Page 100 of The Aster Valley Collection, Vol. 2

BJ

I expected Dallas to take me home the next morning, but he surprised me.

“Would it be okay if you stayed here an extra day?” he asked while keeping himself busy cracking eggs into a bowl.

He wore nothing but pajama pants, because he really did “run hot,” and the way my eyes kept straying to his muscular naked chest was making me run hot, too.

“Only, I have the day off, and I thought… we could hang out.”

He’d helped me limp into the kitchen and perch on a stool at the counter with my leg propped on the stool next to mine. Thankfully, I felt noticeably better today and like I could get by on over-the-counter pain meds instead of the heavier stuff.

“I don’t want to put you out,” I said. “But, um, yeah? I mean, if you want? I’d rather hang out with you than be alone.” The last thing I wanted to do was dwell on my own foolishness this past week, never mind face the looming reality about my job situation.

Besides which, Dallas’s presence was simply…

comforting. He was a great listener. He had an amazing sense of humor.

And he watched me in a way that wasn’t quite “I wanna dick you down” but wasn’t “I want to assess your vital signs” either.

It made me feel protected and cosseted and cared for. Noticed .

Despite my resolution to swear off men and begin focusing on other things, I couldn’t help but want more.

Dallas looked up at me with a big smile. “Great. Same. I wanted to ask you more about your yoga classes, too.”

He grabbed a whisk and beat the eggs with quiet competence. My gaze locked on his big, strong fingers, and I shivered, remembering the night before and how he’d clasped my hand in his before he’d pressed it to his lips.

I couldn’t help wanting more of that either.

I cleared my throat. “Yes. Sure. Yoga classes. How can I help?”

“I haven’t been able to find a place here in Aster Valley that has what I want, and I thought maybe you knew of some online classes I could check out.”

My heartbeat ramped up. “I teach online classes.”

Dallas’s eyes widened. “No way. You’ll have to share a link so I can check them out.”

As he cooked breakfast, I told him about SocialAdrenaline and the content creation I did outside of my day job. He asked a ton of questions, and as soon as he moved us to the table to eat, he pulled out his phone to look it up.

“This looks amazing. I’ve heard of the app, but I didn’t realize it had yoga content.”

I told him about meeting Rocco in the content creator forum and how the forum had been invaluable for helping me launch my SocialAdrenaline platform.

“You have a bunch of followers, BJ. Could you do it full-time?” he asked. “Replace your income from the resort, I mean?”

I admitted that I’d been thinking about it but would need to run the numbers and make an actual business plan.

Dallas’s eyes lit up. “Can I help? We can do it today if you want. I helped my friend Jamie do the same for his freelance writing business a few months ago. I have a finance degree with a minor in entrepreneurship from CSU. I think I’d go crazy stuck inside every day at a corporate job, but I love tackling this kind of thing for fun. ”

I looked at him like he was crazy. “For fun? That side of things intimidates the hell out of me. I never went to college or anything. For me, it’s all about the yoga. Helping people feel better.”

Dallas reached over and squeezed my arm.

“That’s why it’s better doing it with friends.

I don’t have the creative, social side of things.

So if you bring that to the table and I bring the analytic money stuff…

we’ll make a good team.” His cheeks turned pink as if the thought of us partnering together for this business planning was somehow intimate.

Over the course of the day, though, I quickly learned it was intimate.

Sharing my personal financial details with him—like income, expenses, debt, and retirement plans—was nerve-racking, not to mention sharing my goals for the future, but he was supersweet during the whole thing and helped enter the information into a massive spreadsheet on his laptop.

The day before, I’d teased him about acting like he knew me well, but it almost felt like he did.

He asked insightful questions, and we brainstormed ideas.

I showed him through the app itself and the process of creating a content segment from start to finish.

As soon as I mentioned some of the other ways SocialAdrenaline content creators monetized their content, he got even more excited and added tabs to his master spreadsheet.

Time passed quickly. We alternated periods of laughter and teasing with focus and determination.

