Boy in Luv

by Jay Crownover

  “Thank you! I’ll prepare some thoughts.” And that made it all worth it. No matter how much I missed Iker, I was doing some real good here, and that felt amazing.

  “Perfect. Now get home and relax this weekend.” Jessica gave me a wave, and we both headed home.

  The drive was pretty easy, twenty-five minutes or so during Friday rush hour. I could have cut down my commute and bought a condo in Austin, or a house a little closer, but I loved the small-town atmosphere where I’d bought my house. Besides, I could be just as lonely in Austin as I was at my own house. It was all the same when I came home to an empty house.

  I pulled into the driveway, already mentally going through my rotating list of takeout options, and hit the garage door opening. The damned thing didn’t budge.

  “What the hell?” I muttered, pressing the button again. Then I put the car in park and hopped out, walking over to the numeric panel at the door. I punched in my code and it didn’t even try to lift. Not a single sound.

  The joys of owning a home seemed to be endless. “No big deal,” I reminded myself as I grabbed my purse from my passenger seat, then closed and locked my door. “Probably just need to reset a breaker, or something.”

  Had to admit, I was still getting used to being on my own when things went wrong. Iker fixed the dishwasher, but that was because it had broken when he was here for his first visit and he told me not to spend money on something he could handle.

  I walked the path to my front door, then unlocked it and walked in. A sigh of relief tumbled past my lips as my heels hit the hardwood in the small entry.

  “Honey, I’m home,” I called out sarcastically as I turned the corner into the kitchen, then stilled. My sliding glass door to the backyard was open. There was no way in hell I’d left it open this morning. I was way too paranoid for that.

  Before I could get my cell phone free to dial 911, a white cloud of fluff raced through the opening, heading straight for me.

  I gasped and fell to my knees as Einstein jumped, his paws landing on my shoulders with an excited yap before he licked my face up the side. “Oh my God! Hiya, Einstein! What are you doing here? I missed you!” I word-vomited all over the dog.

  “He missed you, too.”

  My eyes squeezed shut at the sound of his voice and I held Einstein to me, scared to look, to see that my work hours had finally taken their toll and this was all a big, fat hallucination.

  “Baby, open your eyes.”

  The voice was even closer, and I slowly raised my lids.

  Iker stood in the doorway, dressed in Multicams and an incredible smile. He was here. In my house—our house—in Texas.

  “I thought you were in the field this weekend?” My voice sounded strange in my own ears. Probably because my throat was closing with alarming quickness.

  “Yeah, so I might have lied to you, just a little.” He cringed, but walked closer, holding out his hand. “Any chance I might be able to get one of those hugs you’re giving away down there?”

  I set Einstein down and Iker took my hand, pulling me straight from the floor and into his arms. Mine flew around his neck, and I breathed in the unique scent that was pure Iker. With the first inhale, my stress level dropped about a bajillion points and my heart rate jumped. His arms locked around my back, lifting me high against him.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked against the skin of his neck. “Don’t answer that. I don’t even care. I’m just so glad you’re here.”

  “It had almost been two months,” he explained. “I couldn’t take it another day. God, I missed you, Langley.”

  “I missed you,” I agreed, finally pulling back enough to see his face. His skin was tanned, no doubt due to the month he’d just spent at the National Training Center in California. “You look so good.” I grinned. “Then again, I missed you so much that you could turn up looking half-dead and I’d probably jump you anyway.”

  His dimple popped. “I almost forgot how good it feels to hold you.”

  “Almost?” I teased.

  “You’re burned on my brain, but on the days when I miss you so much, I can barely breathe? Yeah, then I almost forget what it feels like to have you under my hands. But, I will never forget how you taste.” He lowered his mouth to mine and kissed me sweetly at first, just the press of our lips and mingled breaths, before he touched the tip of his tongue to the seam of my lips, and I opened on reflex. Then the kiss turned into something hot, wild, and utterly abandoned.

