Giving him a bit of a break, I glanced at his plate. “Are you finished?”
He nodded and looked around, presumably for the waiter. “Yes.”
Not seeing him around, I focused back on Casey. “Did you want to go out somewhere after this or did you want to head home?”
He gave me a side glance and sucked his lower lip in, nibbling on it. When he didn’t respond, I kept going. “Our date is not over, no matter which you choose.”
Casey gave me a shy smile and nodded. “Home? I don’t think I’m ready to get a drink anytime soon, and I’d rather have time with you alone than at a club somewhere.”
“Sounds good to me.” Then I grinned. “But Drunk Casey is welcome back anytime. I have some questions for him next time.”
Casey groaned again, a blush rising on his cheeks. “Oh no, Drunk Casey is firmly tucked away for the time being.”
“Does that mean he’ll come out to play another time? I bet he has some fun questions for me too.” From the nervous look on Casey’s face, I’d hit the nail on the head.
Kissing him tenderly, I gave him an understanding smile. “You don’t have to wait, you know. If there’s something you want to talk about, you’re always welcome to bring it up in a conversation or just email it to me if talking out loud is too hard.”
He lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug. “I know.”
“Good.” I had a feeling he was at the point where pushing wouldn’t help, so I decided to change the subject. “What do you want to do when we get back to your place?”
He must have been thinking something good because he coughed and seemed to be choking on air. When he caught his breath, he tried to shrug and look innocent. Seeing he could breathe, I shook my head, grinning. “Just to let you know, that looked highly suspicious. But you were just thinking about a new documentary about some old accounting genius you wanted to see, right?”
He grinned, looking slightly embarrassed, and nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, that’s it exactly.”
I gave him my best smug know-it-all expression. “I can read you like a book.”
Laughing, he leaned in and rested his head against me again for just a moment before sitting up as the waiter finally came over. In minutes, we’d paid the bill and were on our way back to his place. Luckily, the diner hadn’t been far, so there wasn’t time for him to worry or for things to get awkward before we were pulling into his driveway.
I’d driven and Casey had seemed fine with that on the way over, but on the drive back, he kept glancing over at me, clearly thinking about something. With anyone else I’d have asked about it, maybe teasingly, maybe subtly, but with Casey, I wanted to wait until he brought it up himself.
As we exited the car and headed back into the house, I wasn’t surprised when he led us to the living room. Heading straight into the bedroom would have been too bold for him, even if that had been what he desperately wanted.
From his expression, though, sex wasn’t at the top of his list.
“Um…I…I think…” He finally stopped the odd flow of words and took a deep breath.
Wrapping my arms around him, I held him close and waited until he snuggled into me, the stress easing out of him. When he pulled back, I relaxed my arms but didn’t let him go completely. “Better?”
His gaze dropped to the floor, but he smiled faintly and nodded. “Yes, thank you.”
I watched him struggle through whatever was going through his head for just a few moments longer before he took a deep breath and forced a smile. “I have something to show you. Will you sit on the couch and wait for me?”
“Of course.” Answering him automatically, I kissed his forehead to let him know I was with him no matter what, and I released my hold on him.
As he walked back to his bedroom, I sat down on the couch. Waiting patiently was not my strong suit, but I did my best to look relaxed and calm as I sat there. No matter what he wanted to show me, if I looked stressed that would only make his nerves worse.
Casey wasn’t the type to surprise me with something wicked or silly, so I knew whatever he was thinking about was important to him, but my brain was drawing a blank on potential options. I heard mumbling coming from the bedroom and caught just enough to make me smile. Little bits and pieces of things floated out. I heard him mention me, saying I liked something and then him telling himself not to be ridiculous.
I wanted to go in there and pull him back into my arms. But I’d promised to wait, so I was stuck in the living room until he decided he was ready, or I decided something had gone wrong and he needed his Dom.
Casey’s one-sided conversation finally came to an end and things were quiet for several long seconds. When I heard his footsteps walking toward the living room, relief flooded through me. I was a bit conflicted, though, when I saw the stressed smile on his face. He was clearly trying to make me think he was confident and relaxed, but there was no way I would have fallen for that.
“Are you okay? We don’t have to do anything you’re not ready for.” I felt like I was pointing out something obvious, but he seemed to need the reminder.
“I am.” His smile turned more genuine and the painful-looking grip he had on his tablet relaxed. “Thank you for worrying about me, but it’s fine. I promise.”
Wanting to give him the benefit of the doubt, I nodded and opened my arms. Casey took the invitation and came over. Curling up next to me, he draped his legs over my lap and set his tablet on the coffee table while he rested his head on my shoulder.