Free The Boyfriend Project by Rachel Hawthorne Page B

choices. She was letting me determine the arrangements because she was the hostess, and I needed to decide if I was going to be gracious and take the one with—
    â€œWe’ll take the two beds,” Jeremy said as he edged past us with my suitcase and tote in tow.
    It was typical of nice, considerate Jeremy to make the unselfish offer. Still I was disappointed and just a little hurt that he hadn’t jumped at the chance to share a bed with me. I walked into the room and wondered if it would be inappropriate to do a little rearranging: maybe move the nightstand that stood between the beds so we could shove them together. Maybe it wasn’t worth the effort, though. It was only three nights.
    But at least we’d be sleeping in the same room. That could be romantic. Listening to him breathing through the night. I didn’t even know if he snored.
    While the guys brought everything inside, I helped Avery put some things away and set aside what we would have for dinner. While she started arranging all the makings for sandwiches, I fed the dogs, attached their leashes, and took them out to do their business. The yard around the house wasn’t fenced in. It was mostly sand with a few sprigs of grass, but the dogs were used to the shifting turf. Jeremy followed me out.
    â€œAre you okay that I said we’d take the two beds?” Jeremy asked.
    I forced myself to smile. “Sure.”
    He put his arm around me and I leaned against him. “Besides,” I continued, “they’re both taller than us, sothey’ll be more comfortable in the bigger bed.”
    â€œYou looked disappointed, like you thought we were missing an opportunity.”
    Turning, I gazed up into his eyes. “I thought something more might happen, but I also thought the house would be bigger.” I twisted my face in a way that made him grin. “Not gonna be a lot of privacy here.”
    He cupped my face between his hands. “No, there won’t be.” He stroked my cheeks. “I want it to be really special when things between us go further.”
    â€œI’ll be with you. How can it not be special?”
    â€œHow did I get so lucky?” he asked before he lowered his mouth to mine.
    I moved until I was pressed against him. The chow jumped up on me, flopped down, jumped up again. The golden was nudging my other hip.
    â€œOkay, okay,” I said with a laugh as Jeremy and I broke apart. “I get it. You want more attention.”
    I handed the golden off to Jeremy and he began lavishly petting the dog. Watching him while I stroked the chow, I felt this tightness in my chest. He was such a good guy. I didn’t know why I was feeling so dissatisfied. Maybe I just wanted him to sweep me up into his arms, give in to our passion.
    We took the dogs inside, washed our hands, then grabbed a plate and made a sandwich from everythingAvery had set out for dinner.
    â€œIt’s not fancy,” she said as she was preparing her own plate, “but it just seems like if we’re going to be beach bums, we should be lazy.”
    â€œWorks for me,” Fletcher said.
    We sat in Adirondack chairs on the front balcony. We had a clear view of the rolling surf. The beach before us was public, but since it was late in the day, not many people were still out. A few were playing volleyball. The ocean roared, salty brine scented the breeze. The setting sun was painting the sky in a wash of oranges, purples, blues.
    â€œI could get used to this,” I said.
    â€œI know. Isn’t it great?” Avery asked. “I really don’t have any plans for us to do much while we’re here. I figure tomorrow we’ll spend some time down there sunning.”
    â€œThat’s definitely on the schedule,” I told her.
    â€œThe schedule?” she asked. “What schedule?”
    â€œI prepared an itinerary for the weekend. Tonight’s Monopoly. Tomorrow night is cards. I brought