right now is food that’s forty minutes away, so I think it’s best if I just find a snack.”
He looked at me for a long few seconds. “Which restaurant?”
I told him about my favorite taco place that happened to be all the way in Hostel, Texas. I then went on to explain how good the tacos were, and how great they reheated the next day for lunch.
“Tacos make you animated.” He chuckled.
I pushed open the shower door on my side and stepped out, reaching for the towel—the only towel—that was on the rack. Once my body was sufficiently dry enough to get off the bath mat, I shuffled my way into the main part of the house, wincing when the harsh lights of the living room burned through my retinas.
As I moved, I flicked the lights off. By the time I got to the laundry room where a load of towels sat folded on the dryer, I was in near darkness.
As I moved back through the living room toward the bathroom—slowly since movement made my headaches worse—I glanced outside and saw a weird light through the almost sheer curtains.
I blinked and focused in on a car that was parked next to the curb.
“Hey, you got a towel I could use?” Hoax called out.
Putting the car out of my mind, I walked back to the bathroom and tossed him the towel. “Sorry, I haven’t actually done laundry in a few days.”
He caught it easily and unfolded it, then roughly started to run it over his body in quick, jerky movements.
I stood there and watched him for a few long seconds before turning on my heel and heading back into the bedroom.
I found Hoax’s clothes laid out on the bed and smiled when I saw his t-shirt on top of his pants.
Reaching for it, I snatched it up and dropped the towel just as Hoax came into the room.
It was over my head and I was threading my arms through the holes when Hoax’s amused voice sounded from behind me.
“I do believe that’s mine,” he drawled.
I sighed when I had it pulled all the way down.
It smelled like him—a mixture between a strong deodorant smell and pine.
Unable to help myself from bringing the fabric to my nose and inhaling, I heard Hoax sigh dramatically behind me.
I didn’t spare him a glance as I crawled into my bed, then collapsed onto my side.
My eyes closed, and I didn’t open them again until I heard the clink of Hoax’s belt buckle. And even then, I only opened one.
I watched him go to my closet where he’d somehow started a collection of clothes and reach for one of the three shirts that I’d hung up on the hanger the night before. I wasn’t sure how I was finding his clothing since he had never spent the night, but there they were.
He pulled it down roughly and caused the hanger to swing furiously for a few long seconds before it finally stopped.
I let my eye fall closed and felt a wave of exhaustion roll over me.
My body grew heavy, and even the depression of the bed at my side didn’t cause me to open my eyes.
At this point, the only thing keeping me awake was the steady throb of my head that had started to feel like something was tearing through my right eye.
The covers pulled up over me, and I moaned. The warmth felt good, and I hadn’t realized I was cold until my soft blanket was up around my ears.
Then I felt his heat as he got closer.
He bent over and pressed his wet lips to my forehead, then blew on it after pulling slightly backward.
The cool air in the shape of his lips on my forehead felt divine…and damned if I didn’t ask him to lick me again.
Though, not in the way I would’ve wanted a few hours ago.
I fell asleep with him blowing on my forehead.
***
It was the smell that woke me.
I had no clue how long I’d been asleep. An hour, possibly.
My headache, although not gone, was definitely no longer the roaring pound that it’d been before I’d succumbed to sleep.
I opened my eyes to see a brown paper bag sitting on my nightstand, and Hoax beside the bed stripping his boots off one by one.
I sat up, feeling my breasts jiggle where they were free-wheeling underneath Hoax’s shirt, and stared at the bag in hope.
“Is that what I think it is?” I whispered.
I knew it was.
“If you’re wondering if it’s the taco place you were telling me about, it is.” He paused as he stripped off his socks next. “But, since I didn’t know what exactly you wanted, I got a little bit of everything. And the lady suckered me into a piece of her fried pie, which I tasted in the store. I bought three more, though I’m not sure I want to share those.”
A smile grew on my face at his admission. “At least you’re honest.”
A weird look crossed over his face but was gone before I could examine it further.
“Do you want to eat in bed, or do you want to go to the kitchen?” he asked.
I looked at the bed and wondered if I could deal with crumbs for the rest of the night.
I must’ve studied the bed too long because before I could tell him an answer, he was up and moving, whipping a sheet off the shelf in my closet and unfolding it. Moments later, he was spreading it out on the bed and then reaching for the food.
I spied my usual and reached for it, happy to see that he’d gotten two of the tacos.
But then I saw a new taco that looked fairly good and reached for that one as well.
He sat down on the bed across from me and waited until I’d made my selections, and then started reaching for his own.
He peeled open the foil and took a bite, groaning right along with me as I expressed my pleasure at the taste.
“This is good. I can see why you like it,” he exclaimed. “How’d you find the place?”
I waited until I was finished with my bite before saying, “My dad’s business took me there. Plus, that’s where Janie lives now.”
“Janie the crazy girl who always had her nose stuck in the computer?” he asked. “The one with the just as crazy best friend?”
I laughed. “That’d be her. Her best friend’s name is Kayla. She lives down there now, too.”
He grunted. “One of my club brothers, Rome, has a good friend that’s the chief of police down there. His name is Tyler. Know him?”
I nodded my head. “He’s married to Reagan, another one of our band of misfits.”
He took another bite of his food. “She lived in the compound with you.”
The compound where I’d lived growing up, where my father still lived, hadn’t always been considered a compound. But, when my father and his team retired one by one from the Army, they built a line of duplexes on some land so that they could all live near each other. Over time, they’d built it into the compound that it was today.
“Yep,” I agreed, licking my fingers free of the sauce that had leaked out of my taco.
So. Fucking. Good.
A growl had me looking up, and I smiled at the tortured look on Hoax’s face.
“You’re driving me mad.” He laughed. “Did you know your pig’s still laying in the bathroom?”
His change of subject had me smiling. He didn’t want to be thinking about sex.
Either the food was too good, or he was looking out for my welfare.
Either possibility made me like him even more.
“He’ll lay there until the water’s evaporated,” I told him. “He really, really likes the water.”
“I’m getting that,” he stated as he took a bite of his next taco.
