Melt Like Butter

by Daisy May

  “A little bit.”

  “Okay, you take your turn first. Then I’ll go.” He raised an eyebrow at me. “Unless you want to save water and shower together.”

  My heart thudded. “You’re joking, right?”

  “Obviously. I’m no environmentalist.” He slipped past me into the bathroom. “Beat you!” he said, slamming the door.

  I sank onto the bed to wait for him, trying not to picture what he was doing inside. Were his clothes coming off? The water was running, they had to be off. Was he soaping himself up, rubbing suds over every curve of his dripping wet body?

  I bit my lip and closed my eyes. His nipples probably weren’t the pretty shade of pink I was imagining, and I had to stop thinking about them. He wasn’t serious when he offered to shower with me. If anything, he was trying to get me all hot and bothered. And it was working.

  The door opened, and he breezed in wearing nothing but a towel. I caught a glimpse of gleaming pecs and a smattering of chest hair before I shielded my eyes and slipped past him into the bathroom.

  “You won’t go blind from seeing me naked, y’know,” he called to me.

  “I’m not willing to take that chance!”

  He’d been naked in here a few minutes ago. He could be naked out there right now. What was he going to wear to bed? Nothing, maybe? A man could hope.

  I went through my evening routine quickly, wanting to pass out as soon as possible so that all of my less-than-appropriate thoughts about Tyler would go away. With my luck, I’d probably end up having filthy sex dreams about him.

  I rushed through my own shower, fighting the temptation to slide a soapy hand between my legs. It definitely would’ve taken the edge off for the following day. Still, I couldn’t let myself fantasize about Tyler. It would’ve been completely inappropriate.

  By the time I came out of the bathroom, he was under the blanket, curled on his side and snoring softly. I climbed onto the bed, placing a pillow between us in case my subconscious mind had any ideas.

  I closed my eyes, willing sleep to come. My groin throbbed insistently, reminding me of the need I hadn’t taken care of.

  I scooted to the edge of the bed, as far from Tyler as I could get. How did he manage to snore sexily?

  I pulled the blanket over my head. I couldn’t wait to drop him off in Oakland tomorrow. I needed to get him out of my life for good.

  If he stayed in it much longer, I couldn’t say what might happen.

  SEVENTEEN – TYLER

  The bed was warmer than usual, and something heavy was on top of me. Something that felt an awful lot like somebody’s arms. I snuggled into the warmth, and in my half-asleep state, I didn’t worry about who it belonged to.

  I rubbed my face into soft hair. This felt so good. As consciousness returned, I tried to sift through the events that had led to waking up with such a nice, warm person. The hair smelled musky and sweet, so I knew it was a man. Who? I wouldn’t usually have stayed over with a one-night stand.

  But wait. I’d moved out of Sophie’s place… I’d searched for my birth mother… I’d started driving across the country with Andy.

  Andy!

  I took a deep breath, connecting the dots. That delicious scent belonged to the uptight, rigid man who’d somehow wormed his way into my life. Who would’ve known he’d be such a good cuddler?

  I eased away, and his eyes fluttered open. “Tyler?” he asked sleepily. “I – oh. Oh. Oh God, I’m sorry.”

  “No problem,” I said, perching on the edge of the bed. “If you wanted to snuggle, you could’ve just told me.”

  He threw his arm over his face. “I’m a sleep cuddler. I should’ve warned you. I didn’t think it’d happen – I put the pillow between us. I…”

  “It’s okay.” I patted his arm, surprised by the sparks that shot through me at the contact. “Shit happens. I honestly don’t mind. I thought you wanted to hit the road by seven, though.”

  His eyes shot open. “What time is it?”

  “Eight.”

  “Oh fuck, I slept in!” He grabbed his phone from the side table. “I set my alarm for six PM, not six AM!”

  This was still way earlier than my usual wake-up time. “It’ll be okay,” I said.

  “I have to go for a jog. My legs were so stiff yesterday. And we have to get going, or we’ll get to Oakland too late for you to go to your mother’s.”

