Page 40 of Curious
There’s a problem, though.
I’m more turned on than I’ve ever been in my entire life. Before Shelby moved in, sure, I’d masturbate sometimes. It wasn’t a daily thing.
Now, though? I’m rubbing myself raw thinking of him—sometimes more than once a day—and I feel like the creepiest creep who ever creeped. He said he doesn’t want to be my experiment, and I’m not going to push him.
Even though I want to. Because it’s becoming more than an idle attraction. His smile makes me light up inside. I just like having him around. I like the way he feels in my arms when we sleep at night. And I like getting to know him. I’m finding out, more and more, that we have things in common. This afternoon, for instance.
It’s Saturday, but I spent the morning working on a small demo job, and I come home to find Shelby sitting at the kitchen table, surrounded by construction paper and magazines. I’m hot and sweaty, and I yank off my hat, hang it up in the closet, and take off my shirt.
I don’t miss that he eyes me from head to toe. Part… no, most… okay,allof me likes it. I escape to my bathroom and take a shower, covering my cast with plastic like I’m supposed to, then return wearing shorts and a tank top that has the sides sliced to the waist.
“What are you doing?” I ask, downing a glass of water.
Shelby grins. “Putting together a vision board of ideas for your house. And one for our firm holiday party.”
I gape at him. “What?”
“Now that you’re on the way to getting this house in shape, I thought you might like some ideas of what it could look like. And while I’m doing that, I’m picking out ideas for the firm.” He shrugs. “Some people do Pinterest. I like scissors, glue, and tape.”
I stand over him. “Do you make vision boards a lot?”
“Kinda. I do lots of crafts. I make cards and books and scrapbooks.”
“Really? That’s cool. What’s the most recent thing you put on a vision board?”
He reddens. “Um. A million dollars.”
“Fair. I want that, too.”
“And, you know. A husband. A nice house. A lot of love.”
“You really had ‘a husband’ on your vision board?”
“I did. I had the words and a picture.”
“What did the picture look like?”
Shelby looks down at his lap and mumbles something.
I reach over and tilt his chin up. “What was that?”
“He was a brown-haired dude in jeans and a flannel.”
I’m amused. “Okay. What did the house look like?”
“Weirdly, it looked like this one. With the same roofline and the retro neighborhood. I wanted the xeriscaping, to be super cool, and I wanted a pool, because I’m inconsistent.” He grins. “Here, I’ll show you.”
Shelby trots off to the pool house and returns with an oversized portfolio. He opens it up, and there are all kinds of posters in it with pictures from magazines, headlines, and even some drawings and writing. He bites his lip and pulls out one from the bottom. “This is the most recent one.”
I study it, and sure enough, there’s a guy on there who does resemble me. The house looks familiar, too. Then I look at the writing and scratch my jaw, hiding a grin. “Um, Shelby, how come it says ‘anus’?”
“That’s ‘an us,’ not ‘anus.’” He shoves me. “You know. I want to be part of a couple.”
“Sure.” I kiss the top of his head and study the board. “Well, we’re kind of an ‘us,’ but we’re not getting anywhere near the anus … Okay, how are we talking about this? Wow, somehow you’re getting everything on your list.”
He giggles at my hasty attempt to change the subject. “I don’t have a million dollars or a lot of love.”
“Yet.” I pause. “Actually, I think you’re wrong. Youdohave a lot of love. Everyone at Weston& Ramirez adores you. Even my grumpy brother.”
