Page 203 of Buy Back My Love

“You told me go shower.”

“Yes, but damn.”

He laughed and disappeared into the bathroom.

The second I heard the shower turn on, all the confidence I’d had twenty minutes ago disappeared too. What the hell was I nervous for?

I was really about to have sex with Van. The same man whose dog had knocked me flat on my back the first time I met him, who I had insisted was just my friend, then blocked because he went on a Valentine’s date. Somewhere along the way, he had become my son’s goddaddy and my boyfriend, and now he was about to become only the second man I had ever had sex with.

That was the part making my nerves act stupid.

Van knew JB had been my only sexual partner. I’d told him that way back when we were barely friends, before either one of us knew we would end up here. Still, knowing he knew wasn’t helping.

When the shower cut off, I almost reached for my pajamas. Instead, I took the robe off and sat against the headboard.

Van came out a few minutes later with a towel wrapped around his waist, rubbing another one over his head. He made it two steps into the bedroom before he stopped and slowly lowered the towel.

“Damn.”

His eyes moved over me, and I let him look.

“You like it?”

Van tossed the towel he’d been using into the hamper. “Come on, Lee.”

“That ain’t an answer.”

“Yes.” He walked closer to the bed. “I like it.”

“How much?”

He laughed. “You fishing now.”

“I asked a question.”

“I like it enough that you need to tell me what all this is before I get in that bed.”

That wasn’t what I expected.

I sat up a little straighter. “What you mean?”

“You sent Myles away. Got food. Put this on.” He gestured toward me. “What’s going on?”

I shrugged. “I wanted to do something for you.”

“For what?”

“For everything.”

Van’s face changed, and I already knew he wasn’t about to let that answer slide.

“For everything what?”

I sighed. “For helping me with Myles. For getting up with him. Coming home and taking him when I’m tired. Moving us in here. Just… everything.”

He stood there looking at me.

“What?”