On A Night Like This

Chapter Eighteen

-Dylan-

The second he pulled into the driveway after their trip to the grocery store, Jayce turned to him. "Will the hot water be ready? I want to take off these sweaty clothes and get in the shower."

Dylan laughed at Jayce's enthusiasm. "It'll be ready. Leave your clothes outside the bathroom door and I'll put them in the wash and put away the food."

"I can help you bring in the food and put it away first."

"Don't worry about it." He handed Jayce the key to the cabin and then got out of the truck to start collecting the grocery bags from the back.

Once he'd hauled all the bags inside, he picked up Jayce's clothes and started the wash cycle. He knew there was already a towel hanging in the bathroom, but he grabbed his thickest, nicest towel from a closet and stuck it in the dryer to warm it up. When he heard the shower shut off, he got the towel out of the dryer and cracked open the bathroom door.

"I have a better towel for you," he called out.

"You can come in," Jayce replied. "It's nothing you haven't seen before."

When he stepped into the bathroom, which was completely filled with steam, Jayce opened the shower door. "I'm so happy. That was the best shower I've ever taken," Jayce said. "I actually feel clean and I wasn't freezing the whole time."

Jayce stepped out onto the bathmat, and Dylan tried not to stare as he wrapped the towel around Jayce. Jayce's eyes lit up and he smiled. "It's warm," he murmured, closing his eyes. "I'm finally truly warm." After a moment of snuggling into the towel, he opened his eyes and reached up to kiss Dylan. "Thank you. You're sweet."

"I can warm up your towel every time if you want."

Jayce shook his head. "As much as I'd love that, I want you in the shower with me next time."

He felt himself blushing and tried to keep his mind off the things he and Jayce could do. He knew they were both hungry after snowshoeing their way out of the mountains, so food was a bigger priority than ending up in bed or in the shower together.

"What do you want to eat?" he asked Jayce, changing the subject. "I saw all of the candy bars and the pie when I was putting away the groceries, but I think you need something more substantial than that after snowshoeing."

Jayce grinned. "Probably. I can make something for us while you're in the shower."

"You don't need to make anything elaborate tonight. There's a pizza in the freezer that you can stick in the oven."

"Okay. Oh, and can I borrow more of your clothes since mine are in the wash?"

"Yeah. You can find what you need up in the loft."

As Dylan stood underneath the hot water in the shower, he thought about how weird it felt to trust someone looking around his bedroom and making themselves at home in his space. He'd never imagined anyone else being in his cabin, and sometimes this all felt like a dream. He still worried that he'd walk out of the bathroom to find the cabin empty, with all traces of Jayce gone, leaving only him standing in the living room alone.

But when he got out of the shower, Jayce was in the kitchen making hot chocolate, looking cute with the sleeves of one of Dylan's sweatshirts covering his hands. His clothes were huge on Jayce, and while part of him felt guilty for not having anything that would fit Jayce, part of him loved the sight of Jayce wearing his clothes.

After he got dressed and started a fire in the fireplace, he and Jayce sat on the couch in front of the fire to eat the pizza.

"You did a good job making food in the mountain cabin, but I am glad to have something fresh out of an oven," Jayce said, closing his eyes as he ate one of the slices of pizza.