  “How about this?” I said. “You go for a short jog. I’ll chill here. Then we’ll leave. Worst comes to worst, we get to Oakland late. You were going to get a room for the night anyway, so I’ll join you and go to Laney’s place in the morning.”

  “Another night together?” he asked, almost as if he was talking to himself.

  “Can you handle it?” I smirked.

  He looked straight at me again. “I guess I don’t have a choice.”

  *

  As it turned out, a better question was whether either of us could handle another twelve hours in the car.

  “Do you want to stop for lunch soon?” he asked about three hours in.

  “Well, let’s see,” I snapped. “It’s noon, which is when most people eat lunch, and I told you half an hour ago that I’m hungry. What do you think?”

  “Jeez, you don’t need to be rude about it,” he said. “I’m sorry I’m not a mind-reader, and that I don’t know exactly when you want to stop while I’m driving you halfway across the damn country.”

  I took a deep breath. I was bored and irritable, and I shouldn’t have taken it out on him. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m hangry.”

  “You’re what?”

  “I’m so hungry that it’s making me angry.”

  He turned onto the highway exit. “I’m getting there, too. Let’s eat!”

  The food made me feel somewhat better, although once we’d been driving for another hour, I found myself getting antsy again. I opened a family-size bag of sour cream chips. Trapped in the car, eating was pretty much the only thing I could do to get my jitters out.

  “You’re killing that bag,” Andy said, looking at me out of the corner of his eye. “You nervous, or something?”

  “Just starving.” I stuffed a few more chips into my mouth.

  “It’d be totally understandable for you to be nervous,” he said serenely. “Anybody would be, in your situation.”

  “I’m not nervous!”

  “Okay, if you say so.”

  A moment went by as I crunched through a few more chips. “I’m not calm, exactly,” I said. “But that doesn’t mean I’m nervous.”

  “Gotcha.” He reached for a chip. “Want me to try to get your mind off things?”

  “Sure, if you think it’s safe to jerk me off while you’re driving.”

  He turned to face me, looking horrified. I snickered to myself. It was way too easy to get a rise out of him. Plus there was always the chance he’d actually go along with one of my little “jokes.” I wouldn’t mind that at all.

  “I meant more like counting how many red cars we can see,” he said.

  “Is this the version where we get to punch each other when we see one?”

  “No!” he exclaimed, sounding offended at the mere suggestion. “We just look for them. That’s all.”

  I snorted. “Could you be any more boring? C’mon, there must be a better game lurking somewhere in that big brain of yours.”

  “Why don’t you come up with something, genius?”

  “I already gave you my suggestion.” I eyed his body.

  His cheeks flushed. “How about we write a story? Each of us says a line.”

  “I don’t know. Your lines are going to be dull as hell.”

  “It’s a fun game. I used to play it with my family as a kid.” He turned down the radio. “Once upon a time, there was a prince.”

  All right, I’d humor him. “His name was Assface and he liked to get fucked up every weekend.”

  He snorted. “But Assface – God, you’re horrible – was actually a really good per
son who worked hard at his job and donated lots of money to charity.”

  “Yeah, and in his spare time he liked to adopt kittens and eat them.”

  He turned to stare at me. “Um… right… okay. So one weekend, Assface was volunteering at the animal shelter, which is something he did because he was a really nice, kind, sweet, caring person.”

  “And also because once all the other volunteers left, he could go to town on all those cute little animals.”

  “By which you mean he could go to town on Amazon, buying them new toys and treats.”

  “And then once he was done spoiling them, he killed them and cooked them up in a big pot of stew.”

  Andy grimaced. “But he was still a really great person! He redeemed himself by… By…”

  “Come on,” I said. “There’s no coming back from that. He can’t redeem himself.”

  “There’s a little good in everyone. Even Assface.”

  “Sure, but the good doesn’t necessarily outweigh the bad. Take me, for example.”

  “You’re good.”

  “No, I’m terrible.”

  “I doubt that,” he said firmly. “You have plenty of redeeming qualities.”

