My eyes roll back. “Always such a dork.”
He leans forward and presses a kiss to my forehead. “Yeah, but I’myourdork.”
He points that dreamy, dimpled smile at me before slowly easing out of me, leaving my pussy aching for his fullness again. That’s not what makes my heart flutter though. It’s the way he so casually said he’s mine. I’m not the possessive type, but I don’t think I ever want to let go of him.
I love how he looks at me. I love how he’s genuine with me and listens to me. I know he wants to do more for me, but he tries to leave space for me to be me, managing to toe the perfect line of wanting to do nice things for me while still respecting my boundaries of wanting to earn my own way.
I’m starting to realize that I don’t justlikehim. I’m starting to think that when it comes to Sutton Sterling, maybe doing something selfish, something just for me, is what I want—what I need.
If doing something for myself for a change means having more moments like this—with him—then maybe I do need to stop being so stubborn about being self-reliant, because that’s what I did with him. Right now, there’s a very real chance that my feelings for him are much stronger than justlikinghim.
I nod, not bothering to hide the smile spreading across my face. “Yeah, I guess you are. Let’s eat.”
Sitting next to Sutton,I curl into his side and soak up his warmth like I’ve soaked up the sun in this spot so many times. Beneath us, I recognize the soft plaid blanket as the one normally draped over the arm of his couch. It feels like hebrought a piece of his home on our hike, and I love it, even if it reminds me of the whole apartment situation.
Despite his good intentions, my instincts and my stubborn self-reliant nature tell me not to accept his offer. I don’t want to complicate things with Sutton, even if he will go out of his way to make everything simple and easy.
After everything we’ve cleared up between us, I have a new perspective of him, and I know he never expects anything in return from anyone. He does things out of the goodness of his heart. That’s just who he is.
Things are so good between us right now and I’m cautiously optimistic that this could be something special just like he said. If the night we met and the morning after taught me anything though, it’s that we should probably talk about this and avoid another miscommunication.
Just not right now… I want to savor this day with him.
I grab another handful of the homemade sour cream and onion potato chips and pop one into my mouth. When he said he made them himself, I thought that was overkill but after the first bite I knew I was wrong. They are so freaking good and I’m starting to wonder if a food item exists that he can’t make.
“I love this spot. There are so many trails here, but this one just keeps calling to me. I don’t know. Something about this spot feels like home. ”
“You’re joking right? This ismyspot. I’ve been coming here for years. How didyoufind it?”
He winks at me before his eyes go to the horizon. “After I walked the creek trail so many times, I started venturing off. As much as I loved hiking back in Sterling Springs, none of those places were quite like this.”
That’s not the first time I’ve noticed him say New Mexico or Sterling Springs instead of ‘home’ today. Maybe I'm readingtoo much into something that’s not there, but I like the way he talks about Jackson like it’s his home.
It reminds me of all the local touches in his apartment. Maybe he does actually consider Jackson his home now, and that bodes well for the two of us having a real future together. I try to keep my mind from spiraling and instead just focus on the way he’s looking at me.
“It really is a special place.” I smile back at him. “I’ve always loved it, even if the town and the people living here have changed so much in the last twenty years.”
He huffs a laugh and shakes his head.
I arch a brow at him. “How’s that funny?” I toss a chip at him and it bounces off his forehead.
“It’s not funny, it’s just interesting. In Sterling Springs, they have the opposite problem, but the same end result.” I try not to get hung up on how he still distances himself from his hometown. “Here you’re getting priced out because everyone wants a slice of this heaven. Back there, they need people and jobs. The mine that the town was built around mostly dried up. There was a ski resort, but it closed for a host of reasons. Over time, the town shrank and people are having to leave to find work. Most of the people left are farmers on the outskirts of town and the few locals that stuck around. In the end though, it’s just like it is here—people can’t afford to live where they’re from. So I get struggling to stay in your hometown.”
I never considered the alternative. As much as I’ve thought about everything here being too expensive and harder and harder for locals to afford, at least our town still exists.
I pop another chip in my mouth contemplating that when another wave of flavor hits me. I close my eyes and I’m not even embarrassed that I moan a little.
Sutton laughs and I shoot him a glare. “OK, seriously, why are these so good?”
He looks at me with a sheepish grin. I immediately recognize it as the proud one that reminds me of the night we met, when he was showing me the pictures of food on his phone that I was worried would be dick pics. “Let’s see… I used local organic potatoes, from the other side of the pass in Idaho, and cut them to just the perfect thickness. That helps a lot, but really it’s the duck fat I saved from the restaurant that I fried them in. That makes them so damn delicious.”
“That’s it?” I tease. “You say that like it’s so simple.”
He shrugs and holds up his thumb and forefinger. “I might have added a teensy bit of truffle oil too, just for a little razzle dazzle.”
I eat another chip and damnit, there it is. Even something as simple as potato chips are a culinary adventure when he wants to make it one. He has every right to be proud, he’s earned his reputation.
“That’s why you’re going to earn a star one day.” I grab the half-sized bottle of Champagne he also brought and take a sip straight from it. His eyes linger on my lips, making my skin heat, and my tongue darts over them to catch a stray drop of the bubbly drink. “So, is food why you left New Mexico?”