Chapter 14

“I didn’t realize we were.”

“Just shut up and kiss me.” His playfulness was innocent and frisky, as he glided his hand down my boxers, curling his warm fingers around the elastic waistband, teasing and arousing my favorite places.

* * * *

“I’ve got too many scars to count,” Dave said an hour later, as we lay naked under the sheets, our legs and feet brushing each other’s.

“We all do,” I said, reiterating our conversation from the restaurant earlier that morning.

At the end of the show, Dave asked me what the future held for us. Part of him sounded cynical, that he wasn’t certain what lay ahead for us, or even an hour from now, that the doubt had retuned. The other part came in the form of lovemaking, a gesture of spontaneity and hopefulness.

“I thought we were going to take things one day at a time,” I said.

“I wasn’t sure if there was going to be a next time.”

I pulled myself up in bed, and turned to him, trailing my fingers through the damp blond curls of his chest hair.