"Have a good long weekend, Willow," my coworker calls.
"Planning on it," I call over my shoulder. "Four days on the lake. It will be great. See you when I'm tan."
The short walk to the apartment is uneventful for which I'm thankful. Despite working a short shift today, working doubles for three weeks straight to afford this small vacation has exhaustion settling deep in my body. Tossing my keys on table beside the door, I drop my bag to the floor. Noticing my roommates bag tucked beside the couch, I sigh. "There goes my carefree life," I mutter. "Gulak, I'm home," I call. "Make sure you have pants on."
"Not a problem," he chuckles from the kitchen.
"I didn't expect you to be home."
"Why not," he glances over from what he was cooking.
"You know," I shrug, pulling myself up to sit on the counter. "You're hardly ever home."
"That isn't a chair," he admonishes.
"Well you don't have to worry about me disturbing your orderly life," I sigh sliding off the counter. "I'm going to be gone all weekend. The place will be yours once I grab my things."
"That's why I'm home," he states with his back to me. "You invited me to the lake with you."
"Oh," I squeak.
"It was just something in passing a few months ago. I didn't know if you were serious or not but…"
"It's fine," I interrupt. "I'm sorry. Didn't mean to interrupt. Impolite," I duck my head. "But it's fine. I just didn't remember and I didn't think it would be something you would be into. There is a bed and a couch, we can switch off."
"It's something I wouldn't be into because why? Because I'm so uptight? I don't know how to have fun?" His voice takes on a growly tone that settles into my belly.
"That's not what I said," I state softly. "You train so hard to stay at the top of your game for your work. I understand that. Four days of nothing just didn't seem like something that would fit into your schedule. I'm planning on being on the road in a couple hours. I'll meet you out here then."
Turning, I scurry to my room, shutting the door softly behind me before leaning against it. That voice had done something to me that took me by surprise. My roommate had never been someone I would take a second glance at on the street. Not that he wasn't an attractive man, it was that the man rarely smiled. Always a serious look gracing his face. But that growl had almost made my knees buckle. Shaking my head, I push off the door to start packing.
X
The two-hour ride to the cabin was silent. Drew sticking in his earbuds as soon as he settles into the passenger seat. There is something else beneath his usual serious face. What that is I cannot determine despite catching myself studying him off and on throughout the trip, glancing over at him often as I drive. Drew carrying both our bags in silently. I stop him just inside the cabin door. "I changed my mind. I'll take the couch the whole trip. It's my way of apologizing. I didn't not mean to offend you earlier," I state, taking my bag from his hand. "I don't plan on staying in bed too long anyway. Not when the weather is supposed to be so nice." Tucking my bag against the side of the couch, I motion across the room to the closed door. "The bedroom is over there and the kitchen is through the swinging doors there. Bathroom is through that door there," I motion to the door tucked beside the fireplace on the wall opposite the kitchen. "If you don't mind, I would like to use it first to clean up and change. Then I will be out of your hair for a while. I'll stay down in the lake."
He nods silently and I slip through the door, bikini in hand. He is still in the bedroom when I emerge so I grab my sunscreen and head down the small path towards the small dock assigned to our cabin.
The late afternoon sun feels great on my skin as I lay in the inner tube tied to the dock, as I doze.
"Do you need someone to apply sunscreen to your back," Drew asks quietly.
"I don't know that I'll have the sun much longer. Thank you for your offer."
"Why do you do that?"
I open my eyes beneath my sunglasses to study him as he sits on the edge of the dock, feet in water. "Do what exactly?"
"You turn into a different person around me. A meek, polite thing that is afraid to put a toe out of place. I've seen you outside of the apartment when you think I'm not around. You are a bold woman, Willow. Never backing down when you think you're right. Only to me."
"I annoy you. You shouldn't be annoyed in your own home."
"Why would you think that?"
"You are organized and serious. You spend your time directly after returning home picking up the mess that seems to follow me around. My bag from the floor and stored away in the hall closet. The multitude of shoes that I leave wherever I decide to kick them off. The dishes I wash and leave to dry for days at a time in the rack. I'm quiet because you spend your time at work with thousands of screaming fans, you need your peace. If I could afford somewhere by myself, I would leave the apartment to you. You pay the majority of the bills and you aren't even there. The least I could do is be a good roommate while you are home."
"You are very considerate. I'm sorry you think you must temper yourself for my benefit. We need groceries. The kitchen is bare. Would you mind if I borrowed your car?"
"Sure. My keys are on the table in the living room."
"Thank you," he smiles. "Enjoy the rest of your sun. I will start dinner once I get back."
"You don't…"
My sentence dies at the look he gives me.
"Enjoy your relaxation. I'm not the only one who works hard."
X
I pull myself from the water as the last of the sun's rays fade. "Hey, Drew sorry. I didn't mean to stay so long down there. What can I do to help?"
