Chapter Sixteen

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Val

I 've learned not to count on people who make promises, but the sincerity in his eyes? I want to believe him. I want to let go of all the doubts I have and let someone in. It's been so lonely and I've wanted someone to hug, to tell me that things are going to be okay, that I'm not in this by myself. "Thank you." I curl my arms around his neck.

He holds me tightly, allowing me to melt into his body.

"I know we had planned on doing one thing, and now it looks like we're going to do another, but I need to take a shower. Do you mind?"

Although I know this man is going to be living with me from now on, I haven't given thought of how this is actually going to work out. "I don't, but you have to realize it's a very small space, and you're probably going to be knocking your elbows on the walls."

"It won't be the first time." He grins. "When I was younger and my parents split, dad had us living in some small spaces in order to be able to afford it. I slept in a twin size bed until I was sixteen, and I was six-two. It's not going to bother me. As long as I'm able to get clean, it'll be fine. May take me a little longer than it takes you because I'll have to wash parts of my body at once, but it'll happen. Until you're safe, I'm going to make sure you don't worry about it." He bends down, grabbing his bag, and raises his eyebrows. "Where's the bathroom?"

"That door." I point to a door over near the part of the apartment that's been turned into the kitchen. "Hopefully you'll be able to shut it once you're inside. It's that small."

"I got this, Val. Don't worry that it's going to scare me off. There's a lot of shit I've put up with, and anything having to do with you isn't putting up with it. I wanna be here. If I keep saying it, hopefully you'll realize it."

When he goes in there and shuts the door, I let out the breath I hadn't realized I was holding. Having him here in this space is going to be hard, because I've enjoyed having this small apartment to myself, but also because I'm going to be sharing a home with this man I can't get out of my head. How am I going to feel comfortable going to sleep with him possibly next to me? I have no idea how I'm going to be able to survive this. I've never been tempted to give myself to someone, but I am very tempted to give myself to this man.

Only, I don't know exactly what that means.

It's so hot in here. I head over to the fridge and open the freezer, sticking my head in not only to look and see what there is to cook, but also to cool myself down. We're supposed to get a cold front in the next few days, which will usher in fall. I can't wait, this summer has been brutal.

I hope Vaughn likes tacos, because it looks like that's about all I have to make. I've never paid attention to what he goes toward in situations where he isn't indulging in the treats at Get Baked. I guess we have a lot to learn about one another. I've never had to learn about a man before, never really had to learn about anyone. When I lived at home we were told what to eat, what to wear, we weren't given choices. That's been the biggest difference in what I'm going through now, the fact that I can choose. It's almost overwhelming

Pulling the thawed meat out of the fridge, I get everything ready to cook it, while making sure I have enough tortilla chips to make nachos, after I see I don't have any taco shells or tortillas. Looking inside, I see I have some tomatoes, onion, limes, and lettuce. It's enough to make pico that will hopefully add to the filling nature of the meal. I'm not used to feeding someone, not since I left home. It's taken me as long as I've been here by myself to start making meals that weren't enough for an Army, and now I have to figure out how to feed another person now. It's as if my life can't figure out what in the world it wants to do.

In the middle of me questioning what I'm doing here, the door to the bathroom opens, and steam rolls out, along with Vaughn, only wearing a pair of low-slung sweatpants. There's no shirt covering his torso, and he's glistening with the remnants of the shower he just took. I've always known he's strong, but seeing him like this? He's stronger than I envisioned. My eyes take in the entirety of his bare flesh. There's a small smattering of hair trailing down his stomach into the waistband of those sweatpants. The tattoos that I normally don't pay a lot of attention to are slick with the leftover water, and it's as if he's put oil on his flesh to emphasize how hot they are.

My heart thunders in my ears, as I feel the warmth in between my thighs, the way I did the other night when we were together. My breasts feel heavy, and I wish I could cup them to help with the weight.

"Are you okay?" He questions, a small smile on his face. "You made a little noise."

"I'm fine, I just wasn't expecting to see you come out with no shirt on."

He hooks his thumb back toward the bathroom. "I can put one on if it would make you more comfortable."

"No!" The word comes across much louder than I expect it to. "Please, don't do that on my account. I'm just not used to being around a man who isn't wearing a shirt. I think I'll get used to it."

He chuckles, his Adam's apple moving up and down. "I'd get used to it if you'd like to not wear your shirt too. Only fair, right?"

My face heats. "You're kidding aren't you?"

"Yes." He scoffs, reaching out to grab my hand. "You only have to do what you're comfortable with, and you're allowed to tell me if you aren't okay with me not wearing a shirt. This is your house. I'm a guest."

That isn't exactly true. "You're staying here because you're worried someone may hurt me. I don't know that you would be here if what happened today hadn't been happening when you showed up."

He walks over with purpose, because of the size of the room, it only takes a few steps. Reaching in, he cups my chin. "No I would've definitely been here, I've been thinking about you all day. Remember this was my plan after getting off of work. Well..." he smirks. "Maybe not this." He looks down at his bare torso. "But I was definitely hoping to spend the rest of the day with you."

"Why?" The word pops out before I can stop it. No one else has ever been interested in me the way he is. Although I wasn't secular by any means, there were men we were promised to, and could get to know. None that were allowed to be interested acted that way, so I've always assumed I'm boring.

"Because you intrigue me, and I like you. I enjoy spending time with you, and I want to get to know you better. There aren't many people who intrigue me, Val. But you? I've wondered about you since the first moment I walked into Get Baked and saw you standing there, and now that I've tasted you? There's no going back for me."

I don't know what to do with all of these emotions bouncing around in my body. I haven't felt them before, am not sure how other people get the nervousness out of their body before they see the person who makes them feel these sensations. All I know is I want Vaughn's hands on me, I want his mouth on mine, I want to know what else there is to teach me.

"Are you okay?" He raises his eyebrows. "You look like I'm about to gobble you up like the big, bad wolf."

"I don't know what that means."

"It's a nursery rhyme." He swallows roughly, clearing his throat. "It's about a young girl who goes to visit her grandmother, or some shit like that, and sees a wolf on the way. She's attracted to him, or whatever, but she runs, and he gives chase."

I'm not sure I completely believe him. "Are you positive that's what it's about?"

He shrugs. "That's what I remember."

"And you're suggesting that if I run, you're going to follow me?" The tension between us is as heavy as a summer afternoon in the south before a thunderstorm.

A smirk works its way across his face, lifting up the side of his mouth. "Damn right I'm gonna follow you. You're not gonna get away that easy."

Closing my eyes, because I can't stand to look into his as I say these words, I push them out between dry lips. My heart is thundering, chest heaving with the adrenaline flowing between us. "Who's to say I want to? Maybe I want you to chase me."

"Then take off and see what happens, Val. I'll even give you a head start."

My eyes shift over to the stove, where our dinner sits waiting to be cooked, and then back to him. This isn't at all what old Val would do. She wouldn't run with the express reason for a man to catch her, but this Val, the one who wants Vaughn with everything she has? She gives a squeal and heads for the door.