Talen

I am fucked.

I’ve never felt particularly shy about my body. I’ve been completely naked in front of Ava on a few occasions and never thought anything of it. Now I find myself turning this way and that, making sure I didn’t miss any spots of dirt and wondering just what Aerin would think of me.

I begin to fiddle with the towel and, more specifically, with the placement of the hole. Obviously, I can’t have it in front, but it’s particularly noticeable when I place it on the side, over my thigh. Is the back any better? If I am really careful to keep my back to her, I just might be able to pull it off.

Unless she raises an eyebrow at me. If she does that, my cock will become a very obvious towel rack.

I end up with the towel wrapped snugly around my waist and the hole over my left butt-cheek. As long as I’m careful about how I walk, I should be able to casually stroll into the next room, grab my shorts, and be right back here in the bathroom in under thirty seconds.

With a deep, cleansing breath, I open the door.

Aerin is sitting on the edge of the bed with the blue journal in her hands. My first thought is that she has somehow noticed that the book has been recently opened or that she identified my fingerprints on it or maybe took a DNA sample.

I’m being ridiculous.

She glances up at me, and her eyes widen slightly before she quickly looks back down at her book. I watch her moisten her lips as she stares down at the pages, but I have to look away quickly. Just the sight of her tongue is making my heart pound again.

I keep both hands on the towel, gripping it tightly as I take a few steps out of the bathroom. A breeze from the ventilation system goes right through the hole in the towel, chilling my ass.

“Feels awesome, doesn’t it?”

“Wha-what?” I stare at her.

“The shower.” She gestures toward the bathroom with her thumb but doesn’t look up at me. “The hot water feels great after sleeping on the ground.”

“Oh, uh, yeah.” I chuckle nervously as images of Aerin covered in suds invade my mind again. “Yeah, it was awesome. I haven’t taken an actual shower in…well, I’m not sure how long.”

“Did you see the toothbrush I left out for you?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I did. Thank you.” I’d forgotten about the toothbrush. Now that she’s mentioned it, all I can think about is minty kisses. I need to move, and fast. The longer I stay out here, the more likely it is that my thoughts will become very, very obvious.

Of course, my pack is lying next to the bed, right at Aerin’s feet. I’m going to have to go over there and bend over to get the shorts out of it. I feel the back of my neck heating up, and I wonder if my face is completely red.

I close my eyes for a second, steel myself, and take the extremely short, far-more-time-consuming-than-it-should-have-been walk across the room to my pack. I tilt my hips away from her and half bend, half crouch to open the pack.

The towel starts to slip and then opens up completely in the back.

I grab at the edge of the towel frantically, which only makes it move more. It shifts to one side, exposing the front of my thigh and maybe even my dick. I’m not sure.

Aerin stares at me with one hand over her mouth and her eyes nearly bugging out of her head as I grab the shorts and try to use them as a second shield around my crotch.

“I’m just gonna go change.” I look up at her with what I’m sure is a totally stupid grin on my face. “Just be a sec!”

I chuckle again, grinning maniacally as I back up, holding the shorts in one hand and the end of the towel in the other but using both to try to cover my front while the breeze apprises me that my backside is now completely exposed.

I back into the bathroom, slam the door, and consider just sleeping on the floor. I take one more step, slip in a puddle of water, and land flat on my bare backside.

“Are you okay in there?”

“Yeah!” I yell out, horrified. “I’m fine! No problem! We’re all fine here now, thank you. How are you?”

I hear her laughing on the other side of the door, and I realize I just quoted Han Solo.

My shorts are now slightly damp from landing with me on the floor, but I pull them up over my hips, and then lean forward with my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands.

I am a complete moron.

“Pull yourself together!” I whisper.