“Of course.”

He could tell the hike was more of a struggle than she wanted to admit, but then he couldn’t judge. His shoulder ached like it was on fire. He’d taken ibuprofen this morning, which didn’t really touch the pain, but anything stronger would slow his reflexes.

Two hours after they set out, the sky opened up once again. The downpour was so heavy, it penetrated the canopy with enough force to fall in sheets. They huddled under a cluster of branches and ate protein bars, hoping the cloudburst would pass quickly.

“I gotta say, I’m not a big fan of the weather here,” he quipped.

“I’ll admit, I’m not too fond of it right now either. Days like today, I’m usually in my office or, if it’s a day off, I’m home, sitting by a fire and reading a good book.”

From there, they traded book recommendations and talked about their favorite authors, and he looked forward to a time when they’d sit by a fire together, content with their own books while spending time together.

He’d never had that with Lynn. When they spent time together, she’d wanted to be the focus of his attention. Which was fine, but also exhausting. It had never occurred to him that he could have set a boundary and asked that they share downtime together too. Maybe it had been just as exhausting for her. He didn’t even know if she liked to read and was fairly certain she never realized he liked to read a few chapters each night before sleeping. They’d never spent a night together that didn’t follow sex, and he was damn certain she would have been miffed if he’d picked up a book after pleasuring her.

He realized now he’d never really been himself with Lynn. That had been unfair to them both.

“If we had sex, and then before going to sleep, I wanted to read a book or watch TV…would you have a problem with that?”

“Of course not. I usually read before I go to sleep. Why do you ask?”

“I just realized I never felt comfortable reading when my ex spent the night. I think it would have bothered her that my attention wasn’t on her. But to be fair to her, I never asked.”

“Sex is great and all, but there’s got to be more to a relationship than that.”

He took her hand in his and brought it to his lips. Neither of them wore gloves while they’d been eating, so it was bare skin to skin. Her hand was icy cold against his lips. “There’s more between us than sex. I know this started as a one-night stand, but even then, I felt something with you that went deeper. These past two days have only confirmed it.”