When I noticed him massaging his traps, I showed him some stretches I’d found helpful and corrected his form.

Whenever I got uncomfortable sitting in one spot, he quickly noticed and helped me move somewhere else for a while.

Which was how we ended up both sitting on my bed in the late afternoon.

The sun slanted in through the bedroom window and laid golden stripes across his face and hair.

I’d already acknowledged to myself he was a beautiful bear of a man, someone I’d love to have a crush on if I hadn’t given up men in a huff before yesterday’s accident.

But watching him here now while he laughed with me, cared for me, and helped me plan my future was like seeing the promise of something incredible just out of my reach. Dallas was too good to be true. He was kind and attentive, caring and funny. He was smart and thoughtful and sexy as hell.

Men like that never wanted someone like me for more than a fuck.

“Your eyes are closing,” Dallas said with a soft laugh. “I think you need a break.”

“No. I’m enjoying this. It’s exciting. Well, it will be once I find a cheaper place to live than Jackson Hole, at least.”

It was true. In all the forecasting Dallas had done for me, it had become apparent I needed to move out of the expensive area where I currently lived.

“You could move here,” he suggested, shifting around to make sure my leg was still propped up comfortably. “It’s much more affordable than Park City was, so I’m sure it would be more affordable than Jackson.”

His suggestion sent bubbles of happiness and acceptance through me. Knowing I’d have a friend in him if I moved here was comforting. I already knew I liked the vibe of Aster Valley, and it had many of the same things I loved about Jackson.

“Stay with me if I fall asleep?” I murmured, not wanting him to leave even if I lost the battle to stay awake. Had I been more lucid, I might have been too hesitant to ask, but I was just sleepy enough to let my guard down.

“If you’re sure,” he said. I felt the bed move as he found a more comfortable position next to me. He was careful not to knock my injured leg, but because we were in a small double bed and he was a big, broad guy, he still moved against me.

Once he settled down, I rolled a little bit onto my side and blinked my eyes open to face him. “Thank you for being so damn nice to me. You’re a good friend.”

Dallas reached out and used his fingertip to brush a wrinkle in the pillowcase away from my eye. “You’re easy company,” he said softly. “I really like getting to know you. I… I’d like to keep getting to know you.”

He moved his fingertip across my cheek and along my jawline while I couldn’t do more than stare at him in disbelief. Was he attracted to me? Could this be real?

“Same,” I admitted.

We stayed like that for a long time, staring into each other’s eyes while Dallas’s fingers drew lazy lines across my skin.

I fought to keep my eyes open, to enjoy every second of his attention, but I must have fallen asleep at some point because I awoke later when the light had turned from golden to a deeper amber color.

Dallas was still next to me, but we’d ended up with my head resting on his shoulder and his arm wrapped around me.

He smelled amazing and felt warm and strong.

He was awake and scrolling through his phone, and it took me a minute to realize he was watching my yoga videos on the SocialAdrenaline app.

He must have sensed my surprise because he turned to me with a sheepish grin. “Sorry, but I can’t stop watching. You’re magnetic. You have this incredible way of welcoming your students with humor and grace and seamlessly transitioning into a more serious, calming focus for the class itself.”

His words went straight to my heart. I took a lot of pride in my work, and hearing him praise it was a gift. “Thanks,” I said, sounding a little groggy from the sleep.

Dallas shifted again so I could see him without craning my neck. “BJ… I don’t understand how it’s possible you’re single.”

I snorted out a laugh without thinking. “It’s not for lack of trying, I promise.”

The look on Dallas’s face was tender and sweet. “Maybe you’ve been trying with the wrong people,” he said softly. “What if you tried with m?—?”

Before he could finish, I lurched up and kissed him. It wasn’t pretty or dignified at all, but from the way his arm tightened like a firm band around my back, I didn’t think he minded much.

We kissed hungrily for a long time. Dallas’s large body felt amazing under me until he recalled my injury.

“Shit, fuck. Babe, is your knee hurting?”

