Page 71 of Sin Deep
The bedroom door opened slowly, and Winter poked his head in. “Petit? It’s noon, love. Are you awake?”
His eyes went wide. He never slept ’til noon. “Noon? Oh, lover. I’m sorry. I crashed and burned. I didn’t mean to waste the day.”
“Waste? No, petit. Resting and healing are not a waste. I just wanted to be sure you weren’t hurting too badly. I only got up a little over an hour ago myself. I like to sleep in sometimes; it’s nice.”
“Oh. That’s not too bad. I don’t want to miss a whole morning, but an hour is fair. Thanks for letting me rest.” He sat up and swung his legs off the bed. Hopefully he hadn’t bled on Winter’s sheets.
“This looks a little better. Less angry. I’m sure it hurts still, though. Would you like more Tylenol? I’ll get you some.”
“Yes, I think that’ll take the edge off. It feels more bruised today.” More sore and less, fucking hell.
Winter went to the bathroom and came back with Tylenol and a cup of water. He got a grin that was slightly wicked. “I think you’ll be pleased with my breakfast selections.”
“Mmm… I love breakfast.” He took the Tylenol, then chuckled at Winter. “You look like the cat that got the canary.”
“I did not get a canary. But I did get cronuts.” Winter winked and helped him out of bed. “You need pajamas, hm?”
“Unless you want my willy waggling all over…” he teased.
Winter laughed and handed him pajama pants. “Ordinarily I wouldn’t object but…cronuts. I have berries and coffee too.”
“You rock. Thank you.” He bent his leg without thinking to put on the pants, and his breath caught as everything pulled. Whoa.
Winter caught him, hands steadying him. “Oh, my. Does it hurt that much?”
“Sorry. Sorry, it surprised me.” And yeah, it hurt.
“Let me help, petit.” Winter took his pants. “You can steady yourself on my shoulder. Will that work?”
“Thank you.” He grabbed Winter’s shoulders and carefully stepped in, feeling less shaky. “All I have to do is get through tomorrow, right? The third day is the worst.”
“Is that right? Well, then we will take it easy. A quiet weekend. We can read and play cards.” Winter pulled the pants up and carefully tied the drawstring at the top for him. “Shirt?”
“Please, yes. It’s just a touch chilly. Breakfast sounds so good.” He needed to make today better for Winter. Seriously.
Winter found him a t-shirt, helping him put it on even though he didn’t need it, fingers roaming over his skin. “There are several choices. I waited for you. The coffee is hot.”
“Thank you.” He kissed Winter’s cheek, loving the way Winter smelled. “You’re good to me.”
He liked the way Winter still blushed at his compliments too. “Come sit, lean on me. It’s a beautiful day.” Winter helped him into the living room where the sun was streaming in from the back garden through the French doors. The treats were set out on the little table and Winter sat him in a chair. “I’ll get your coffee. And then—well. And then we’ll talk. Hm?”
“Sure. I love talking with you.” It was one of his favorite things, in fact.
“My good boy.” Winter disappeared into the kitchen for a minute and came back with his mug of coffee and a couple of plates. “There are muffins, cronuts, a couple of slices of this amazing looking pumpkin loaf, biscotti…”
“Wow. It smells like heaven. What should we start with?” He took one of the plates with a grin. “It’s like an embarrassment of flaky riches!”
Winter chuckled happily. “There’s a knife there. I was thinking about a bite of everything.” But Winter reached in and took the lemon poppyseed muffin.
Oh, those were Winter’s favorite. Excellent. “You can have that whole one. I know you like them.”
“I can save you a bite. If you’re a particularly good boy.” Winter winked, then broke off a bit of muffin and ate it, humming as he chewed. “Mmm.”
Harley nibbled on a bit of cranberry muffin and drank his coffee. Oh man, that was good. “I wanted to apologize for last night, love. I wasn’t being the most logical man on earth.”
“You’ve made better decisions.” Winter reached over and took his hand. “I understand why. But next time you’ll know better. We have time. If one night doesn’t work out as planned, we have others.”
“I hear you. I just… I got in my own head.” He’d been unsure about Winter, if he was honest, and how he felt settled in his heart.
