78. Hair gets EVERYWHERE
Chapter 78
Hair gets EVERYWHERE
Ariana
I crack my eyes open and smile a sleepy smile. “You’re home,” I whisper.
Luca gently brushes wayward hair off my face, trailing a finger down my cheek before lightly kissing my forehead. “I’m home, baby. Want me to carry you to our room?”
Glancing across the bed at Lil, my heart feels heavy at the thought of leaving her tonight. Or this morning. What the fuck time is it, anyway? I swear, these DeVille men and their middle-of-the-night shenanigans…
I don’t realize I’m chewing on my bottom lip until Luca drags it out from between my teeth with his thumb. My eyes find his again, and before I can say anything, he simply crawls in. He settles on his back and holds me so I’m pressed against his side, and my head is on his chest. I breathe him in as his right hand curls around my hip and his left covers my hand on his stomach.
“Do I pick Lil over you too much?”
His entire body tenses. “What? No. Who said that to you?” His voice is a dark rumble, like a summer thunderstorm .
“No one, Beefcake. Just my brain. I was wondering if I would be this understanding if it was your friend.”
“Baby, if I had a best friend for a hundred million years?—“
“Two hundred.”
“Two hundred million years. Even better. Twice as long.”
When a gigglesnort escapes me, his chest jumps under my head as he chuckles.
He squeezes my hand. “She’s not just your friend, Ariana. She’s your sister. Fuck, that’s not even it. There’s not a word for what you two are. For the bond you two have. And honestly, I’m thankful as hell you have her.”
“I need her forever,” I whisper.
His grip on my hip tightens. “I know. I knew what I was getting into that first night when I put you in Lil’s bed. And I wouldn’t change a damn thing about you.” He pauses for a moment. “Except I wish you would eat more fucking vegetables.”
“Hey. I ate kale that one time.”
“I know, Minx.”
“It was so gross, Luca.”
He makes a humming noise that isn’t agreeing or disagreeing. I snuggle into him more and drift back off to sleep.
“Baby, it’s time to get up.” Like when he got home last night, his voice comes from beside Lil’s bed. His lips press against my temple. I sigh and roll to face him. He’s wearing different clothes and must have gotten up to go to the gym already. “Becca’s making bacon.”
“Bacon? I heard bacon. Oh, it’s Luca. There better really be bacon downstairs,” Lil says as she hops out of bed and heads into the bathroom.
“You should totally tell her there’s bacon when there’s not one day.”
“I don’t have a death wish.” He smiles at me.
“You’re still all sweaty,” I say with a breathy sigh. I don’t mind one bit.
“I’m going to take a shower before breakfast.”
“I don’t even remember you getting up this morning.” I sit up and swing my legs over the side of the bed.
“You were sleeping pretty hard.” He holds his hand out for me. I take it and stand, then follow him out of Lil’s room and into ours. His shirt is thrown over his shoulder. I run my hands and then my lips down his back while he turns on the shower. Between the muscles and the tattoo, I can’t get enough of his back. I can’t get enough of him in general, but his back is a particular favorite. “You planning on getting in this shower with me?” he asks, turning to take me in his arms.
“Oh… well, I’m not totally over my period. The worst of it, yeah. But… um…” My cheeks get warm. After everything we’ve done so far, talking about blood flow shouldn’t make me blush. I called myself ElastiCunt in front of him without a problem, but this embarrasses me?
“Hey, we don’t have to do anything you’re uncomfortable with. Ever.” He drops a kiss to my forehead. “But period stuff doesn’t scare me.”
“No? What if I needed tampons? You’d go to the store for them?”
“Is that a real question? Why would I not do that?”
“I don’t know, some guys won’t.”
“That’s dumb.”
A laugh bubbles out of me. “Yeah. What about period panties? Are you scared of those? ”
His eyebrows lift, and a lost look crosses his face. “I don’t know what they are.”
“Underwear with extra lining in them. For like light days or as backup for, um… leaks and stuff.”
“Sounds smart, not scary.”
“You sure? I’m wearing some right now. You could test that theory, see if they scare you.”
