Chapter 10
Skye
“Get in there,” I said. “I’m washing you.”
“You’re insane,” Wyatt repeated for the tenth time.
“It’s her or me,” Rafe said, his arms crossed over his chest.
Wyatt, bewildered, turned on his heel and strode into the bathroom without another word.
Rafe wiggled his eyebrows at me and I elbowed him hard in the ribs before I slipped through the door, following Wyatt and ignoring Rafe’s hiss of pain. Rafe didn’t follow us in, though I had a feeling he wanted to.
Wyatt still wore a pair of sweatpants, but his beautiful chest was gloriously bare and on display and…hairy…which made my mouth water for some reason. He looked at me in the mirror, his stern expression not helping my horniness.
“You’re not showering with me,” he said.
As he stood to his full height, he winced, and I mentally slapped myself.
His beautiful hairy torso was still covered in bruises.
Mottled purple and green spread from his side onto his back, and though it was fading, it was still there.
He ignored my gawking, moving to brush his teeth.
“I definitely am,” I said back, looking to the shower. This shower stall hadn’t been used in a very long time, but the water kicked on without so much as a sputter, the stream strong and instantly hot, which seemed odd. “I can keep my clothes on, but you need help.”
“Why would you keep your clothes on?”
Wyatt’s voice came from very close behind me, and I whirled around to face him, squeaking in surprise as I came face to face with his hairy chest.
“Because you’re scared to see me naked?” I tried, my fingers twitching with the urge to touch him. “Actually, that doesn’t make sense. You were just super sad you hadn’t seen me naked before you ‘died’. Maybe we should fix that.”
“You cannot be horny right now,” Wyatt said, though he sounded amused. He moved to step out of his sweats.
I swallowed thickly, quickly averting my eyes as his bare ass came into view. “Well I wasn’t a moment ago!” I spluttered.
Wyatt chuckled a low melodic sound, which also wasn’t helping my sudden horniness, and then he stepped into the shower. I followed him in, keeping my clothes on as promised.
I watched Wyatt’s back flex as he settled under the spray of water, his movements stilted from the lingering pain. His muscles flexed, made more prominent by the black and blue bruising still along his spine.
The image of the brick wall tumbling down on top of us as Wyatt threw himself at me replayed over and over in my mind, and I couldn’t help but shake my head.
Once again, my affinity had reacted just a moment too late. Wyatt’s leg was broken, so he’d only managed to grab me around the waist before we toppled to the ground. My affinity had protected my head, but then caught the stone right as it crumpled against Wyatt.
I squeezed my eyes shut, then hugged him from behind before I could reconsider. He tensed, and for one awful moment, I thought he’d push me off. He slowly relaxed, then settled one of his large hands to cover both of mine on his stomach.
“I’m okay,” he said lowly.
“I know,” I replied. “But you weren’t. And I had to see it.”
“I know.”
Wyatt loosened my hands, then spun around to face me, pulling me tight against him. My heart rate spiked at his proximity, and the proximity of his bare dick that I somehow hadn’t caught a glimpse of, but could very much feel between us, and–
Wyatt lifted my chin with his pointer finger, forcing me to look at him.
“I’m so sorry, Skye. I…” Wyatt breathed out slowly, his jaw flexing. “You deserve so much better.”
I shook my head, my eyes stinging.
“You do, too. You deserve someone you can trust.”
Wyatt shook his head, looking exasperated. “Doesn’t this scare you? What if this never gets better? What if we’re doomed to just stay in this cycle hurting each other forever?”
“Then maybe that’s what fate wanted,” I said. “We have to figure ourselves out. We’re challenging each other.”
“You think fate wanted that,” Wyatt said, his hands moving to cup my face. “You think fate made it so your father would hate you?” I winced and Wyatt groaned. “I’m sorry. That’s a bad example. I keep fucking things up, but–”
“I think fate can make mistakes,” I said, cutting him off so he didn’t continue digging himself into a deeper hole. “And when that happens, we just have to make the best of it. But that’s not what this is, Wyatt. We can just…choose to trust each other.”
“Really? You think it’s that simple?”
“Can’t it be?”
Wyatt went silent.
“We at least have to try. We owe it to ourselves.” I whispered.
The sound of the running water muffled in one ear as I rested my head against Wyatt’s chest. I ran my fingers over his chest hair, and our breathing relaxed together, until we were perfectly synched.
“Okay. We’ll figure it out,” Wyatt said finally, breaking the quiet. “Not because that’s what fate wanted, but because we’re choosing it. Besides, how do we even know if this wasn’t what fate intended?”
“I like that,” I whispered.
