Page 43 of Structure of Love

“So let’s ride. We can hop on the road, get some sun and wind in, then come back around for lunch before I head to work.”

“Sounds like a plan, let’s do it. Helmet?”

“I have one for you.”

The back of Logan’s bike had a small compartment with an extra helmet, which I promptly put on, and then I slung a leg over the bike to snug up against his back. And I did meansnugup against his back. My hips might have slipped free of my control for a minute, and I ground against his ass for a second.

Logan turned his head and growled out, “Do that again and we’re not making it to the road.”

A zing raced up my spine. Damn, I liked him dominant and growly. It was a turn-on. The brat in me was tempted to do it again. Like, very tempted. I toyed with giving in to the lust that had been building in my system since I met this man.

Control, control, BEHAVE, control, control.

If I weren’t petrified of going too fast and screwing us up, I’d have been off the bike in a heartbeat, dragging him inside. Or at least inside the garage with him still on the bike so I could live out the fantasy in my head.

“I can behave.” I hoped to god I could and that I hadn’t just lied.

Logan chuckled, more felt than heard as his back jerked. “Uh-huh.”

He didn’t believe me either, which was fair. I almost didn’t believe me.

“Keep your arms tight around me,” he instructed.

I wrapped both arms around his waist, happy to comply. He felt warm and smelled like wind and sun already, just from his ride here. In a word, he smelled delicious.

I needed to schedule more dates, get to that tenth one sooner rather than later. I genuinely didn’t know how much longer I could hold out. I had a feeling this bike ride would tap into fantasies and cut my willpower down to bare bones.

14

Gage

I was back at the Lafferty house today not only to oversee demo, but also because I needed to see things without walls getting in my way. What I wouldn’t give for X-ray vision. I didn’t want the responsibility of being a superhero, understand, just the X-ray vision.

After our walk-through last week, we knew the house had some interesting issues. Like a certain set of stairs being built on top of the sump pump. Still marveling over that one. Cohen had walked the owners through said issues and they’d been equally horrified, so they’d not had any clue someone had done that. We did learn who, though—a second cousin had offered to save them a few bucks and knock things out for them.

Cohen spotted me as I pulled into the driveway and gave me a once-over. “I didn’t get a chance to ask you after the morning meeting yesterday, but how was your weekend?”

“Fabulous, why?” Then it clicked. “Oh, you’re wondering how things are going with Logan. Amazingly well. Logan picked me up for an impromptu date, took me for a ride on his bike, whichwas very fun. Something about having the wind in your hair is a blast, too. I wish I’d bought a bike before now.”

“So things are still going really well with him?”

“It’s beyond going well. I’ve never dated like this. Usually things start going wrong at this point.” The topic abruptly became heavier, weightier, and it felt a little scary to talk about my relationship. “Not going to lie, I feel like I’m starting to invest myself in this man. I seriously like him. Like, I scheme up ways to spend more time with him.”

“Ah-ha,” Cohen murmured, his expression one of complete understanding. “That stage, eh? So on a scale of one to ten, one being you’re texting him throughout the day, ten being you’re making up playlists for just him, where are you?”

“One playlist? I have, like, four.”

Cohen barked a laugh, delighted. “You’re absolutely gone on this man.”

I ticked things off on my fingers. “He’s responsible. He actually cleans up after himself. His EQ is through the roof. He’s seriously one of the best listeners I’ve ever met, much less dated. He’s very loyal to people. Kissing him has become one of my greatest pleasures in life. Yeah, I’m pretty sold.”

“And you’re still waiting on sex?”

“Well…yeah.”

Cohen’s eyes swept my face, like he was looking for something. Maybe finding it. “Gage. Have you considered that the reason you’re holding out on sex is not because you feel sex will ruin things, but because at the heart of the matter, you’re still learning how to fully trust him?”

I opened my mouth with a protest. Thought about it. Snapped my mouth shut. Fuck. How did Cohen have this ability to put his finger directly on the problem? He did this with Asher, too.