  “I’m like Assface,” I said. “Rotten to the core.”

  “You’re killing me here!”

  “What?” I asked innocently. “Am I playing the game wrong?”

  “Let’s try a new game,” he said, sounding exasperated. “Twenty-One Questions?”

  “Oh, the song by 50 Cent?” I sang a few lines.

  “I mean the game where you try to guess what I’m thinking.”

  “I’m pretty sure I can do that.” And it wouldn’t take twenty-one questions, either.

  He focused on the road for a moment, then glanced at me. “All right, I’m ready.”

  “Is it us having sex at the hotel tonight?”

  He choked and swerved, earning us a honk from another driver. “You can’t say things like that while we’re on the highway!” he said.

  “Okay, okay.” I hadn’t realized I was taking my own life into my hands. “Is it an animal?”

  “No.” His voice was tight. If he hadn’t been thinking about us hooking up before, he was now.

  “Is it a vegetable?”

  “No.”

  “Is it a mineral?”

  “No.”

  “Is it the feel of my lips wrapping around your dick in the hotel room tonight?”

  He spluttered, and the car jerked forward.

  “Slow down!” I yelled, staring in terror at the rear bumper of the car ahead of us.

  Fortunately, he reacted in time, braking sharply enough to give me whiplash. “I thought I just told you not to make jokes like that while we’re on the highway!”

  “Okay, got it.”

  I hadn’t been able to resist pushing his buttons, but I’d do my best to stop. I wasn’t on a kamikaze mission here, and I didn’t want him killing himself either. I did wonder why he reacted so strongly to what I said.

  It was clear that I tempted him. How long would it take for him to give in?

  EIGHTEEN – ANDY

  We arrived in Oakland close to midnight – way too late for Tyler to knock on a stranger’s door and announce he was her son. That seemed like more of a daytime activity, although there was no standard etiquette.

  We checked into a hotel not far from Laney’s place so that Tyler could go first thing in the morning. He’d be on his own at that point. I wished he’d let me come with him to see what happened – it was going to be a huge disappointment to never find out, and I was pretty sure he wasn’t the type to keep in touch and update me.

  But he’d given me a firm “no” about coming, so I’d be hitting the road again when we woke up, starting on the first leg of my drive back to Harrotsford.

  We’d managed to get a room with two beds this time, and I set my duffel bag down on one as I yawned. I wasn’t looking forward to driving solo for two days straight. I could listen to my podcasts without Tyler complaining… but it wouldn’t be the same without him.

  I went through my evening routine, wondering how I’d be able to go back to real life after this. It felt like a million years ago that I’d been at work, and like my coworkers and family were a million miles away. I hadn’t even called Mom since I left. Hadn’t even texted Jeremy. I’d barely thought about anything but the road ahead of me… and about Tyler.

  I came out of the shower in a towel, expecting Tyler to go in the bathroom so I could change. He was lying on his front, doing something on his phone. I cleared my throat, and he waved me off. “Just a sec. I’m trying to beat a level in Candy Crush.”

  This guy was full of surprises. “Whenever you’re ready.” I picked up my pajamas, wondering how I could get them on without exposing myself to him.

  After a moment, he glanced up at me. “Okay, I’ll go take my shower now. I know you won’t let me get away with skipping it.”

  “Nope.”

  He didn’t move, and his pupils dilated slightly. “You look good like that, you know.”

  My heart skipped a beat. “Like what?”

  “Clean. Wet.” He eyed me, up and down. “Maybe the color white looks good on you. I don’t know. You just look sexy.”

  “We already talked about this.” My palms were sweating, and I wiped them on my towel. “I thought you said you were going to stop.”

  “You’re not driving anymore.” He gave a slow, lazy shrug. “And I’m not joking, either.”

  I blinked at him. I’d had a feeling there was some level of seriousness behind his teasing, although I had no idea why he’d want me. Sure, I was okay-looking – nothing spectacular, at least not enough to have men throwing themselves at me. And Tyler always said I was so dull and acted like he wanted to get as far away from me as possible.

