But I took the bath, letting the rose and lilac soothe me, playing Bishop Briggs on my phone so I could let the lyrics sort my emotions for me.
I felt shook up like a bottle of pop, my emotions fizzing, bursting beneath my skin.
Even though Jake and I had been on a ‘break’ since the kiss happened, I was still reluctant to let him go. He represented a life way from crime and chaos, a safe future that I felt I should’ve wanted after my upbringing more than I actually wanted it in reality.
Now that I was living with Nova?
I knew the clock on the ticking time bomb of my relationship with Jake was down to its final minutes.
A decision had to be made.
Though sitting in the bath Nova had drawn for me, it was impossible to be objective.
I sighed heavily and drew my black painted, talon shaped fingernails over the swirls in the floral design under my breasts. The blooms grounded me as I recalled their meanings: hyacinth the same blue as Molly’s eyes for constancy, the Bachelor’s Button at my right hip symbolizing hope in love, the periwinkles intertwined with vines beneath Dane’s lotus for sweet remembrance. They were the tapestry of my life and love thus far inked onto my skin, a tangible reminder of everything I held close so that in moments like this, when I felt overwhelmed and flailing, I had a visceral token of who I was and what was really important.
“Feelin’ better?” Nova asked as he popped the door open to stick his head into the humid, floral-scented room.
“Nova!” I protested, covering my breasts beneath the spare cover of bubbles. “I’m naked. Get the fuck out.”
He ignored me, pushing the door open to reveal his long, toned body. He’d changed into dark grey sweatpants that rode low on his hips, exposing the hard cut of muscle arrowing into either side of his groin and the massive expanse of his fully inked torso complete with a nipple ring decorating his right pectoral.
I choked on my moan and forgot about modesty for a moment. It had been ages since I’d last seen Nova so disrobed, and the sight of him like that lit me on fire, dry kindling doused with gasoline.
He paused in the doorway, letting me look my fill with a cocky grin on his face, before he moved to the toilet, put the lid down, and took a seat, leaning forward on those thickly corded forearms. He cocked his head to the left and a lock of wavy dark hair fell across his broad forehead.
“So,” he asked, opening his hands and then clasping them so his silver rings clanged together. “You ready to talk?”
“How about we do this when I’m not naked in the tub?” I asked drily.
“How about we do it now when you’re naked in the tub so you can’t stalk away from me or slap me when you get riled up?” he suggested. “’Sides, not gonna lie, I’m enjoyin’ the view a helluva lot more than I should.”
“Don’t flirt with me,” I snapped, grateful once again that my dark skin didn’t hold a blush.
“Why not?” he countered. “I flirt with everyone.”
“Exactly,” I said. “I’m not everyone, Nova.”
“No,” he mused, running a hand through the long hair at the top of his head so it stuck up in sexy disarray. “Never thought you were, Flower Child.”
We locked eyes then, gazes colliding like two speeding cars so the crash rocked through us both, sending us physically reeling. I was left with only the impact of his words reverberating inside of me, but I had no idea what they meant.
“You’re being even more overbearing than normal,” I said flippantly, trying to regain my equilibrium. “I know you promised Dane you’d look out for me, but this is a bit much.”
“This has got nothin’ to do with him.”
I blinked, wrapping one arm tighter around my breasts so I could tuck a wet, curling lock of hair back into my bun. Nova’s eyes followed the curve of my breasts then the way my hand moved through my hair, his nostrils flaring.
“It’s got to do with my safety,” I ventured. “Making sure the Booths don’t lose more family.”
“It’s got to do with that, sure,” he agreed easily, but his eyes, they churned like restless sea creatures beneath an inky black ocean at night. “But it’s got more to do with you and me.”
I looked away, unable to hold the intensity of his gaze, and studied the black polish on my toes as they wriggled above the bubbles.
“Li,” he called then waited for me to look at him again. “You know you’re my best friend, yeah?”
I closed my eyes against the force of feelings that moved through me seeing the sincerity in that handsome face, hearing the vulnerability in his voice.