“It was the party box that was designed to feed a family of ten for a week.” Not-Henry couldn’t seem to control his eyes or his exaggerations. “You ended up searching online doctor sites to see if overeating junk food could kill you.”
“I think those had that weird fake sugar stuff that gives everyone a stomach ache.” Regular cookies didn’t try to kill you.
“Keep telling yourself that and I’ll keep monitoring what you’re eating.” He seemed like he was getting stubborn but he distracted himself as he got a small duffel bag out of his trunk. “You think I’m watching you close now. Just wait and see.”
“The only way you can get closer is that bathroom mirror or you moving in with me.” I shrugged when he pressed his lips together so he wouldn’t laugh. “I’m not worried.”
My apartment didn’t have enough space for all his weird computer stuff and he knew it. Somehow just in his car there seemed to be extra computer gadgets in the dashboard, so I could only guess how much he had in his house.
Apartment?
“What kind of building do you live in?” Not-Henry was very private, so I was open to him telling me he wouldn’t answer yet.
“I own a house on the other side of town. Over near the park, not the warehouse district where we were earlier.” His answer made me realize I needed to look up on the map where the club was because I had no idea where we’d ended up.
“Okay.” As he closed the trunk and took my hand again, he gave me a curious look. “I was just talking to myself and realized I didn’t know if you lived in an apartment or had something else. So I was curious.”
He gave a half shrug as we started toward the building and headed inside. “Anything else you’re curious about? If I’m going to keep watching out for you and dating you, it’s reasonable that you get to ask things about me.”
That seemed like a lot of responsibility.
“I’m kind of worried that you’ll answer me if I ask something, so I’m good for the time being.” My honest response got a smile from him as we headed up the stairs. “I know lots of important stuff and I’ll figure out more as we go along.”
“Sounds reasonable.” Not-Henry let me swing his hand as we finally made it to my apartment. “It’s also reasonable to be curious, so we’re not going to overthink it.”
There was no way I was going to agree to that.
“Do you want dessert or a tour?” What was our plan? “Are we going to watch a movie and pretend to take things slow?”
Ha. I found questions that I needed to ask.
Before I could point that out to Not-Henry, he had me pinned against the door and my squeak got a wicked smirk from him as his eyes sparkled. “I know what you’ve got in your kitchen and there’s no way you have dessert. I also know every inch of your apartment, Shelby boy. So I think I’m going to jump right to playing with my favorite toy.”
Me.
Yay.
My sigh got a devilish grin from him and sent a shiver through me. “Oh, Shelby boy, were you really afraid I’d be romantic and take thing slow?”
“Kind of?” People were just really annoying. “I wasn’t sure if you’d change your mind after dinner and doing date things.”
“Typical date things, you mean?” Not-Henry looked understanding when I nodded. “We’re not typical people. I’m not going to go back and forth about what I want or make you guess what I mean. I’m not going to go hot and cold on you or tell you that you’re weird for wanting to be tied up.”
Because he was Not-Henry and he was different.
“I…I might need a few more reminders of that.” It was hard. “Not to be a pain in the ass or anything but…but I’m not used to getting what I need in a relationship.”
“They just want to ignore you until it’s time for a quicky or slow vanilla sex and then they want to put you back on the shelf until they’re ready to play again.” Not-Henry kissed my forehead when I nodded. “You’re not that kind of toy. You need attention and to be watched over and played with on a regular basis.”
I didn’t think that was hard to figure out but I’d been given so muchspacein relationships I’d started to worry I didn’t know what that word meant.
“But…but you’ll tell me if that gets annoying?” I wasn’t sure why it drove people nuts but I knew it did.
“Most of the people I know or watch closely started dating their mate and moved in with them the same month they met.” Not-Henry shrugged when I gave a quick laugh. “So we’re actually going slow compared to what seems to be normal.”
I liked his definition of normal.
“Do you think I’m your mate?” That was true keeping-me talk right there…and old-fashioned enough that it had me wondering if there were spicy books where becoming mates was a big part of the story.
