Ray & Shelby continued

[fixerfortherich]

Seeing her sleep on his couch so peacefully stirred the feelings from previous night again. He called her over as a friend but somehow his instincts got the better of him and they'd kissed. Now that's all he could think about; her soft lips against his.

Ray snapped out of his little fantasy to go and prepare some breakfast for them both.

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[shelbycobra]

Shelby wasn't as distracted as he was, mostly because she had never entertained thoughts of looking him in that way until he brought up the idea. She woke up and stretched, wincing a little as her back protested sleeping in someplace totally different.

Her brain, ever focused as it was, immediately telling her she needed a shower, a change of clothes and to start work renovating the bathroom in her house. Plus, there were likely messages on her phone whenever she bothered to look at it. But that could all wait until she made sure he was okay.

"Hey," she said with a small encouraging smile as she stood. "How are you feeling? Better?"

[fixerfortherich]

He turned around to face her and nodded. "Much better. It works wonders having someone here to keep me from a total downward spiral."

Ray chuckled softly at that. She looked like she could've used a comfier place to sleep. "Sorry about the couch, Shelbs. Made you some breakfast to hopefully make up for it."

This domestic side of him was a rare occurrence.

[shelbycobra]

"It's fine. Don't worry about me."

She wasn't going to mention her back problems and make him feel guilty. Instead she stretched again and nodded toward the next room.

"I'm going to grab a shower and get cleaned up," she said. "I'll be back in a few and we'll catch up."

It took her a few minutes to shower, fix her hair, and check her phone for messages and make sure she hadn't missed anything important. But she did eventually wander back out to catch up with him.

"So. What should we talk about?"

[fixerfortherich]

While Shelby got freshened up, Ray finished setting the table. He got done just in time for her return.

"I did a lot of thinking last night. About what we talked about and obviously the kiss. The last thing I want is to drag you into my problems, Shelbs. So if we give it a try, I'll do everything in my power to keep you away from the bad shit."

[shelbycobra]

She nodded slightly.

"I appreciate that," she said after a moment. "Because you know my whole life is at stake. Whoever I choose to date, if they do the wrong thing or I'm in the wrong place or anything like that - it's my career. Which is my life. And as much as I care about you I can't risk that for anyone."

She exhaled and then told him something she had never said before. Of course he may have wondered why she didn't come to him instead of running off to New York.

"I know what it's like to lose everything, Ray. I lost my whole life four years ago and I can't do that again."

[fixerfortherich]

"I get that, Shelbs."

Ray knew a thing or two about loss. He was married to an amazing woman he failed to appreciate enough and he lost her to cancer. That's the one thing he could never forgive himself for.

"I'd never fuck up your life, if we were together. I care about you too much."

He stepped closer to cup her cheek, caressing gently.

[shelbycobra]

"I know you do."

She was surprised he didn't comment on what she'd said, but she did trust the sincerity of what he said. He knew her well enough to know how strict her morals were and if he was still interested in her, she knew that he knew what he was getting into. She gave him a small smile before she leaned in to kiss him again.

[fixerfortherich]

He knew better than to question Shelby's decisions. She had her things together, something he could only dream about as of late.

Ray returned the kiss, pulling her closer to him. All thoughts became irrelevant with the way their lips moved together.

[shelbycobra]

She kissed him for a moment, pulling back when she needed some air. She had no idea where this was going and he wasn't great with talking about his feelings anyway so she thought they were just winging this.

"You're right. That is kinda fun."