After the Fall

are you.”
    “Mm-hmm.” He nuzzled the back of my neck, his goatee tickling my skin. “I’d mention that last night was amazing,” he murmured sleepily, “but that would be stating the obvious.”
    “Mmm, you’re more than welcome to mention it, though.”
    “All right.” He laughed and kissed below my hair. “Last night was amazing.”
    “I know. I was there.”
    Another soft laughed. “I don’t suppose,” he said between kisses beneath my ear, “you’d be opposed to switching one of these nights, would you?”
    I bit my lip as a shiver went through me. “Not opposed in the slightest. All you have to do is say the word.”
    “I’ve been thinking about it for a while. Haven’t quite worked up the nerve, but when I do . . .” He planted a lingering kiss below my jaw. “You’ll be the first to know.”
    “I can’t wait.”
    After we’d both gotten dressed, I walked—okay, hobbled—out to the living room with him to see him off. As soon as the door had shut, I closed my eyes and smiled to myself.
    When I turned around to head into the kitchen for a much-needed cup of coffee, Brad was standing in the doorway, mug in hand, staring at me.
    I cleared my throat, pretending that intense warmth wasn’t rushing into my cheeks. “What?”
    “What do you mean, what?”
    “I mean why are you looking at me like that?”
    He rolled his eyes. “Come on. Don’t play stupid with me. I know you way too well.”
    “Oh, please.” I made a dismissive gesture and headed into the kitchen to find some coffee. “He’s hardly the first guy I’ve brought home since you’ve been here.”
    “Oh, no, it’s not that.” He rested his hip against the counter while I pulled a mug out of the cabinet. “I knew when I moved in not to hang anything breakable on the wall between our rooms because you’d probably knock it off with your headboard.”
    I laughed, focusing on pouring my coffee rather than meeting his eyes. “Err, sorry. Occupational hazard when you move in with a manwhore.”
    “Uh-huh.”
    “So why the weird look?”
    “Besides the fact that you’ve been bringing the same guy home for weeks?” Brad set his coffee cup on the counter and eyed me. “Because of that silly grin you were wearing when you came in here.”
    “The . . . what? No!”
    “Uh-huh. I know what I saw.”
    I shook my head. “There’s nothing going on. It’s just . . .” No, calling this just sex seemed disingenuous. “I mean, one thing . . .” No, one thing most certainly did not just lead to another, not even the first time. “There is nothing . . .” Nathan, shut up.
    Brad laughed. “You are positively adorable when you’re flustered like this.”
    I didn’t laugh. My stomach fluttered, and it wasn’t because of the butterflies Ryan kept causing. I focused on pouring and polluting my coffee instead, though I wasn’t so sure my gut would let me drink any of it at this point.
    Brad’s laughter turned to an exasperated sigh. “You’re fighting it hard, aren’t you?”
    “I’m not.”
    “Yeah. Okay.”
    I rolled my eyes. “Okay, fine. But you’d fight it too if—” My teeth snapped together.
    “If?” He inclined his head.
    I shifted my gaze from him to my coffee cup. “I was going to say if you’d been through the shit I have, but you’re . . .”
    “I’m not going through the same thing,” he said.
    “No, but . . . I didn’t mean to downplay what you’re dealing with.”
    “You didn’t.” He shrugged. “They’re not the same. Jeff didn’t hurt me. We just fell apart, and it’s as much my fault as it is his.”
    I took a sip of coffee and finally faced him. “And you guys had something really good, but now you’re . . . well, you’re here. Can you see why I’m not all that encouraged to get involved with someone again?”
    “Of course.” He sipped his own coffee and set the cup aside again. “To tell you the truth, if Jeff and I really do call it quits, I’ll probably take a break from the whole dating thing for a while myself.”
    “See? So you know exactly what I mean.”
    “I do. But I also know that if someone comes along, I’d rather fall on my face with him than regret letting something good pass me by.”
    I rolled some coffee around on my tongue.
    “Whatever’s happening between you two, Nathan, don’t fight it.” His voice was gentle. “I know you’re afraid of someone stomping on you like that asshole did—”
    “Like those two assholes