Page 53 of Falling

“I love you.”

* * *

GENEVA

I’m starting to think of time as divided into two segments. Before waking up with Peter wrapped around my body and after. The room grew cold sometime in the night, but snuggled against his body, I’m toasty warm. I never knew waking up with a man still in my bed could be so nice. Especially when one of his best assets is nestled against my ass.

I stretch, and he mumbles a protest behind me. It’s a habit I’m starting to get used to. Scratch that; it’s a habit I am used to. Do I have to give it up when we reach Austin?

My new apartment will seem empty without Peter taking up the extra space. Will we still hang out in the evenings together like before? Can I seamlessly turn my best friend into my lover without losing what we already have?

“I can feel the wheels turning in your head.” His voice is rough with sleep.

“Just thinking.”

“About?”

“How all of this is going to work when we hit Austin,” I answer.

“Jesus, Geneva. It’s too early to be stressing over something we can’t answer yet. That’s the beauty of being in a relationship. We can figure it out together as it happens.” I roll over in his arms. His eyes open to spear me with a sleepy gaze.

“How would either of us know how a relationship works?”

“Look,” he says as a smile spreads across his mouth. “All I know is I want to be with you. I’ll deal with the rest of it later.”

He gives me a quick kiss and rolls out of bed. I watch as his gloriously naked body disappears into the bathroom. He reemerges in his sweatpants, hung low on his hips. Crossing to the fireplace, he pokes at the ashes. He coaxes the fire back by adding fresh wood to the embers.

“I’m just saying we need to make a plan.” I push up against the backboard. The sheets are wrapped around my body. I’m not shy either, but it’s still cold in the room. “Are we taking turns staying in each other’s apartments? Do you want to even sleep over? How long do we wait to tell everyone? That’s all I’m saying.”

“Mmm,” he says. Crossing the room, he pulls me back down the bed by my ankles. Stretching under the covers on top of me, he braces on his forearms so he can gaze directly into my eyes. I can feel his manhood pressing against my heat.

“Or we see what works for us and let the chips fall where they may,” he says. “Now it looks like I have at least an hour before I have to be dressed. Maybe we can find a better way to distract that beautiful mind.”

His lips lower to mine. The cock that was calm a second ago now grinds in all its glory against me. He’s right, my mind settles. There’s time to worry about the future later. All I want right now is to be in the moment with Peter.

twenty

GENEVA

Peter’s SUVshows up on the back of a tow truck around noon. We’ve been dressed for hours. I’ve washed the now-empty casserole dish, and we’ve played a hundred rounds of gin rummy with the only deck of cards in the cabin.

There’s not much else to do here. You don’t realize how much you miss technology until you don’t have it. Our phones still have no service, and the cabin doesn’t offer internet.

“Let me grab some cash to pay you,” Peter says to the large man standing just inside the cabin door.

“Nah, I’ll just bill ya later. Write your email on the ticket. My wife does the billing between wrestling kids,” he says. “That way, y’all can get on your way. The roads are cleared for the most part.”

“Okay. Well. Thank you.” Peter doesn’t know what to say to that arrangement any more than I do. Is this how every small town handles life? No wonder Rand moved to Dansboro Crossing.

Peter follows the man outside to help get the Rover off the truck. I make one more sweep through the cabin before settling on the couch to wait.

“Ready?” Peter asks, walking back inside. It’s only been fifteen minutes, but without phone access, it feels like hours. “Are you just staring at the fireplace?”

“Maybe.”

“Okay. I guess we’d better get back to civilization before you start having withdrawal symptoms.” I flip him off over my shoulder. He’s not offended, judging by the laughter. Then again, he has seen that finger a lot over the years. “I guess if you think there’s time.”

“Is sex all you think about?” I stand and shoot him a glare.

---