  My ass hit the kitchen counter and then his hand was in my hair, twisting in the strands as his mouth took mine and brought me home. Our tongues tangled and stroked, and just like that, it was as if we hadn’t been apart for months. We were simply…us. My skirt slipped to my hips, and since I never wore hose in the Texas heat, that left only a couple layers between us.

  The sound of lapping water distracted me.

  “Okay, wait,” I said as I found an ounce of common sense. “The shelter let you bring Einstein?” I looked over to see him happily drinking out of a ceramic dog bowl Iker must have brought with him.

  “Well, yeah, since I adopted him.” He shrugged, but his eyes lit up.

  “You what?” My mouth fell open.

  His eyes dropped to my lips. “I adopted him.” Then he kissed me again and I got lost in the feel of his lips against mine. Somehow, being separated so often made every kiss feel like the first one in the best way.

  “Hold up.” I pushed at his chest. “How did you adopt him? You’re gone so often!”

  “Yeah, but I came up with a great family care plan,” he teased, referring to the form soldiers had to fill out regarding their very human kids.

  “Oh, really?” My hands rested on his uniform and my brow puckered. “And why are you in uniform? Not that I’m complaining because you know how I feel about you in uniform.” It was the only time he wore dog tags, and man, did I like to use those to pull him closer.

  “What can I say? I was so excited to get to you that I just couldn’t wait to change into civies.” That grin was back, but when he ducked his mouth toward mine, I evaded.

  “Oh no, you don’t. I have questions, and your kisses muddle my brain.” I narrowed my eyes at his handsome face, sighing in pure feminine appreciation at his strong jaw and full lips. “All of you muddles me.” I shook my head. “Let me get this straight. You stopped by your house, picked up Einstein that you adopted…” I raised my eyebrows in question.

  “Yesterday,” he answered.

  “Right. Yesterday. So, you picked up Einstein, then didn’t change, and then, what? Hopped the first flight? Did you take a half-day?” Even though my body was screaming out its need for me to shut up and jump Iker, my brain had way too many questions.

  “I drove, actually.” He ran his hand down my hair, gathering a strand of the long, blonde stuff and rubbing it between his thumb and forefinger with a smile.

  “Wait, what? I didn’t see your car—” My eyes popped wide. “You disconnected the garage door!”

  “I wanted to surprise you.” He grinned again, and I was powerless as he swept me into another kiss that had my hands clutching the fabric of his uniform and my thighs gripping his hips.

  “And you drove thirteen hours in uniform?” I managed to say as his lips trailed a path down my neck, sending shocks of yes, please straight to my belly.

  “No. I changed when I got here.” He followed my neckline and then kissed my collarbone.

  “You what?” I leaned back on my palms, putting as much distance between us as I could without unlocking my ankles. “You left at, what? Three a.m.? Then drove here and put on your uniform?” This made absolutely no sense. Iker was never in uniform unless he was going to or leaving work.

  “You’re really preoccupied with the uniform,” he said, unzipping his top and throwing it to the opposite counter. His shirt was next, leaving him deliciously bare-chested.

  “Huh.” My breath caught, and I felt that rush of wet between my thighs that always happened w
hen those abs came out to play. He might as well have pressed a button that said, “Push here to prep Langley.”

  “Is that better?” he asked, that sly, smoldering smirk redirecting my attention.

  “Mmmm. So good.” My fingers drifted from his chest to his beltline. God, the man was all hard edges wrapped in warm, smooth skin. “Wait. No! Stop distracting me, Iker Alvarez!”

  “I’m sorry. What else were you asking?” He was always happy when we were together, but that grin was off the freaking charts today.

  “Why would you put on your uniform? Just because I like it? Because I’m down with that, but it seems like a lot of work to go through.”

  “Well, I couldn’t report to Fort Hood in civies.” He raised both eyebrows.

  Mine bunched together. “Why would you report? Is your unit here?” A flash of excitement smacked me in the chest. “Iker, is your unit training here?”

