Page 34 of Spatially UnawareWolf

Still, I let out a long breath when he reappeared and threw a backpack into the back seat, then turned to me with something that skirted the edges of a smirk. “Next stop, crunchy leaf therapy?”

I laughed, relief hitting somewhere under my ribs. “We need to get upstairs before we get to the crunchy leaf therapy,” I said. When I thought about climbing the stairs with Hunter’s guidance, there was a flutter of excitement in my belly instead of the usual pit of dread. And part of it was because I was still riding high on the morning’s success, but part of it was purely the anticipation of having his hands on me and hearing his voice, low and commanding, in my ear. My dick twitched at the thought of it, the response almost Pavlovian by now.

Jesus, when this was over, was I going to get a hard-on every time I climbed the stairs? Because if that was the case, I might have to move into a beachfront shack just for my sanity.

When we got back to my apartment building, the first thing I noticed when I walked in was that the signage and hazard tape blocking the elevator were gone. Hunter followed my gaze and said, “We don’t have to use the stairs if you don’t want to.”

“No,” I said quickly. “I want to try.” And it wasn’t just because I wanted to feel Hunter pressed up behind me, whispering reassurances in my ear and making my dick hard. I mean, I totally did want that, but I was also curious to see if the water torture—sorry, therapy—had made a difference.

“Okay,” Hunter said. “Blindfold?” He pulled the strip of cloth out of his pocket.

I shook my head. “With my luck, Mr. Grayson will see us and think he’s interrupted something kinky.”

Just then the elevator doors dinged and Mr. Grayson came out, leaning heavily on his cane. He paused, took in the sight of Hunter holding up the blindfold, and tilted his head. “You boys having fun?”

Hunter stuffed the blindfold hastily into his pocket, turning red all the way to the tips of his ears.

I managed to keep it together until Mr. Grayson had left the building, but as soon as the door swung closed behind him, a laugh burst out of me. “You should see your face right now!”

Hunter’s blush deepened. “Great. Now your neighbor thinks…” He paused. “I don’t want to know what he thinks, honestly.”

“He thinks I’m hooking up with a smart, sexy guy,” I said, “and hey, he’s not wrong.”

Hunter’s lips curved up in a smile at the compliment. “You’re just saying that to make up for laughing at me.”

“Not true,” I said. “I can laugh at you and compliment you as well. It’s called multitasking.”

“Oh, then you should have no trouble being a smartass and climbing stairs at the same time,” he said, arms folding in a silent challenge.

“I’ve got the smartass part locked down. The stairs, though?” I waggled one hand back and forth.

“Trust me,” he said. “We’re gonna get you there under your own steam.” And he sounded so confident that I actually believed him.

Hunter slung his backpack over his shoulder, and we lined up at the bottom step with him behind me. His hands on my hips were comforting in a way I couldn’t quite pinpoint, but I leaned into it anyway. Like, I was pretty sure I could do this—hadn’t I done it already?—but it was still reassuring knowing someone had my back, literally.

“Okay,” Hunter murmured, “one foot forward, here we go.”

I took a shaky breath and tried to raise my left foot. At first it refused to move, remaining stubbornly planted on the floor, but I closed my eyes and imagined it moving. When that didn’t work, I imagined myself following Hunter’s ass up the stairs, and the next minute there was grit crunching under the sole of my shoe as it landed on the step.

“Great work,” Hunter said, and the praise sent a burst of warmth through me. I thought about asking for the blindfold after all but didn’t. Keeping my eyes closed was working for now.

I took another faltering step, and Hunter’s grip tightened when I accidentally leaned back too far and collided with his chest. I let myself rest there for a few seconds, soaking up his heartbeat. “You good?” he asked as he guided me gently upright.

“I’m good.” I took another step.

There were sixteen individual steps to get to my floor, and it felt like there were a hundred, but I kept going. Every few steps I’d falter and need a break, and at one stage I had to go backward a couple of steps so I could go forward again, but with Hunter at my back whispering encouragement in my ear, I finally reached the top.

“I did it!” I said, turning on my heel—and promptly tripped over my own feet. And I would have fallen back down all sixteen of those fucking steps except Hunter’s arm shot out in front of me, stopping me in my tracks before he pulled me close to his chest.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his other arm wrapping tightly around my back to stop me from toppling.

My heart hammered against my ribs—but honestly, that was more from the sheer hotness of him catching me like he was the hero in an action movie, and less from nearly falling on my ass. “I’m fine.”

It sounded a lot less convincing than I wanted it to, probably because I had my head resting on his chest when I said it. But despite my near miss, I was fine, because I’d made it to the top of the motherfucking stairs.

“I really am okay,” I said, my voice stronger this time.

When I moved, my foot caught the edge of the top step, and I hurriedly shuffled away from those treacherous fucking stairs so we were in the middle of the landing. Hunter shuffled right along with me—not that he had any choice because I was still clinging to him like a particularly stubborn barnacle. He didn’t seem to mind, though, not if the fond smile he was giving me was anything to go by. “How can someone so clumsy work in construction?”