  And yet, as I looked at him, an ache grew in my groin. Some deep, primal part of me wanted him.

  “What do you think?” he asked. “A fun fling? One night and then you’ll never see me again.”

  “You make it sound so appealing,” I said sarcastically.

  A small smirk grew on his lips. “You were trying to liven up your life, weren’t you? What better way would there be to do it?”

  “I’m not having sex with you, Tyler.” No matter what the persistent throb between my thighs was saying.

  “All right.” He got up. “I’m not going to make you.”

  My eyes raked over his body despite my efforts to stop them. They had a mind of their own, and they wanted to soak in the sight of his narrow waist and slim hips.

  “You sound disappointed,” I said, my voice tight.

  “It’s fine.” He stepped toward the bathroom. “I can handle rejection. You’re not going to hurt my feelings.”

  He closed the door, and I took a deep breath. He was actually serious. I lay on my back for a moment, trying to figure out why he’d propose something so outlandish. It was outlandish, wasn’t it? People didn’t do things like that. At least, not people like me. He knew me well enough to know that.

  But he wasn’t trying to push me out of my comfort zone out of the goodness of his heart. He wanted to sleep with me, and he was willing to suggest it even though he knew I’d say no. I guessed he’d experienced enough rejection to be comfortable with it. Which meant he’d put the moves on plenty of other people. What was that weird tightness in my chest? The thought couldn’t be making me jealous.

  I changed into my pajamas, buttoning up the baggy white top slowly, trying not to think about the possibility of Tyler unbuttoning it. Considering the grandpa-like style of these pajamas, that wouldn’t actually be sexy. It was a wonder I’d ever had sex in my life, with my extreme lack of sexiness.

  I got under the covers and closed my eyes, keenly aware of my pounding heart and the blood thrumming through my veins. The ache in my groin only intensified as I listened to the water falling in the shower. I’d been so determined to only like Tyler as a friend. Now my fantasies about
him wouldn’t leave me alone.

  The water turned off, and the door squeaked open a minute later. I could hear Tyler moving around the room, and a perverted part of my brain hoped he was wearing nothing. He had to think I was sleeping, though, and we were going to go our separate ways first thing in the morning. He wouldn’t have another chance to hit on me again.

  Which was good, because I didn’t think I could resist him much longer.

  “You still up?” His voice came in a near-whisper, soft enough to not wake me if I’d really been sleeping.

  Pretend you’re asleep. Pretend you’re asleep. My body wouldn’t listen to my brain. I pulled the blanket off my face to look at him. He was wearing something, unfortunately, but that something was only a towel that could come off with a quick flick of my wrist. And now that I’d thought that, I couldn’t get the image out of my mind.

  “I’ll take that as a yes,” he said with a smirk.

  I realized I was staring at him with my mouth open, practically drooling. When had I gone from “I guess he’s kind of cute” to this?

  “What is it?” I asked hoarsely.

  “I wanted to check what time you wanted to leave tomorrow. But now…” His eyes rested on me, curious and cocky at once, and I thought I spotted a tinge of lust. “Now it looks like you might’ve changed your mind.”

  Oh, fuck. How was I supposed to say no to him? I eased out from under the blankets, sitting on the side of my bed as he went to perch on the side of his. Our knees touched, and sparks jumped through my low belly in response. God, it’d been so long since I’d been with someone. So, so long.

  “What happens if we do this?” I asked, my pulse racing faster than ever. I fully expected him to give some kind of faux-educational answer about the ins and outs of gay sex, but he didn’t.

  “We have a little fun,” he said, his eyes glittering into mine. “We enjoy each other. Then tomorrow, we follow the original plan. You go on with your life, and I go on with mine.”

  Slowly, I nodded. A one-night stand was so far out of my comfort zone, it wasn’t even in the same zip code. But we were two consenting adults – there was nothing immoral or unethical about it. At the moment, with the way my body was craving him, I couldn’t remember why I’d ever had a problem with casual sex in the first place.