Page 48 of Bean
“If that’s too late, you can borrow some pants from me as well,” Jarek offered. “Or…”
I quirked an eyebrow. “Or…?”
“Or you could spend the night here.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Isn’t that…?”
“Against the rules? You’re awfully hung up on rules, sunshine.”
I let out a sigh. “Yeah, but with reasons. In the Army, rules kept us alive, and if that dipshit who caused the accident that injured me had followed them, I wouldn’t be in this position.”
Jarek’s eyes widened. “I’ve never heard you use a word like that before.”
Of course he’d noticed. “That’s because I don’t curse…except when I’m with the others.”
“And by the others, you mean Nash and…”
I was touched that he remembered Nash’s name. “Tameron and Creek. You met Creek’s boyfriend at the beach, Heath.”
“The surfer.”
He deserved points for not saying “the surfer with one leg” or something similar, which most people would’ve probably blurted out without thinking. “Yep.”
“So why do you curse with them and not anywhere else?”
“Because my father beat me with his belt when he heard me curse as a teenager, and after that, I never did it again. I can’t, and I mean physically can’t. Somehow, with the others, that barrier has disappeared. Maybe because they literally drop the F-bomb in every other sentence, so I’ve become desensitized. But anywhere else, I can’t. The only reason I said it now is because that’s what Creek always calls him. The dipshit who caused the accident. Though, he didn’t start calling it an accident until recently because he blamed the guy. Not without reason, but it took him a while to move past that.”
Jarek had an expressive face. While I talked, emotions flashed over his face, ranging from shock at my father beating me to compassion and now understanding. “I’m sorry,” he said.
“For what?”
“For all of it. Parents should never hit their kids with a belt. That guy should’ve done his job, and you shouldn’t have this injury.”
I couldn’t disagree. “I try not to dwell on it too much. Bitterness is right around the corner, and I don’t want to be that person.”
“You said that before, and?—”
“Sorry. I tend to repeat myself because I don’t remember.”
“—and I think that’s a very powerful statement. I think a lot of people would have been bitter had they been in your shoes, and the fact that you’re so dead set against it speaks to your character.”
Oh, he hadn’t meant it as criticism then. “Thank you.”
“But let’s get back to the original topic, where I cordially invited you to spend the night in my humble abode.”
I snorted. Jarek had such a dry sense of humor. “In your humble abode or in your bed?”
“Either, but preferably the latter?”
“I agree. The latter is much more appealing.”
He stepped closer, a smile playing on his lips. “Yeah?”
I nodded. “It’s not on my list, but it should have been. I’ve never shared a bed with another man.”
He cupped my cheek and brushed a featherlight kiss over my lips. “I’m honored to be your first.”
I fired off a quick text to Nash.