  His thumb brushed my lower lip. “Yes, my unit trains here.”

  “For how long?” Oh my God, maybe I’d get him for a couple of weeks!

  “Forever,” he answered softly, watching me with an intensity that had me blinking.

  “Forever?” I repeated, my heart clenching.

  He nodded, a slow smile spreading across his face.

  “What are you trying to tell me?” Now my heart was pounding, slamming against my ribs so hard I was sure he had to be able to hear it.

  “I got the transfer. It was a pretty behind-the-scenes thing, so it happened quickly.”

  “You live here?” I whispered as chills raced down my spine.

  “As of today, I do.”

  We stared at each other, my mouth agape and eyes wide, his features slowly transforming from excited to schooled.

  “Langley, say something. This is what you wanted, right?” When he would have stepped away, I kept my ankles locked and flexed my thighs.

  “More than anything,” I admitted. “I’m just scared to believe it. How? When? Do you have to go back? Does your family know?” The questions flew from my lips.

  His smile flashed and his shoulders dipped in relief. “When? Now. I found out on Monday afternoon and broke my lease. Tuesday and Wednesday, I put basically everything I owned up on Craigslist and cleared Fort Carson, which is pretty much the fastest clearing any paperwork pusher has ever seen. Thursday, I rented a U-HAUL and packed, and I left this morning around one a.m.”

  “So, you’re here? You live here. Like…go to work here, and come home here?” I sat up fully, resting my hands on his waist.

  “Well, I’m hoping you’ll let me come home here. If you think it’s too fast to move in together, I can get a place closer to base, but it’s only about a forty-minute drive so it’s not too bad—”

  I shut his mouth with mine, kissing him with abandon. My nails grazed his scalp, my hips rocked into his, and he—

  “Hold up.” He managed between ragged breaths. Great, now he was the one putting on the brakes. “The how was your dad.”

  “My dad?” Want to kill a girl’s sex drive? Just mention her father while you’re between her thighs.

  “I went to him about a month ago and asked him to help me. To help us.” He rested his forehead against mine. “Your old man came through.”

  My face crumpled and my nose stung with the tears I knew were about to hit. “You asked him for help?”

  He nodded. “I couldn’t do it anymore. You being here. Me there. You were miserable and I was a wreck. I’m into you too deep to live eight hundred miles away from you. I need this smile every day.” He ran the back of his hand along my cheek.

  “I can’t believe you went to him. I know it sounds so freaking silly, but I’m proud of you, Iker.” Asking my dad for help was up there on a list of things he’d probably rather cut off his own arm than do.

  His mouth tightened. “My pride doesn’t exist when it comes to you, Vaughn. I’ll do whatever it takes to be near you.”

  “Thank you,” I whispered, brushing a kiss across his lips. My dad promised he’d try to help him if Iker asked—he played golf with the commanding general of Fort Carson, for God’s sake, but said Iker had to be the one to step up and do the asking.

  “You don’t have to thank me. Especially when the motivation is pretty damn selfish. I breathe better when I’m with you.”

  “Oh my God. Of course, you’re living here,” I blurted, his earlier words finally sinking in. “If there’s anything the past months have taught me, it’s that I’m not wasting a single minute that I can be with you. Even forty minutes away is too far.”

  “Thank God, because everything I own is sitting in your garage.” He laughed.

  “Our garage,” I reminded him with a kiss. “And you brought Einstein! You adopted him, for me. I can’t believe you!”

  “Yeah, and it was a good thing I had you as a personal reference. Then again, the ten-thousand-dollar donation I gave them probably didn’t hurt.” He shrugged.

  “You didn’t.” The man freaking shrugged at donating ten grand.

  “I did.” His expression turned serious. “I wasn’t bringing that part of our past here, Langley. This is a fresh start. I get that you own the house, and trust me, we’re about to have a huge discussion on me paying the bills because there’s zero chance I’m letting you foot the bill on everything.” He put his finger across my lips when I tried to interrupt him. “That money is gone. I’m here. This is where we build our future.”

