Page 4

CHAPTER 4

Cory

“What if we didn’t order room service?” Reese said. “What if I took you to Santa Monica to this little place that sells nearly orgasmic-level breakfast burritos?” Reese dragged his knowing gaze through my soul. “Do you ever explore the cities you visit?”

“Sure. Sometimes I end up in little bars with hot bartenders and subpar whiskey.”

He made a sound that might have been disapproval.

“Sometimes the job calls for a bit of sight-seeing. But I don’t usually plan to have time just for personal explorations, no.”

“Okay, get up,” Reese said as he kicked the covers off and climbed out of bed. He stepped into the pants he’d worn yesterday and pulled them up. “We’re going for breakfast.”

If it wouldn’t have sent him reeling, I might have tossed out a yes, sir,” but Reese was the most settled I’d seen him since we met and I wanted to see more of that side of him. I wanted to see the city he lived in through his eyes.

Thirty minutes later, Reese parked his car in Santa Monica and I fell into step beside him as he led the way to what he told me was his favorite place to get breakfast. He seemed to have an affinity for small spaces. First his studio, then his favorite restaurant, which was little more than a hut, but when I realized that most people got their food to go and headed in the direction of the water, it made more sense.

“It smells different in LA,” I said to him after he’d ordered our food.

Reese looked at me, sunglasses hiding his eyes from me, but I saw the way his lips twitched. “Is that so?”

“Yeah. It’s less like hotdogs and traffic fumes and more like the ocean.”

“There’s definitely worse places to live.” Reese paid for our breakfast, collected the burritos, and steered us away from the line of people waiting behind us. He passed me one of the burritos and I tore the wrapper open the way he did so it still covered the bottom half.

The first bite made me let out an almost embarrassingly loud moan. Reese laughed at me and gently bumped his shoulder against mine as we walked.

“Told you they were good.”

“Are these even legal? They don’t taste like they should be legal. These are amazing,” I said after swallowing the first bite and before going in for the second, much larger bite.

“Where’s your favorite place to eat in New York?”

I cut him a bit of side eye. “You’re going to laugh at me.”

He made an x motion over his chest. “Cross my heart.”

“There’s a Chili’s near my apartment and I always see the most unhinged shit there. The food is decent, the drinks aren’t bad, but it’s the absolutely wild clientele that keeps me going back.”

“You’re lying.”

I shrugged. “What can I say? I like to watch.”

The direction Reese had been leading me in took us to the water. I smelled the ocean before I heard it, and I heard it before I saw it. Stretching out before me was an endless expanse of blue, dotted with distant boats and a few people braving the waves.

Reese and I sat down in a comfortable silence to finish our burritos. When I was done, I crushed my wrapper into a ball and held on to it to throw it away later.

“Tell me something that I don’t know about you, Reese,” I said.

“There’s a lot to choose from. Is there a specific topic you’re curious about?”

I slid my gaze over to his. “I’m curious about you. I don’t care what you share. I just want to know something about you that I can’t learn in bed.”

He was quiet for a minute as he contemplated, then, with the hint of a smile, he told me.

“I hate the beach.”

A laugh erupted out of me, sharp and surprised. “So you brought me to the beach?”

He shrugged and balled up his wrapper like I’d done to mine. “I hate the beach, but you might not. Besides, don’t most people want to, like, dip their toes into both oceans or whatever.”

“I’m not most people.”

The look Reese gave me sent a thrill through me.

“No. I suppose you’re not.”

I let the moment hang between us for a few beats. Let it swell until it threatened to become too heavy. Then I smiled at him.

“Did you want to take your shoes off and go for a walk in the sand?”

Reese curled his lip in disgust. “I promise I’m fine. But you can go right ahead if you want. I’ll wait here.”

“So much for romance.” I pretended to sigh. “So, what’s the next stop on the tour?”

“The tour?”

“Well, you took me to your favorite breakfast place. You brought me to the beach, which you don’t even like. So now it’s your turn to take me some place you do like, and when we’re done, you can take me to another place you hate, but think I should experience at least once.”

“That’s generally not how tours work.”

“Our tour. Our rules. Right?” I got to my feet and waited for Reese’s response.

He shook his head, but smiled, and stood.

“Right.” He motioned a hand in the direction he wanted me to go. “Our rules.”