Nothing sexual happened in the shower. Obviously. It was my parents’ shower, and even though no one had been inside it for nearly thirteen years, fooling around in there wouldn’t feel right. After Wyatt was cleaned up and feeling human again, we teleported back to the apartment.
I stepped into the kitchen, freezing when the silhouette of someone at the kitchen island caught my eye.
My affinity flicked on the light, and I relaxed.
“Shit, Lana. You scared me.”
Lana gave me a brittle smile. “Sorry, Skye. Zephyr just left to go get some clothes for the guys, and I didn’t want to disturb anyone.”
My gaze traveled over her, stopping on how her hands were clasped around one of my mom’s mugs – a deep blue with white swirls.
“Coffee?” I ground out, trying not to sound pissed.
Lana sensed the change in my mood, but didn’t know what was wrong.
“Yeah, uh…Zephyr made it for me. I hope that’s okay,” her voice got quieter and quieter as she spoke, finishing in a whisper.
The anger evaporated from me in an instant. I wiped my hand down my face, shaking my head.
“I’m sorry, Lana. That’s one of our mom’s mugs.”
“Oh, shit. Oh, God. I don’t…I shouldn’t…I just like the color blue,” she babbled.
“If Zephyr gave it to you, that’s fine. I…I guess I thought you’d just grabbed it,” I muttered.
“Oh…of course. I would never grab something so important. Is there a specific cabinet I shouldn’t reach for? Or are there other mugs I should know about? I don’t want–”
“What’s wrong?” Zephyr appeared in the kitchen, glancing back and forth between us, pausing on Lana. “Why are you nervous?”
“I just saw her with mom’s mug and got mad,” I explained. “It’s fine. It was stupid.”
Not to mention, Lana had just been through a lot. And even though she was happy her mom was gone, and she’d even cheered when I’d killed her…ugh. Losing a parent was still hard, even if they sucked.
“No, it wasn’t, Skye.” Lana insisted before Zephyr could object. He snapped his mouth shut, staring at Lana while she spoke. “I’m very grateful to have somewhere to stay, and I’m absolutely honored you’ve allowed me into your home. I would never dream of doing something to hurt you.”
Zephyr blinked at her, then glanced at me with raised brows.
“Uh…thanks, Lana. We’re happy to have you here.” I said, my voice stilted.
Lana beamed at me.
“Anyway,” Zephyr dragged out the word. “I got some kids opening up tomorrow so I’ll be able to handle breakfast.”
I shrugged. I hadn’t seen or spoken to Levi since I told him I regretted keeping him alive, and I had no plans to see him again unless absolutely necessary.
Zephyr figured something had happened between us, but he hadn’t asked. According to Aiden, Levi hadn’t been speaking to Zephyr since Rafe and Wyatt had interrogated Levi. Knowing Levi, he’d probably expected Zephyr to defend him a little harder.
Surprisingly, Lana didn’t ask any questions. I wondered if Zephyr had already mentioned Levi to her.
“Sounds good. I’m heading back,” I said, murmuring goodnight to my brother.
“Goodnight, Skye.” Lana called.
“Goodnight,” I called back.
I shook my head as I stopped in the doorway to my bedroom, watching my three Links milling about, preparing for bed.
Rafe was seated on my bed while Aiden messed with the curtains from my canopy, since he liked sleeping with them down.
He climbed onto the bed when he was done, grinning when he caught me watching him.
He fluffed his hair quickly, like I was concerned with his pre-bedtime appearance, and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.
“Come here, darling. I miss you.” Rafe offered me his hand, and I took it, leaning into him.
Aiden waved a hand at my lamp, dimming the light slightly, but Rafe kissed me before I could react to that development.
I kissed Rafe back greedily, opening my mouth easily as his tongue stroked at mine.
I melted against his chest, and he groaned, then slid one of his hands down my back, following my spine until he could grip my ass.
He grinded me against him for a moment while I melted even further, then shivered as Aiden’s hands moved to push my hair over my shoulder.
I broke the kiss with Rafe, turning toward the open room. Someone…was missing.
“Wyatt,” I whispered.
He looked at me from the doorway, his hand on the doorknob with his hazel eyes narrowed slightly as he glanced back and forth between me, Rafe, and Aiden. He shook his head softly, then pulled the door open.
“Wyatt,” I said louder. “Please stay.”
I was still mad at him. We still had so much to figure out. Things were shaky before, but we’d just had that talk in the shower. We’d just agreed to make it work.
Although, maybe Wyatt truly was too jealous for group activities. Maybe this was something he couldn’t get past. I mean, agreeing to trust each other seemed a little far from engaging in group sex, but maybe–
Wyatt closed the door before leaning back against it. He crossed his arms, then raised his eyebrows expectantly. I blinked a few times, shivering as Aiden went back to kissing along the back of my neck.