His grin is mischievous and I squeal when he drags me in with him, both of us still wearing our clothes.
“We have a lot of sex in this shower,” he remarks as he’s pulling my wet leggings down.
“Are you complaining?” I tease.
“Fuck no, never.”
He’s right, though. We add another mark to the tally before going down for breakfast. I’m not really keeping track, but maybe I should. For research purposes. And it turns out he’s not afraid of period panties or a little blood.
After a full day of finding stuff to do around the house, I’m ready to crawl into bed.
“Are you almost done in there?” My mouth is full of toothpaste, and some dribbles onto my boob. “Shit,” I mumble, spitting into the sink and grabbing a washcloth.
“Yeah,” Luca calls from the shower. I got out a few minutes ago to deal with a popcorn kernel that was stuck in my tooth and bugging the everlovingfuck out of me.
“Good. I’m tired and need cuddles.”
“Me, too.”
“You’re tired and need cuddles? ”
His loud chuckle echoes through the bathroom. “Hey, don’t judge my cuddle cravings.”
“Never.” I rinse my toothbrush and drop it into the holder. “Woman” by Kesha has been stuck in my head all day, so I grab my hairbrush and use it as a microphone while I lip-sync.
I’m rocking pretty hard, so I almost miss it when Luca grumbles, “What the fuck?”
Turning, I watch his silhouette through the steamy glass. “What the fuck, what?”
“Uh, nothing.”
“Didn’t sound like nothing.”
He turns off the water and opens the shower door, shaking his head with his nose crinkled. I love how adorable he looks when he’s confused.
There’s a grin on my face when I hand him a fresh towel. “Did you find my hair in your butt crack?”
His eyes go wide. “YES! How the actual fuck?”
I shrug, putting my brush down next to my collection of dry shampoos and body sprays. “Welcome to living with a girl, Beefcake.”
“The nightstand covered in shit? That I expected. The clothes on the floor, too. And that,” he motions at the counter with his chin while he runs the towel down his chest, “didn’t surprise me one bit. But hair getting caught between my ass cheeks? That I was not prepared for.”
“I could move back into Lil’s room,” I offer innocently.
He pins me with a glare. “Don’t you fucking dare.”
“You sure? That’s not the last time it’s gonna happen.”
“Yeah, I’m sure. I’ll deal.” He hangs the towel up. “You ready for bed?”
I nod and pick up a bottle of lotion. “Just about.”
He kisses my forehead before walking into the bedroom. “Baby, what time do you want me to wake you up to come workout with me tomorrow?”
“As late as possible,” I say, rubbing the last of the lotion into my skin.
“Alright, I’ll get up early, toss you in bed with Lil for a couple hours, then come wake you both up.”
I stop in the door frame to take a few seconds to simply look at him standing naked next to the bed. “I’m not loving these super early mornings,” I pout. “I like waking up with you for the day best.”
“I know, me too. I just need to make up some time before the fight Saturday night. Tomorrow’s the last early day for a while, I promise.” He turns to look at me, and like always, I feel adored. Even though he just saw me a minute ago. Even though I’m standing here in a pair of period panties.
He’s never made me feel like my scars are ugly or like I need to hide them from him. He kisses them all almost every night, even the dog bite on my ankle. Tonight, he strides toward me and runs his thumb over the scars on my chest before dropping his head to kiss them.
I bury my hands in his hair. “Luca,” I whisper.
He raises his head, and his lips meet mine softly as he picks me up, his strong hands on my ass, and he takes me to bed. “Time to cuddle my girl.”
I wake with a jolt and a whimper. My whole body shivers as I try to shake the nightmare away. Luca’s arms tighten around me. “I’ve got you, baby. I’m right here,” he whispers. I take a couple of deep breaths, letting everything Luca seep in and calm me. His touch, his voice, his scent, his heartbeat against my back. It all melts into me, and I melt into him. I turn in his arms. He kisses my forehead, then my lips when I tilt my face up to him.
“Thank you for being mine, Luca.”
“There’s nothing I’d rather be than yours, Ariana.”
I fall back to sleep, safe and loved, cradled against my husband’s chest.