Page 37 of What We Keep
Just then, Tommy came in to ask Maggie for help with his math homework, and I decided to make my way out. I was hoping to get back to the house and be changed before Haven showed up.
It wasn’t like I needed to hide from him, but I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. Last night felt monumental, but what were we now?
Chapter Nineteen
Haven
Anticipation buzzed in my system as I crested the top stair into the apartment above the barn. When I walked in, Elsa was at the kitchen counter, rinsing something in the sink. She didn’t appear to have heard me. Her hair was pulled up in a messy bun, and she’d changed out of whatever she’d been wearing earlier. Honestly, I didn’t even remember.
She could wear a potato sack, and I wouldn’t notice. But now, I did notice because she wore these swingy soft pants that she probably didn’t know outlined her plump bottom perfectly.
I slipped out of my boots and walked straight across the room, stopping behind her and resting my hands on the counter on either side of her hips. She squeaked, glancing over her shoulder.
“Hi,” I murmured.
The pink wash on her cheeks thickened my arousal. I stepped a little closer because I wanted to feel the soft curves of her bottom against me. Her breath sucked in, and her teeth snagged her bottom lip.
“Haven,” she whispered.
Her breath drawing in sharply sizzled through me, and I stepped a little closer.
“We, uh, didn’t talk about this,” she added.
I was admittedly a little disappointed when she turned around because I loved the feel of her bottom, but then I discovered she wasn’t wearing a bra because her nipples were pressing through the thin fabric of her T-shirt.
“Talk about what?”
“You know.” She circled her hand between us.
She held a towel in her other hand, and I reached for it, tossing it on the counter beside us. “About how hot last night was?” I prompted.
She cleared her throat, the flush on her cheeks deepening. “Um, yeah, that.”
“Okay, let’s talk now.”
She let out a flustered sigh. “Haven, you’re standing so close I can’t think.”
“Do you want me to go away?”
Another flustered sigh. “No, I mean…”
“Look, Elsa.” I decided to be blunt. “It’s really good with us. Or at least it is for me.” She nodded. “Does that mean you agree with how good it is?”
She rolled her eyes. “Obviously. And I like you, but it’s complicated.”
“I like you too. What’s complicated?”
“I’m staying here.” She sighed again.
“I’ll be even blunter. Everything feels better with you here. We could just let this roll and see how that goes,” I offered.
“I don’t have anywhere to go if you kick me out,” she pointed out.
I forced myself to stay focused. “I’m not going to kick you out. I promise.”
Distracted by the weight of her teeth denting her luscious bottom lip, I tried to rein in my need for her. Fuck me. I couldn’t help my body’s reflexive response when I rocked my hips into the cradle of hers. I was gratified when she let out a whimpery sigh.
I realized she had a point, though. My default setting was good guy. It was a fact that between my dad dying, the fire, and Bree dying, the guy in me who used to be nicer and more easygoing had mostly been overtaken by, as my mom said, a cranky grump.
