Page 31 of Winter Ends
When my arm slid around his trim waist and the bare skin of my thighs met his, Daniel let out a contented little sigh, pressing further back into me. We were snuggling. What the actual fuck? We’d gone from almost punching each other to holding each other within a day. Talk about whiplash.
The body under me stiffened enough to wake me up.
“Shawn.”
I cracked one eye open, but Daniel didn’t seem to be freaked out that he was in bed with me. He focused his gaze on something in front of him.
“What’s up, babe?”
He didn’t move at first, but then slowly started to relax. “It’s Nacho. It’s going to take me some getting used to having a fucking cat in my space.”
I rested my chin on his shoulder to see the kitten had curled up in front of him. He was fast asleep and had no idea what sort of mental chaos he was causing for my bedmate.
It wasn’t often, if ever, that I woke up with someone in bed with me. I sort of liked having Daniel there with me. He nestled nicely against me, as if our bodies were made to fit perfectly together.
When I turned my head and kissed Daniel’s neck, a shiver raced through his body. I’d done that. He responded so nicely to my touch and I was tempted to discover if he’d let me do more than the blow job.
“Your space? I think this is my bed.”
And there was Daniel, locking up all over again. That was what pushed him too far. I stared in shock as he pushed away from me, scaring the cat, who scrambled out of the room.
Daniel hunted for his clothes, finding his boxers, and shoving them on. He looked at me because I hadn’t moved from my place on the bed. What the hell was I supposed to do? Pull him back and beg him to stay? It wasn’t my style, and this was the freakout I had expected earlier.
“This—this shouldn’t have happened.” Daniel ran a hand through his hair, looking so damn conflicted. His gaze bounced between the door and me. His fingers flexed against the clothes he held in his fist. If I told him to drop them and get his ass back in bed, would he?
“You wanted it.”
Mistake number two.
Daniel shook his head as he backed away from me and out the door of my room. When he didn’t come back, something slimy settled into my chest. Had I ever made someone feel like that? That I’d used them and then discarded them? It wasn’t a fun feeling, that was for sure.
I sat up, still staring at the door, giving a small, startled jump when Daniel’s bedroom door slammed closed.
While I thought things had been getting better, maybe I’d just made them all so much worse.
Nacho let out a small mew as he jumped on the bed again. He nudged my arm with his head, purring loudly and begging for attention. It was hard to stay in such a sour mood when the little guy was so damn cute. And I still needed to feed him.
Instead of wallowing in my worries about Daniel, I grabbed the kitten and carried him to the pantry in the kitchen. I didn’t have cat food, but there had to be something he could eat. I scanned the shelves and settled on a can of tuna. The fish was smelly, and I didn’t really care for it, but my parents always kept some around. Something about it being a staple and good for emergencies. Guess this was one of those times I was grateful they had it.
I set Nacho on the counter and opened the can. My nose wrinkled as soon as the smell hit my nostrils. Didn’t seem to bother the cat. The second he caught a whiff, he started meowing and pawing at me excitedly. The poor thing was probably starving. There was no way to tell when the last time he ate was.
The second I set the can down next to him, Nacho attacked it. Did all cats come into this world knowing how to eat canned fish? It didn’t seem like something you had to teach them. And now that the cat-feeding situation was taken care of, I could find out what was going on with Daniel.
Chapter 19
Daniel
Ididn’t belong here. Who the hell was I kidding? None of that should have happened with Shawn. In what world did it make any sense? I’d gone from wanting to throttle him to shoving my dick down his throat. Though, it seemed like a good way to take out the aggression as well…
No, what was bothering me the most was how I’d opened up to him. I didn’t need Shawn to understand me. His friendship wasn’t one I wanted. Not after Art and Tilly. Something like that could only end in disaster again.
It didn’t change the fact that it had been one of the most mind-bending sexual experiences of my life. Missing pieces had clicked into place. Things I’d been craving became reality, and I’d more than enjoyed it. I wanted to experience more of it, but not with him. It couldn’t be with him.
But I wanted it to be him.
And that was the most fucked up part.
My phone pinged with an incoming message, and I snatched it off the nightstand. It was only three in the afternoon, but after orgasms and naps, it felt so much later.