  “Okay,” I answered softly.

  “Okay?” His eyes narrowed.

  “You said you had no pride where I’m concerned. I have no stipulations where you are. No rules, no boundaries. We’ll figure it out together.”

  “Together,” he repeated with a soft kiss on my forehead. “I love the sound of that.”

  “Good, because there are so many things we’re about to do together. Starting upstairs in that very big bed you made me buy.” I grinned.

  “Hey, all I said was that there was more room for maneuvers in a king-size.” He pulled me forward and lifted me, supporting my ass with his hands.

  “Time to put your money where your mouth is,” I challenged, wrapping my arms around his neck. It was insane to think this had all started with a ten-thousand-dollar deal, and now it was beginning all over in the best of ways.

  “You’re on,” he answered, stealing my breath with a series of kisses that left me mindless with pure physical need.

  Then he showed me those maneuvers.

  And more than a few others.

  Iker

  ~ One year later

  “I can’t believe they put us in the same room. What are the odds?”

  I could hear the amazement in Langley’s voice, and I was glad I was in front of her, because I doubted I could keep a straight face. The odds were slim we’d end up in the exact same room we’d stayed in at the Broadmoor for her stepsister’s wedding. I had to reserve the stupid thing months in advance and run interference when she asked pointed questions about our trip back to the Springs for her niece’s first birthday.

  “It must be fate.” I glanced over my shoulder in her direction, pleased to see a bright smile on her face.

  “What if I cry? I have good and bad memories of that room.” She poked me in the side. “No making fun of me if I get emotional.”

  Oh…she was going to get emotional all right. I could only hope those feelings fell on the joyful side of the fence instead of the side that held the devastation from the night I left her alone in the king-sized bed. I was hoping what I had planned would wipe all those bad memories from her mind for good.

  “When do your grandmother and Gael get into town?” Langley reached out and hooked her hand in the crook of my elbow. “My dad is very excited to finally meet your family.”

  “Grandma gets in tomorrow morning. Gael will be here sometime tonight.” I was still incredibly leery about having our families co-mingle, knowing my abuela wouldn’t stand by quietly and take Virginia Vaughn’s shit. Especially sin
ce the older woman loved Langley like her own. She wouldn’t stay quiet if Langley’s wicked stepmother crossed the line. I’d like to say the rich bitch’s wrath had quieted with time and space, but she only seemed to get more bitter, angry, and greedy as time went on. I had no idea how Mr. Vaughn put up with the awful woman, but they did say love was blind. I was sure Langley got her fair share of criticism and questions for being with a guy like me.

  Langley and I had taken to driving down to my hometown at least once a month so we could spend time with my grandmother. The two women instantly connected, and now I was stuck trying to convince my grandmother to move closer to us so we could help her out more and keep an eye on her as she got older. She was resistant, but let it slip if Langley and I decided to have kids down the road, and if we stayed in Austin, she would consider it. Talk about playing hardball.

  “I haven’t seen Gael in forever. I’m so glad he agreed to come.” She rested her head on my shoulder and I could feel her giddy excitement. “I bet he’s taller than you now.”

  I snorted because she was right. My little brother hit a late growth spurt and now had a solid two to three inches on me. “Doesn’t matter. I can still take him.” Gael would always be more of a lover than a fighter, no matter how big he became.

  “I’m surprised he took time off work to fly out for a baby’s birthday party.” Langley squeezed my arm as we reached the door to the opulent hotel room. “He’s been so busy.”

  He was busy. He was taking summer classes and working a part-time job, as well as tutoring other students. There was no way in hell he would make time for an over-the-top birthday party for a toddler, but he would always make time for me and Langley.

  “It’s been a minute since he saw Grandma, and I think he was worried about her meeting your family for the first time. He’s coming as reinforcements.”

  She smacked my stomach. “My family isn’t that bad.”