Page 33 of Cookie

Ryan

W e made love just before midnight, and when we woke up in the middle of the night we fucked.

He pounded me hard, and I loved every second of it.

My sweet Charlie was a beast in bed, and I was more than happy to give up control when the urge hit him.

“You’re going to kill me,” I groaned and reached for my dick as he pushed my hand away—again.

“Not yet, baby,” he whispered in my ear before biting it.

I was on my hands and knees below him and he leaned over me without slowing.

“I want to feel you as long as I can. I’ll always want you.

Every single moment of every day.” He grunted and I knew he was close but still he kept up the pace, and when he finally gripped my straining dick I fought not to instantly combust. “I love you.”

My body jerked at the sensation as wave after wave of ecstasy washed over me. Charlie slipped his arm around me and gently lowered me to the bed away from where I’d just come. “I love you too,” I managed to pant out.

“Don’t move a muscle,” he said, and I nearly drifted off to sleep before he came back and not only cleaned me up but slipped a new sheet on after pulling the other one off.

“You’re the best,” I said when we once again settled in under the covers. The house was getting colder, but the bed was warm, and I slept through the night in Charlie’s arms.

The weeks flew by after New Year’s Eve as Grace prepared for spring.

The weather was improving, and the snow had started to melt but something was bothering me.

I wanted to spend every night with Charlie, and I wanted to be more than his boyfriend, but I wasn’t sure he wanted that or if he was ready for it.

We were both happy. “Maybe I need to just enjoy what we have,” I mumbled to myself while unpacking an order.

“Everything okay?” Avery asked.

“Yes, just thinking. Avery, I feel like I need to tell you how much I appreciate you working here. I know you’re still in college and working on your degree. This is probably the last place you wanted to end up working. But without you—well I’m not sure I would have made it this far.”

She pulled me in for a hug. “Don’t be silly. I love working here, and I actually wanted to talk to you about that.”

“Please don’t tell me you’re quitting,” I said into her shoulder and held her close before she shoved me away.

“What? No, I was going to ask if I could work a few more hours. I’m not doing summer school, and I’d rather not get another job,” she said, and waited for me to react.

“Are you kidding? I’d love that. We can stay open a while longer and get more done around here,” I said.

“Thank you, Ryan. I wasn’t sure how business was going, and I hoped the holiday sales had helped.”

“It’s doing far better than I expected, and I couldn’t have done it without you and Charlie,” I said and meant every word.

“What were you mumbling about,” she asked and narrowed her eyes.

“It was nothing.”

“Ryan!” She crossed her arms and didn’t let me off the hook.

“Okay. It’s just—I want more with Charlie,” I said and rubbed the back of my head.

“More?”

“More than a boyfriend. The way I feel about him is more than a friend. I love him, and I want him to be my partner in every way,” I said, finally saying the words out loud I’d been thinking for weeks.

“Did you tell him?” she asked and leaned against the counter. “And what do you mean ‘every way’.”

“No. He’s happy, and I don’t want to ruin it.” If I lost Charlie, I’d lose a part of me.

“How would that ruin it?” Avery asked, her eyes filled with concern.

“I’m not talking marriage if that’s what you mean.

Neither of us are ready for that, and I’m not sure we want it.

We’ve all worked hard to get the store going and to keep it going.

Charlie included. If he hadn’t helped me with keeping it warm and the power on during the storms I doubt we’d still be open.

He’s been amazing, and he expects nothing in return. ”

“He has helped a lot. You know he’s that way with everyone. Every single person who lives in Grace knows that Charlie is the one person who will always be there to help,” Avery said.

“I want to ask him if he’ll move into the apartment with me permanently, then maybe we can stay at his cabin on our days off or the weekends. I love it there and I would never want him to give it up, but I want it to be official that we live together and we’re more than just boyfriends dating.”

“What’s the problem then? I’m sure Charlie would love that.”

“I’m not sure. He loves his cabin, and I worry he feels like he’s intruding if he stays here too often.”

“Do you feel like he’s intruding?” One look from me and she was laughing.

“Then tell him. I know you made room for him before but maybe don’t make it so much like his and yours, make it feel like it’s where you both live.

That it’s your home,” she said, and I knew she was right.

Even if I hadn’t done it on purpose, I made it feel like he was a visitor, not part of my home. Our home.

“You’re right. I guess I didn’t think about it before.

” I thought about how I’d literally shoved my clothes aside to give him a few hangers off to the side of the closet and how I’d given him a drawer in the dresser.

He’d made sure he had everything I use at his cabin without me asking and without making a big deal of it.

While he still brought an overnight bag with him when we stayed here, and I didn’t want that.

I wanted him to be able to stay here without having to plan it, and I wanted him to feel like it was his home, not someplace he visited.

“Can you take care of the store for a little while?”

“Go get ’em tiger,” she yelled before laughing and going back to unpacking an order.

I jogged upstairs and rather than just making room for Charlie to have a few things, I cleared out clothes and items I didn’t need.

Then I got busy online ordering things I knew he enjoyed at his cabin, but he didn’t have here.

One of them was a recliner for the living room.

I ordered the toothpaste and the same toothbrush, bodywash, and facewash he had at the cabin then I realized I could buy all of it at the local supermarket.

“No time like the present,” I said as I stomped down the stairs and ran right into Charlie.

“Babe, what’s going on?” he asked before kissing me.

“I’ll tell you later, right now I need to go to the supermarket,” I said and slipped my jacket on. “Care to join me?”

“Anytime, and anywhere,” he said and the two of us hurried out the door.