"I've got it covered," he calls from the grill on the back deck.
"It's your vacation too," I pout. "You're not going to do everything."
"Set the table," he grumbles, the growl back in his voice.
"Don't you use that damn growl against me," I mutter, moving to the kitchen on shaking knees. I find lit candles decorating the dim kitchen, plates stacked on the edge of the table. A large bowl of salad in the center next to foil wrapped potatoes. "What the…"
"What happens if I do," Drew growls, leaning around me to place a platter containing steaks on the table.
"What?"
"What if I use the damn growl against you," he asks against my ear, fingers stroking down my side.
"What are you doing, Drew?"
"Asking you a question," he growls lowly and I have to clench my thighs. "Did you find something about me you like?"
"I like a lot about you, Drew," I breathe. "You're just a little too serious for me."
"But you love it when I get all growly. Admit it."
"I do," I whimper as my hips are pinned against the table edge.
"You want to know what I love about you," his voice dropping even lower. His hands gripping my hips. "You bring chaos to my orderly life," his breath caresses the back of my neck. "You bring laughter and light to my dreary life. And I have wanted to do this for a long time now. Seeing you in this," his nose nuzzles down between my shoulder blades. I realize belatedly that I had one of his "borrowed" shirts on over my suit. "You only wear these when you want someone to think you're claimed."
I stiffen. He was right of course. If one of his shirts somehow got mixed up in my laundry, I would always hold onto it a few days. Wearing it to the nearby bar or as a cover up at the beach but never when the man was home. "Oh, I always knew. They always smell like you. I asked around," he huffs before chuckling. "Your friends like to talk."
My legs start to shake.
"Some days I even allow myself to indulge in my fantasies."
"Drew," I whine as one hand slides up to tangle in my hair.
"Yes?"
"Want to indulge even more," I smile arching back against him. His erection prodding against me in response. "Is that a yes, Mr. Gulak? I think it is," I smile.
"Stay," he growls against my ear before stepping away.
Everything on the table crashes to the floor with one sweep of his arm.
"I thought I was the chaos," I chuckle, my hands drop to the towel wrapped around my hips.
"You're a very bad influence," he states lowly.
"Maybe I need to be straightened out."
"I was thinking more of bending you over," he chuckles draping me over the cool wood. His fingers work the ties on the sides of my bikini bottoms loose. The material falling to the floor.
"Mmmm," I hum, bracing myself as his hands stroke down over my ass. "You just gonna get me all worked up and tease me or are you going to do something back there, Drew?"
"Allow me my little indulgences."
"I prefer major indulgences," I sigh, pressing my hips back against him.
He groans working his shorts down his own legs before sheathing himself without preamble. "Better than my imagination," he grunts, stilling as I adjust around him. One hand returns to grip my hip and the other slides around to toy with my clit.
"Fuck," I groan, levering myself up onto my arms to fuck myself back against him.
"That's it. Take what you want from me," he groans.
"I want you to fuck me."
His hips slam into me and I have to wrap my fingers around edge of the table to keep from toppling back to the tabletop.
"Just like that, Gulak," I groan. "Just fucking like that."
A grunt is my only response.
Arching, I reach back to grip the back of his neck, pulling him down. "Gulak," I groan, nipping along his jaw. "You're just what I have been needing…Wanting."
He pulls away and I can't help the whimper. Spinning me, he shoves me back onto the table. "Wanting…Needing me? Or my dick?"
I contemplate his question seriously. When he wasn't working, he was my quiet in the whirlwind that is my life. The only thing I can rely on. His seriousness kept him at a distance in my mind, sure that my silly chaos would never fit completely in his life. The shirts…The order…The seriousness I needed in my life. "I need you in my life, Drew." I reach up to grip the back of his neck again. "And I need and want your dick in my bedroom… And the occasional kitchen. If that's something you want."
He dives for my lips, sheathing himself again. "I'd love that." His hips set a blazing pace.
I release a whorish moan as his fingers return to my clit. My orgasm approaching fast.
"I'm…I'm…I'm…" I pant.
"Do it."
"Are…Are you…"
"Don't…" His face buries into the side of my throat as I spasm around him.
"Willow," he groans, his hips gradually slowing as he shutters above me. "I'm sorry. I meant to…"
"Birth control is covered," I sigh, running my fingers through his hair. "Anything I should know?"
"Don't think I can catch anything from my hand," I feel him smile.
"Good." I stare at the mess in the floor. "I think dinner is ruined."
His head raises slightly. "I picked up one of those frozen pizzas you love so much. Why don't you shower and I'll get that in."
"You're amazing," I purr, disentangling from him. "I'm going to have to reward you for that," I smile pecking his lips. "First, food. Five bucks says you clean this up before I'm out."
"I'm not an animal," he smirks pulling me into a kiss.
"Debatable," I smile.