“I suppose I can do that. It’s not every day my BFF admits he can’t cope with not being on the same continent as me.” That earned me a twitch of his lips.
“The pining for you was too much.” His voice was impassive. “My life is finally complete now that we’re breathing the same air.”
At his words, a flash of memory… of feeling sparked inside me, reminding me of the time we had legit shared the same air when I’d launched myself at him and kissed the hell out of my friend.
Surprised by the spike in my pulse, I forced a laugh, knowing there was nothing natural or easygoing about the sound. “You see, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” I sassed, working on my tone, and totally ignored how my mind kept catching on the innuendo of my words. “Fuck, I think these meds are screwing with me,” I said aloud, sure that was what was going on.
“Let’s get you to bed.”
I caught the strangled noise that attempted to break free from my throat. What the fuck was happening? “Yeah, that’s probably best.”
Sutton hovered over me like a clucking hen as I went to our room and lay down. He closed the blinds and placed my water bottle on the bedside table.
“Sleep, and I’ll check in on you in a couple of hours.” There was a softness in his voice that sent my heart hammering. Sutton was absolutely the more thoughtful out of the two of us, but just how attentive and gentle he was being made my head spin.
I latched onto that notion as he left me in the dark room. That’s all this was—me reaching for meaning when there was none there. That and being confused by Sutton in my space after so long without him being all in my business.
As for those memories, it was only natural they’d flicked through my mind. Our kiss had changed everything. So what if the more I thought about it, the more I wondered what it would be like to kiss Sutton for a second time?
Maybe even a third or fourth if it was as nice as my memory made it out to be.
With a sigh, I turned on my side and closed my eyes.
* * *
The followingday the two of us headed out fishing. We left midmorning after I’d given some time for my pain meds to kick in, and probably far too late for the fish. That was a thing, right? Fish biting early in the day rather than later.
I had no idea, but I was bored after an hour of not catching anything, and thankfully, Sutton wasn’t feeling it either.
After packing everything up, we strolled down a small track alongside the creek, the gentle flow of the water calm and soothing. Admittedly, this was kinda nice, the two of us hanging out, actually relaxing together.
There were no awkward silences, no forced conversation. Exactly the way it had always been between us. It wasn’t a secret that he was the one I felt truly comfortable with. The only person I could simply be myself with. While we dug at and ribbed each other, every word always held affection, right alongside the certainty we trusted each other.
“Apparently crocs don’t travel this far south.”
Sutton offered a small “Huh,” which translated to he was paying attention.
I smiled. “Too cold for it or something, I think. Can you believe it’s winter?”
“It’s a little like California’s climate.” He glanced over. “Except for last night. Did you feel how cold it got?” I laughed at how bemused he seemed. “I thought Nate was screwing around when he told me about there being a log burner.”
“Right. Only for it to jump up forty degrees during the day. This place is weird.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his focus had moved to my hand with the bandaged finger, and I lifted it up for inspection. “You think Coach is going to freak out when he sees me?”
“Nah. He’ll already have been pouring over the X-rays, or at least the team’s doc will have.”
I nodded. “True. Everything looked good. Clean break. It should heal fine and in enough time for next season. Until then, I can train with my right.”
“When I learned you were injured, I was sure it was a crocodile or a snake or something that had finally got you.”
I snorted at his words. “You sound disappointed. We can go hunting for something wilder if you want, gain new experiences.”
“Let’s make that a hard pass. And I’m not disappointed. The news just took me by surprise.”
“And freaked you out.”
“And freaked me out,” he repeated.
My lips twitched. “And made you so worried you jumped on the first available flight to come and take care of me.” Sutton made it so easy to wind him up.
