Page 64 of Relief Pitcher

“Aleck asked me to make that. Said it would help us make friends with the neighbors. You should’ve seen the stash of canned and baked goods we were given after that. We had a year’s worth of pickles.” I smiled at the memory of Aleck and me arguing over who got the last dill pickle. Then he’d stuck it in his mouth and leaned in for me to bite half of it off. I shook my head to clear the vision and found Ty looking at me with such care it took my breath away.

“Aleck was a clever man. I bet he made friends with them all, and you got canned goods the next year too.”

A loud laugh burst out of me. “How’d you guess?”

Ty reached out and touched a piece from the black cottonwood project that I’d been carving into a fox. “This is incredible. Do you sell your work?”

I shook my head. “Well, I guess that’s not technically true anymore. I sold one after a recent project at work. Sometimes, I get the materials from customers.”

Ty turned toward me, excitement radiating off him. “If you want to sell more, I could make you a website and take photos of your work. I bet Bee’s Dahlia Farm would hire you to make wooden dahlias for their upcoming festival.”

Ty’s enthusiasm was contagious but also overwhelming. I grabbed his shoulders, chuckling. “Let’s slow down. I barely show anyone my art, let alone try to get people to buy it.”

Ty scratched his beard in an unusually sheepish gesture. “Sorry. When it comes to marketing, I can get carried away with ideas.”

“There’s no reason to apologize. I bet you have a ton of great ideas. I promise, when I’m ready, I’ll come to you and have a notebook ready.” I kissed his cheek.

He bit his lip and nodded.

“I want to show you something else.” I took him to the far corner, where my current project sat on a workbench. I’d wrapped the most precious pieces in a sheet.

“What’s this going to be?”

“Something for your parents. It’s from your tree.” I unwrapped the sheet, and Ty gasped. I studied him closely as he ran his fingers along the spot on the tree where he’d carved his initials as a kid.

“I didn’t even think about asking you to preserve these bits. I guess we figured that since the tree was dead, the wood would go bad.”

“I’m building a frame from scraps of the wood to attach them to. I thought you could give this to your parents for their anniversary.”

Ty stared at it as a crease formed on his forehead. At least a minute passed before he turned and studied me with his head cocked like a scientist might study a species of tap-dancing cockroaches.

“You’re a busy guy with work and softball. Why would you spend your free time doing this?” He looked genuinely confused. I ached to run my finger down the wrinkle between his eyebrows.

It broke me that he couldn’t comprehend why I would do that for him. It felt like a fork in the road moment. I didn’t want to push Ty too hard, but I needed to give him a clue that I felt something more than horny for him. I took a deep breath before stepping into Ty’s space. “Because I care about you. This tree is special to you and your family, and you’re special to me. I have skills to help preserve it, and I wanted to do it.”

“You care about me?” I didn’t miss the flicker of hope in his eyes, even if it was shrouded with doubt.

I bit back the usual sarcasm I would reply with to keep things light between us and leaned into sincerity. “It turns out you’re pretty great.” My heart lodged in my throat as he wordlessly stared at me. Just as the thought formed to say something to break the tension, Ty tackled me.

“Let’s fuck.”

I laughed into his urgent kiss. I was becoming fluent in Ty. That was basically his version of telling me he cared about me too.

* * *

TYLER

The silence wasthick as my heart pounded. I stared into Coop’s eyes while slowly stripping off my shirt and pants. He leaned against the doorframe of his bedroom and didn’t take his attention off me.

The mood differed from the other times we’d had sex. Those times were fun and frenetic while seizing opportunities to get off quickly. This wasn’t like that at all. I was playing with fire and ready to get burned.

Coop had been there without pushing me, instead letting me come to him on my own. Luring me like a feral cat through bowls of milk moved closer and closer to his door. He couldn’t have handled me any more perfectly.Ihadn’t even known how I’d needed to be handled, but he instinctively understood me on a level I couldn’t wrap my head around. Coop, the unicorn among men, got me.

I slid my pants down my thighs and reveled in the way Coop watched me hungrily. As soon as they dropped to the floor and I kicked out of them, he strode toward me and ran his knuckles down my sternum. Goosebumps erupted in their wake.

Coop circled me and slid his fingertips under the narrow waistband of my black lace thong. He hooked his finger under the fabric resting between my cheeks and traced the length of my crack. A shiver raced down my spine at his scorching touch.

I wasn’t sure what I was ready for with him—emotionally or whatever—but I knew I wanted to show Cooper I was willing to try. I couldn’t guarantee him anything, but I wouldn’t run. I wanted to give us a chance, to givemea chance to let this unfold. I didn’t want labels, I didn’t want declarations, but I wanted Coop.

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