Page 64 of All Twisted Up
Joshua nodded, pulling a cutting board out as he grabbed an onion from the counter basket. I walked over to him. “What are you making?”
“Farmer’s casserole. It’s great for breakfast or lunch.” He went through the cabinets then pulled out a casserole dish.
“Brunch?”
He nodded, grabbing a bowl and setting it on the counter before putting a can in my hand. “Open that for me,huh?”
I glanced down at the evaporated milk. “What are you going to do with this, bake a pumpkin pie?”
He grinned and the smile that lit his eyes made tingles go down my spine.Fuck.
“No, I told you, I’m making a farmer’s casserole. Just open the can, Nash.” The exasperation in his voice made me smile all over again.
“Fine.” I found a can opener in a drawer and did his bidding. Though I lived alone and therefore was forced to cook for myself, I was never very inventive with my dishes. I’d watched Mickey make food quite a bit, but it was Rex—our resident Texan on the team—who was the gourmet chef among my closest friends. In true rancher style, the man could do everything from making a perfect blood red steak on the barbeque, just how I liked it, to a corn casserole with green chiles and sun-dried tomatoes that made my tastebuds cry for more.
I sidled up to Joshua and watched him break several eggs into a bowl, whisk them, and add the milk from the can before cutting up red onion, fresh jalapeno, and a bell pepper. He worked fast and somehow, that impressed me. “You really know how to cook, don’t you?”
He shrugged. “I had a good reason to learn. After my mom went away, the kids needed some stability at home and I was the one who was tasked to give it.”
I reached over and touched his lower back and when he looked up at me, the vulnerability in his stormy gray eyes made me swallow hard. I looped a hand around his side and pulled him closer, kissing the side of his head. “You’re so brave.”
“It was a long time ago, Nash.”
“No, I mean with everything, not just the kids, but also with this situation. Everything you do is brave.”
He set down the bag of frozen hashbrowns he’d retrieved earlier and slid his arms around me. “You’re the brave one.”
I smiled and clutched him to me. “Just doing my job, sweetheart.” I leaned down and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before letting go. “Now, get back to whatever you were doing or you’re going to end up being tossed over my shoulder and dragged to bed.” I swatted him on the ass, startling a laugh out of him.
The rest of the time in the kitchen was spent with me watching him assemble a delicious sounding casserole and making a fresh pot of coffee. I was slightly awed by how domestic the situation seemed. I’d never felt this way before. The house I’d grown up in after my father’s success in business had never felt homey. With my father away all the time and my mother drinking, the home which should have been my refuge, had turned out to be anything but. After escaping that house, I’d joined the Marine Corps and formed a new family.
I’d found people I could trust for the first time in my life, and yet in my personal life away from the Corps, I was brutally aware of my trust issues. These days, I slept with countless, nameless men and made sure they were out the door immediately after we both came. I never wanted them to stick around and share a companionable breakfast, completely unlike the time I was spending with this kind, generous man.
By the time we finally sat down to the cheesy, egg, potato, and veggie casserole, I was starving. The flavors were amazing for something which was so simple. “This is so good,” I said with my mouth full as I stabbed my fork at the food on my plate. A piece of hashbrown shot out of my mouth and landed on the plate which made Joshua laugh. His damned eyes were twinkling again, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“Talking with your mouth full and spraying food all around is so sexy, Nash.”
I chuckled as I loaded my fork again. “When we’re finished with this meal, I’m hauling your ass back to bed.” I popped the food in my mouth and chewed another massive bite.
“You know, when you say things like that, I get hard,” Joshua said.
I laughed.
“What?Youstarted the sex talk at the table. I usually wait until I’m doing dishes for those conversations.”
“No, actually your comment about getting hard reminded me of this guy who used to be in my Marine Corps unit.” I grinned at the memory. “So, there was this skinny twink who was always bragging about how easy it was for him to get and stay hard. I’d seen him in the shower, so I knew he was hung and I admit—being attracted to twinks myself—I’d been interested to see that.”
Joshua chuckled.
“Anyway, one night when we were all kind of drunk, one of the other guys decided to challenge him to a contest.”
Joshua smiled broadly. “What kind of contest?”
I was into my tale now. “They both dropped their pants while the rest of us gathered around, boots in hand.”
Joshua’s eyes widened. “Boots?”
I nodded. “They jacked their dicks until they were both hard and we tied our shoelaces together and took turns hanging the boots on their dicks.”
