Page 103 of Insatiable Hunger

I throw my head back, a full belly laugh rumbling from me. “Oh my gosh. You’re such astalker! I can’t believe you did that.”

He shrugs.

“Did you… Did you jack off to my livestreams?”

“What do you think,mocoso?”

Shaking my head, I say, “You’re a pervert, you know that?”

Zeke steps up to me, setting the waters down on the table behind me, threading his fingers through the hair on the back of my head. “You love it.” The words are breathed across my lips before he devours me in a kiss that makes my knees weak.

He’s right, though… I do love it.

Chapter Forty-Five

Elias Carnell

The steam billows around me as I dry my hair off with a towel, another wrapped around my waist. Coming out of the bathroom, my eyes automatically find Zeke. He’s lying in the middle of his king-size bed, one leg shoved out of the covers, but the rest of him fully cocooned.

He’s awake, but barely.

It’s almost nine in the morning, which is pretty late for Zeke to still be in bed. He’s about as early bird as they come. A fact I’ve always found interesting since he’s also such a night owl.

“What are you doing up so early?” Zeke asks, his voice thick and rough with sleep.

“I’m meeting my mom for breakfast this morning, remember? Before we’re supposed to help her at the bar.”

Unzipping my overnight bag, I pull out a pair of black sweats and a plain white tee. We’re going to be painting and organizing all day, so there’s no point in dressing nicely. Mom wants to have Val’s Place open and running by the end of the month, but she also has this big vision of exactly how it’s supposed to look… and spoiler! It looks nothing in her head like it looks in reality, so there’s a lot we need to do.

Tugging my shirt over my head, I glance down, frowning when I take in the small wrinkles. Living out of an overnight bag several nights a week has its downfalls. I know if I asked, Zeke would let me store clothes in his dresser or in the closer, but I don’t know, I feel weird asking.

As if he can sense my internal dilemma and my irritation about my wrinkly shirt, he says as casually as if he were telling me about the weather, “Why don’t you move in?”

My head snaps up, gaze locking with his. The seriousness on his face lets me know he isn’t joking. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.” Rubbing the heel of his palm over his eye, he yawns. “Move in. It’s not like you aren’t already here half the time, anyway. Why not make it official?”

Standing, I cross the room, stopping in front of the bed. “You’re serious?”

“I know I’m usually quite the jokester,” he says, deadpan. “But yes, I’m serious.”

His sarcasm paired with his blank expression has my lips twitching up into a smirk. “Okay,” I say, the smile growing wider as his dark eyes light up.

“Yeah?”

Nodding, I mutter, “Yes. I’ll move in.”

He claps his hands, a huge grin on his face. “Alright, then get back in bed so we can celebrate!”

I swat at his foot, shaking my head. “Can’t. Gotta meet my mom, but I’ll see you at the bar in a few hours?”

Rolling his eyes, he grumbles, “Yeah, yeah.”

***

“What are you getting?” my mom asks, eyes raking over the menu, looking distraught that she can’t decide.

“You ask like I ever get anything else when we come here.” I laugh. “I’m getting the French toast breakfast with an extra side of bacon, extra crispy.”

---