Page 38 of Stables

There’s a subtle flare of the whites of her eyes before she glances away.

My belly tightens in a way I haven’t felt in a very long time.

No. Not going to happen.

“I’ll be out by daybreak.” I don’t know what will happen if she catches me in the morning when my defenses are low.

Pull her in the truck maybe?

Fuck.

Stepping out onto the dark porch is the reprieve I need to distract myself from her damn lower lip.

I shouldn’t have stared. It was just impossible not to.

The cool night air helps to temper the fire in my veins. After tossing my Yeti into the rear seat, I rip off my shirt to let the chill work through me faster.

I felt like I was suffocating in there. But it sure as hell doesn’t feel any better out here.

Am I getting sick?

That has to be what’s going on. Probably a low grade fever I caught from Paisley.

Yea. I don’t need to check.

If I do, the seed of doubt tells me that it’ll come back as afebrile.

Then there’s only one other explanation, and I don’t want to deal with that shit.

I don’t have time for it.

And Char doesn’t either.

When I drop my tailgate, it makes more noise than I intended, rattling me back to the task at hand.

At least the sun has been down long enough that the metal isn’t scalding. July can be rough with temps over a hundred nearly every day.

That’d be my luck. Get heat stroke sleeping in the back of my truck when I have a perfectly air conditioned house and comfortable bed.

Thirty miles away.

It’s worth the risk to be here in case she needs me.

A flash of headlights from the road flicker over my bare chest before they continue around the curve and disappear.

I guess I’ll be making the neighbors talk now, half naked man sleeping in her driveway.

Toeing off my boots, I set them against the foot of the bedroll.

Well, if they want a show, I’ll give them one.

Peeling my dusty jeans off, only my boxer-briefs offer a barrier against the brisk breeze.

Feels good. I wish I could drop my nuts in an ice bath.

My sleeping bag is still warm after baking under the shell, so I leave it open and spread eagle over the nylon.

This isn’t so bad. I’m just a grown ass man, in my underwear, in the driveway of a beautiful woman’s house.

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