Unbreak My Heart (Rough Riders Legacy #1)(91)

But rap music booming from the stereo system greeted me as I passed through the laundry room into the kitchen. I paused in the doorway.

Raj sat on the counter, his upper body bouncing to the beat. Boone stood at the stove with his back to me as if he was cooking.

I snickered at that crazy thought.

Beer bottles were scattered here and there. As were bags of groceries. Dishes remained piled in the sink—dishes that had been there since Monday. The door to the dishwasher was open, the full rack of clean dishes pulled out. I knew they were clean because I’d done a load Sunday night and apparently I was the only one who knew how to run such a complicated machine.

Snarky much, McKay?

Now Boone’s voice was chastising me inside my own head.

For the past four days I’d tried to roll with it, chill out, be cool, adopt the “it’s all good” mindset, but it was becoming increasingly harder to do. Logically I understood by inviting Boone to live with me that I’d essentially told him my house was his house. We’d both expected adjustments to sharing the same space. We’d even joked about it. But I guess my man thought I’d been joking when I told him to pick up after himself and return whatever space he’d used to the way he’d found it. Meaning…clean and clutter free.

I’m a neat freak. I wasn’t always this way, especially as a teen. But by age seventeen, I’d tired of living in constant chaos and had a Mr. Clean epiphany. Lu accepted my need for neatness as a house rule—and didn’t pass it off as one of my personality quirks. She kept the common areas in the house up to my standards. I didn’t give a damn if her bedroom, bathroom and the extra room she used as a study were a mess. Those were her personal spaces. Plus she could just shut the doors; out of sight meant I didn’t mind.

But Boone…totally a dude. Used to living with another dude. Evidently Raj was as messy as Boone. No wonder they were such compatible roommates. I shuddered thinking about all the empty pizza boxes, carryout containers, wadded up paper products, bottles and cans that cluttered available horizontal space in their apartment. I had no problem imagining it because my house had started to look like a bachelor soldier’s flophouse.

And this was one area. I hadn’t even been in the great room since I’d cleaned up Sunday night. Boone had invited the McKay-kateers, Mase and Raj to watch the football game. It seemed Sunday nights were becoming a family night. I was cool with that; Boone needed a connection in Phoenix besides with me and Raj. Him having family and friends over? Not the issue. The issue was his “let’s deal with this mess later” attitude. Because as soon as we were alone, he had us both naked, sweaty and f*cking—like my * had an expiration date.

Not that I was complaining. The newness of being red-hot lovers hadn’t worn off. In fact, he’d ramped it up even more the past four days. As much as I loved his single-minded focus, as if I were the sun and he needed to bask in me, as if I were an adrenaline rush he craved, as if giving me multiple orgasms was his sole purpose in life…I had the teeniest suspicion the extra body-pounding encounters were because he didn’t have anything better to do.

You’d rather Boone had done the dishes this morning instead of doing you?

Well, no, but that wasn’t the point.

I shifted backward and my heel caught on a mountain of laundry. An avalanche of Boone’s clothes nearly covered the laundry room floor.

That was the point.

What the hell had he been doing all day that he couldn’t toss in a few loads of clothes during the nine hours since I’d seen him last? It wasn’t like he was trying to juggle his job, his schoolwork, his training and his soldier stuff. His worries about the schedule change earlier in the week ended up being unfounded. It’d just been normal civilian personnel issues. So he had a week off. Basically a vacation! He should’ve been doing what needs done.

Reminder: Boone is not your employee. He’s a grown man who does not need you micromanaging his daily schedule or his life.

Right then, Boone turned around. The way those beautiful brown eyes lit up and the enormous grin that bloomed across his face when he saw me? Total f*cking swoon moment.

He strode toward me. Before he uttered a word, he snaked his arm around my lower back, yanking my body against his. A tiny growl escaped and then his mouth landed on mine. His kiss was soft and searching. Sweet. Not the macho mouth f*cking I expected.

I sighed and swayed into him fully.

Boone, being Boone, immediately made adjustments to better accommodate me.

Maybe you should try that.

I barked at the snark generator in my head to shut it and lost myself in my man’s welcome home kiss.

Against my lips, Boone murmured, “I f*cking love you, McKay.”

I smiled. “I f*cking love you too, West.”

“Come on.” He took my hand. “I gotta show you this.”

I said, “Hi, Raj,” as Boone towed me past the breakfast bar.

We stopped in front of the island.

Don’t look at the mess on the counters.

“I made dinner!” Boone announced with pride.

It appeared that he’d used every pan I owned. “What did you make?”

“Hot turkey sandwiches with mashed potatoes, gravy and stuffing. It’s ready to dish up anytime you are.”

“Boone. That is awesome.” I pressed my lips to his in a lingering smooch. “Thank you.”