Page 116 of Knockin' Boats
CHAPTER 25
Sawyer
The next morning, I regretted telling Heath he had until Wednesday to return, because it meant I had to go by the resort to cover an early tour.
I wasn’t ready to kick Ash out of my bed after the night he’d had. And maybe I didn’twantto kick him out of my bed ever, for any reason.
It was too early for those kinds of thoughts, but Icouldensure he didn’t have to go anywhere right then.
“Hey,” I murmured into his ear. “I gotta work. You wanna stay here and wait for me? I’ll be back in two hours.”
“Missing me already?” he mumbled, still half asleep, but with a smile teasing at the corners of his mouth.
“No.” I pressed a kiss to the dimple barely visible through his beard. “It’s your day off. You deserve to sleep in.”
He snuggled into the pillow. “I do, don’t I?”
“When I get back, we’ll go grab breakfast or something.”
“M’kay.”
Ash was snoring quietly again before I’d made it out the door. I cast one last look back as I left, the sight of Ash hugging mypillow making my insides warm. How had I ever hated this guy? I shook my head in wonder at how much had changed.
I had my friend back—and without anger fueling me, I could finally see just how much I’d missed him.
I ran through the morning tour on autopilot, most of my thoughts filled with everything that happened last night. Not just the sex, but the friendship too. Ash had shown me a vulnerability that made some of my walls come down, too.
When I got back to my camper, Ash was sitting outside chatting with Shua and their mom.
“Hey, stranger,” he said with a grin. “I was wondering if I dreamed that business about taking me to breakfast?”
My stomach growled at the reminder I hadn’t eaten yet. “Nope. Let’s go.”
Shua turned to me with big eyes. “Maybe we could?—”
“Shua,” their mom cut in. “We’ve got some chores at home. Come on.”
Shua groaned. “I never get to do anything fun.”
Their mother shot us a playful grin and a wink. Oh. I guess she was running interference. That was…nice? We were just going to hang out though. It wasn’t like adateor anything.
Or was it?
I’d been aiming for two friends hanging out, but maybe I’d overshot that with the morning-after breakfast plans. That was boyfriend behavior, wasn’t it?
“I could just make you breakfast in bed.” Ash said once they were gone, wiggling his eyebrows playfully.
I should probably take him up on that. That would put us back in fuck-buddy territory, but…
But I didn’t want only sex with him.
We were friends again. I wanted to find out what that really meant. How we fit together outside of the fucking around.
“It’s your day off,” I said. “Don’t you want to take a break?”
He smiled tentatively. “I probably should.”
“There you go,” I said. “Besides, I’m craving some hoecakes from Tastes like Grandma.”
