No. Leave them in the bathroom and give me an excuse to see you naked in the tub. Or better yet, leave them on and let me peel them off you. “That’d be great.”
I wait in the bedroom and listen for the sounds of the bathroom door opening and closing again before going to the hallway to retrieve the neat stack of wet clothes. I take them to Jake’s laundry closet next to the kitchen, but when I open the dryer, I realize the shirt has blood on it. I dump a little stain gel on the spots and toss it into the washing machine, then unfold the jeans to inspect them for blood.
A pair of panties falls to the floor. Dark purple. Lace.
“Fuck me,” I mutter, leaning over to pick them up.
I throw everything into the wash without further perusal. I thought staring at her nipples through the wet T-shirt was low. I’d rather not hit full-on creep status by staring at her panties. Or imagining her sliding them off her hips.
I dump laundry detergent in the machine and close the lid to start it.
The pipes squeak again as the water in the bathroom is turned off, and I listen too hard for the swish of water in the tub. I squeeze my eyes shut and give myself ten seconds to think about Ellie naked in the water, ten seconds to remember how perfect her tight nipples looked under her wet T-shirt, and ten seconds to think about the heat in her eyes before she walked away.
Then I open the closet to find some sheets and a blanket so I can sleep on the couch.
Ellie
Jake’s bathtub is an old claw-foot beast he wanted to get rid of when he remodeled the place. Ava told him doing so would offend the bathroom gods, so he reluctantly kept it and took out an old closet to add a walk-in shower on the other side of the bathroom. At this moment, I’m grateful for Ava’s judgment and my resulting bubbly soak in this tub. I can’t imagine any medicine better for a broken heart.
Or maybe I can.
Closing my eyes, I skim my fingers up my stomach and between my breasts, thinking of the way Levi looked at me before I escaped to the bathroom. Every day Colton has failed to touch me has made me feel increasingly undesirable. It felt good to have Levi’s attention tonight. He’s told me I’m hot before, and though I didn’t think he was lying, I took it more as an objective report than a confession of attraction. Other than the night we met, my relationship with Levi has been one hundred percent platonic. It had to be. But every single female cell in my body would have to be blind and numb to have missed the heat in his eyes.
I sweep my thumbs over my nipples and bite my lip. A healthy dose of feeling sexy and wanted might be the best possible medicine, but tonight I have to settle for this bath.
I can hear Levi on the other side of the door, moving around the apartment as he busies himself with God knows what.
I don’t know why I came here. I could have gone to Ava’s or Teagan’s. Levi’s sister, Shay, would have happily opened her door and listened to my sad story. But I didn’t want to tell anyone else. I wanted to tell Levi—the only person who knows Colton as well as I do. The one who’s been there for me through the hardest parts of the last couple of years.
I don’t know what I expected from Levi, but what I got was a combination of tender caretaker and fierce protector. His reaction felt so good that I’m simultaneously grateful and guilty.
When the water starts to cool, I pull the drain and climb out, grabbing a towel off the rack to dry myself. Avoiding the mirror, I towel-dry my hair before pulling on Jake’s T-shirt, which skims the middle of my thighs. I was soaked all the way through from lying on the sidewalk in the rain, so even my underwear was wet, meaning I have nothing to put on under the shirt. As long as I don’t reach overhead, I should be decent.
When I return to the living room, Levi’s sitting on the couch, a beer in his hand and another on the coffee table in front of him.
“Hey,” I say, trying to chase away the awkwardness that settled in about the time I caught him judging my solo wet T-shirt contest.
“Nice bath?” he asks.
I nod. “I didn’t really believe Ava when she said that tub was so comfortable, but she was right. They don’t make ’em like that anymore.”
Levi laughs softly and waves to the untouched beer. “I got you a drink if you want it.”
I shake my head. “I’ll pass, but thank you for thinking of me.”
“There was, um, blood on your clothes, so I threw them into the wash. I’ll put them in the dryer before I go to sleep.”
I fold my arms, all too aware that he hasn’t let his gaze stray since I entered the room and feeling guilty for wishing it would. “Or I can do it.”
“You should go to bed. Get some sleep.”
I spot a stack of sheets and blankets on the end of the couch. He’s planning to sleep out here.
Why did I think he’d sleep with me? Did I want him to? The answer is so obvious in my mind that my cheeks flame. Maybe I didn’t plan on anything happening between us, but when I asked him to stay, I was hoping I wouldn’t have to sleep alone. I was hoping for the comfort of human contact.
It’s been so damn long.
Just someone to share the bed with. Nothing else. “You don’t have to sleep on the couch.”