I glance at the bedside clock. "Eleven. We've got about two hours."
"Plenty of time for a shower, then." His lips find my temple, pressing a gentle kiss there. "You go first. I'll strip the bed."
The practical suggestion, so perfectly Bo, makes me smile. Even after a night and morning of wild sex, he's still the caretaker, the one who thinks of the details.
"Such a gentleman," I tease, reluctantly extracting myself from his hold.
"My mama raised me right." He grins, unashamed of his Southern manners even while naked and thoroughly debauched.
I slip from the bed, suddenly aware of my nudity in the morning light. Last night, everything happened in shadows and urgency.Now, I feel unexpectedly shy as Bo's gaze travels appreciatively over my body.
"Beautiful," he says simply, as if stating an obvious fact.
I feel my cheeks heat. "Stop looking at me like that."
"Like what?"
"Like you want to pull me back into that bed."
His grin turns wolfish. "Maybe I do."
I grab my toiletry bag and retreat to the bathroom before I can succumb to the temptation in his eyes. The mirror reveals the evidence of our night together—hair a tangled mess, lips swollen from kisses, faint marks on my hips where Bo's fingers dug in during particularly intense moments. I look thoroughly claimed, despite the absence of a bonding bite.
The shower feels heavenly, hot water burning away the physical remnants of the night. But it can't wash away the memory of Bo's touch, his taste, the way he looked at me like I was something precious. Something worth protecting.
I've never been good at vulnerability. Growing up in a family of Alphas meant learning to conceal any perceived weakness, to project strength even when I felt anything but strong. An Omega daughter was already a disappointment. An emotional one would have been intolerable.
But Bo saw through my defenses from the beginning. Recognized the walls for what they were and respected them anyway. Until I invited him past them.
The thought is terrifying and exhilarating in equal measure.
When I emerge from the bathroom wrapped in a towel, Bo has indeed stripped the bed, bundling the evidence of our nighttogether discreetly. The room smells faintly of sex and Alpha, but he's opened the window to air it out.
"All yours," I say, gesturing to the bathroom.
"You, or the bathroom," he asks with a cocky grin.
"The bathroom. For now."
The implication hangs between us, neither of us acknowledging it, but not outright rejecting it, either. He crosses to me, pausing to drop a casual kiss on my lips before disappearing into the shower. The easy intimacy of the gesture catches me off guard. This is what people do when they're together. When they're something to each other. And some part of me doesn’t hate it.
I dress quickly in comfortable clothes for the ride back to campus, dry my hair, and begin packing my things. The routine tasks help ground me in practicality, pushing away the more complicated questions lurking at the edges of my mind.
What happens when we get back to campus? Will Bo expect something more from me? Do I want something more from him? And what about the others—Gray's possessive glances, Cameron's quiet intensity, the way Beckett's flirtation sometimes carries genuine heat beneath it?
The bathroom door opens, releasing a cloud of steam. Bo emerges with a towel wrapped around his waist, water droplets clinging to his broad shoulders. My body responds immediately, heat flaring despite our recent activities.
"Feel better?" he asks, seemingly oblivious to my reaction.
"Much." I focus on folding a shirt with unnecessary intensity. "You?"
"Can't complain." He drops the towel without warning, revealing his perfectly sculpted body as he reaches for his clothes.
I shouldn't stare. I've seen him naked multiple times in the past twelve hours. Touched every inch of that golden skin. But the casual confidence of his nudity still steals my breath.
"Like what you see, darlin'?" he drawls, catching me looking.
I throw the shirt at him. "Just making sure you're not hiding any injuries. Responsible coxswain and all that."