The little crease of concern in his forehead was everything to me. “It’s okay. Mostly hurts if I bend it a certain way.”

He caressed the side of my face. “You’re sexy as hell. I want to strip you down and fuck you so badly. I’m having a hard time holding back.”

I nodded stupidly. “Same.”

Dallas’s grin widened. “Same like you want to fuck me or same like you want me to fuck you? Either way is fine as long as it doesn’t hurt your knee.”

I bit my lip against a laugh and shook my head. “I don’t care which. I just want to be naked and share an orgasm with you. But if I had to choose, I’d choose to bottom.”

“Perfect.”

Dallas leaned in to kiss me again, gently pushing me onto my back and murmuring a command for me to stay there and not exert myself.

He proceeded to pull my clothes off piece by piece, dropping openmouthed kisses along revealed skin until I was covered in goose bumps and begging him to suck me or fuck me.

“Patience,” he teased.

“I’m fresh out,” I said on a gasp as he brushed his fingers over my sac. When I tried to arch up into his touch, he held my hips down.

“Stay still.” His easy laughter made me grin. Being here like this with him was so much fun. I couldn’t remember feeling this comfortable with someone in bed in a very long time.

He continued to toy with me: touching, tasting, and teasing until I was hard as fuck and precum dripped from my cock to my stomach.

“Dallas,” I begged again. “Make me come. Please make me come.”

He moved down, sucking and biting from my chest to my stomach and below until taking my dick in his hot mouth. I arched up again with a muffled shout. I brought my arm across my face to scream into it, not knowing how he’d feel about me screaming the house down.

From the heated look in his eyes as they met mine, I realized quickly he wouldn’t mind.

The tight, wet dance of his tongue around my shaft was enough to push me over the edge. Thankfully, he was stroking himself off while sucking me, so he came a few strokes after I did, shouting his own release into the room.

The sight of him, large and strong above me, skin damp from sweat and blotchy red from desire, was enough to make me suck in a breath of shock.

This beautiful man wanted to get to know me better, to date me. Me .

I closed my eyes to savor this moment.

“Babe?” he asked gently. “You good?”

I opened my eyes and grinned at him. “I would be, but you cheated me out of a full fuck.”

He laughed and plopped down on the bed beside me, propping his head up on his hand. “Who said we were done? We’re not done. Besides, you were the one who couldn’t hold it.”

I turned to him and pressed a kiss to his smooth chest, savoring the salty taste of him. “I’m lucky I held off as long as I did,” I admitted with a yawn. Despite my long nap, I was tired again… but in the best possible way.

“You know, we don’t have to get to everything today.” Dallas ran his fingers through my hair. When he spoke, his voice had lost its teasing tone. “I was serious before. I want you to stay.”

I leaned back again to meet his eye. “Stay in Aster Valley?”

He took a deep breath. “Yes, but also… stay with me? I was planning on having a roommate when I budgeted for this place, but then my friend bailed and decided to stay in Park City. I know it sounds crazy but…”

I knew better than to jump into things this fast. I’d been burned a million times before by stupid spontaneity. Most recently, yesterday , after kissing all the Grindr frogs in Aster Valley looking for a guy who probably didn’t exist.

When I hesitated, Dallas rushed to reassure me.

“It’s okay. You don’t need to say yes. And even if you’re tempted but you need more time to think about it, that’s okay, too.

I don’t want to rush you or pressure you.

I just… I really like you, and I feel like we’d make good roommates even if…

other things didn’t work out between us. ”

It all sounded so rational when that was the very opposite of how I felt.

I felt excited and wild, nervous and hopeful.

No matter what I’d sworn to myself the day before, I didn’t know how to make myself turn down a chance to be with someone as amazing as Dallas.

He was everything I’d told Rocco I wanted.

But I was also way more invested than I should be, and if things didn’t work out, it would crush me far worse than losing my job or even letting go of my silly daydream about To-Do List Guy.

So I played it cool.

For two whole days.