Page 108 of Bad Wolf
“Okay, I’ll fill up the tub and raid the fridge.” He scrambles and lifts me up off the bed, headed to his ensuite. Places my boneless, naked form down on the counter and then turns on the taps, making sure the water is blended to perfection–just this side of scalding.
I swing my legs, slightly giddy at the way he’s able to pluck my preferred bathing rituals from his memory, but he turns with a furrow to his brow,
“Shit I don’t think I’ve got any—”
“Oh, I do,” I say, slowly lowering myself down, and raiding my toiletries bag. I pull out the sample-sized bottle of bubbles I swiped from the hotel during my road trip.
Dumping the whole lot in, he goes off, completely naked, and five minutes later comes back with cold pizza, two bottles of water, and a protein shake for himself. Which he downs in record time.
“Where’s Nerd and Hollywood?” I wonder aloud suddenly feeling embarrassed about how not quiet we just were.
“Probably at Full Moon,” he shrugs, “I left while they were still making plans.”
“Aww, you rushed home for me.” I thank him with a kiss.
“I wanted to get home to my girl, what can I say? You looked too perfect, too fuckable, and I had to have you all to myself. You outshine every other person I’ve ever met. With your soft heart and these eyes. Goddamn, they’re exquisite.”
I roll my lips trying to suppress my laugh.
“Exquisite? Knox, you don’t use words like that.”
He smirks, “No, I don’t, but I’ll keep spouting that shit until you believe you’re the opposite of trashy. Wren, you’re all class, baby.”
I smile as he lifts a slice to my lips.
I’m not sure how classy it is to eat cold leftovers, naked in a bathroom, but I’d rather be this girl, Knox’s girl, than some snooty mean girl with an inflated sense of importance.
We devour the food, ravenous, and once the enormous bath is full, I step in and lower myself into his ready and waiting embrace.
We sit for a long moment in comfortable, perfect silence. He sets kisses along my shoulders and runs his hands up my sides until he gently pulls me back into his chest.
“I haven’t had a bath like this in years. It’s nice,” he says softly.
“Hmmm, it really is,” I agree as I melt against his chest. “You still having to sink into those torturous ice baths?”
I feel his nod. “They’ve become part of my regime now, so I’m used to it.”
His fingertips continue to roam, his lips grazing every inch of skin that’s not submerged.
The heat of the water and the softness of his kisses has me closing my eyes, and my head lolls to the side.
“I still can’t believe you have this tattoo.”
“I still can’t believe you don’t have more than this one,” I say, tracing the whorls of ink on his bicep. The words sayFamily is the compass that guides usbut it’s hard to make out if you’re not looking closely.
Thoughts of my dad try to invade my mind, but I push them away. This is my time.
Our space.
There’s no room for him here, not when I’m wrapped up in a warm, soapy Knox.
I feel Knox shrug against me, “It’s not like I haven’t thought about it. I even have a folder on my phone of ones I think are cool, but I haven’t found any that’s made me go, That’s it. That’s what I want. This one,” he says stretching his arm out a bit, “is actually a sketch Jason drew, fuckin’ doodling one night as he studied.”
I blink at him. “This was a doodle.”
He nods, “Epic right? Me and Troy had it done together. Scott keeps saying he’ll get it too.”
Epic doesn’t even cover it. It’s intricate and beautiful, and I love that he did that.
