Page 37 of Leave

I mean, I had a thing for the physique that resulted from regular PT, especially the way Marines did PT. The toned arms, shoulders, thighs, and ass—it just did it for me. And Nolan was religious about working out, which had done utterly sinful things to his gorgeous body. The definition of those sculpted muscles was—ungh, hot. He didn’t have a six-pack, but who did? Those flat abs were still taut and mouthwatering.

He also had a lot more ink than I’d realized. I’d seen his sleeves, of course. I hadn’t known about the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor on his left thigh. Something about that was intriguing as all hell.

I brushed my fingers over the intricate lines. “How long did that one take?” It was a good five inches across, with a lot of detail, so it couldn’t have been a quick one.

Nolan pushed himself up on his elbow and gazed down at it. “About four hours, I think? I had to split it into two sessions.”

“I bet. It looks like it hurt.”

“Nah. I mean, it did. But that wasn’t why I needed two sessions.” He chuckled. “My pain tolerance was fine—my E-4 budget was not.”

“Ooh, gotcha.” I laughed. “And here I thought I’d be rolling in money if I enlisted.”

Nolan burst out laughing, which was the effect I wanted. He was just so cute when he did, especially when he was this relaxed.

Especially when we were in bed, naked, casually touching as if we’d been doing this all along.

I traced the edge of a koi fish inked along his left side, from his ribs down to partway across his stomach. His ab muscles contracted beneath my touch, and when I looked up at him, he was biting his lip.

“This one looks like it hurt,” I said.

“It did.” He met my eyes. “The ribs are…” He grimaced. “Not my favorite place to get inked.”

“And yet…” I nodded toward his other side, where an abstract design went up his side, over his ribs, and continued—I knew now—onto his back.

Something flickered across his expression that made me thinkoff-limits.

“It’s gorgeous,” I said quickly. “All of your tattoos are amazing.”

He relaxed slightly. “How else can you make an enlisted paycheck last forever?”

I snorted. “There is that.”

He chuckled. “So, you want to grab dinner or something?”

My stomach grumbled, reminding me it had been a few hours since I’d eaten. “What are you thinking? Go out or order in?”

“Ordering in means we don’t have to put pants on.”

“Sold.” I sat up and reached for my phone. “Someone’s going to have to put on shorts or something to answer the door, though. Or go to the lobby.”

“True.” He sat up beside me. “Not it.”

I rolled my eyes and huffed. “You dick.”

He just snickered and bumped his shoulder against mine. We browsed the available options and eventually settled on getting sandwiches delivered from a local chain shop nearby. When the lobby called to tell me our food had arrived, I grudgingly put on a pair of sweats so I could go pick it up.

That honestly wasn’t a terrible imposition, though, if only because I came back in to find Nolan still naked in bed.

“I gotta say…” I nudged the door shut with my hip. “That view makes getting dressed enough to get our food worthwhile.”

He laughed, and he actually blushed, which was too cute. “Just… break out the sandwiches.”

I did, and we found a movie to watch, and we queued that up for after we were done eating. In the meantime, we lounged in bed and ate.

“This feels kind of weird,” he said after a while.

I turned to him, not sure if I was worried, disappointed, or both. “How so?”

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