After rinsing my mouth, I turned off the water and stared at myself in the mirror.
Paxton’s reflection stared back at me.
I held back a startled scream. “What are you doing?”
He narrowed his eyes. “I could ask the same.”
“I’m surprised you came home.” I wiped my mouth with a towel then flung it to the counter. “Especially since you and that ho Katrina seemed intent on swallowing each other’s tongues.”
I twisted around to lean my butt against the bathroom sink, crossing my arms over my chest.
“You’re really one to talk.” Rage seemed to darken Pax’s blue eyes. His lips compressed into a thin line. “All wrapped up snug in Mick’s arms, letting him practically fuck you with his tongue.”
My hand flew to my throat, and I rubbed at the skin, remembering Mick’s lips on my skin. He hadn’t been a bad kisser. It was just I hadn’t felt anything, not like I did when Paxton kissed me…touched me.
“Wait. How do you know—”
“Because I came to find you, to tell you I didn’t kiss her back.” Paxton swallowed and grabbed the doorjamb, the knuckles of his hands turning white with strain.
What does he mean?Did he go to the theater? Did he see us? Dread pooled in my stomach.
“You…you came looking for me?”
“Yeah, and then after seeing you with him, I left.” He shook his head, still gripping the wooden door jamb.
“It wasn’t what it looked like.” I bit my lip, unsure what exactly it might’ve looked like from his perspective.
“Oh really?” He stalked toward me.
I stepped to the side, toward the shower, but he kept pressing forward, a dangerous glint in his gaze, like he wanted to punish me. The cold tiles of the shower wall pressed into my shoulders but he kept pushing forward, leaving only a breath of space between our bodies.
“I was angry at you, at Katrina, and I…I just needed to feel pretty, like I mattered to at least one person.”
He frowned and his shoulders dropped. “Terri.” Reaching toward me, he cupped my cheek with his palm and stared at me with such intensity I couldn’t look away. “You matter tome. You have from the first time we met.”
“As a foster sister? A girl in need of saving?”
“No,” he growled, roughly tilting my face to his, his stormy blue eyes scouring my face. “As my Wendy. And I think you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever known. When I saw that asshole putting his lips on you, I wanted to rip him out of his seat and punch his face.”
A lone giggle snuck out of me. “I wanted to do the same thing to Katrina, but decided she wasn’t worth it.
“I couldn’t care less about her. I want you. No one else.” His thumb rubbed against the corner of my mouth. We were so close his body heat mixed with mine.
“You really like me, then, it’s not just a brotherly duty?”
“Fuck anything brotherly.” His eyelids lowered as he stared at my mouth. He leaned closer, our lips almost brushing against one another. “I don’tlikeyou, Cotton Candy.”
“Oh.” I closed my eyes and focused on keeping my heart from shattering. I’d hoped he felt the same, as if there wasn’t enough air in the room until he was in it.
“Iloveyou,” he whispered.
My gaze opened to his. “Y-you do?” A hot tear fell from my eye.
“I love everything about you.” He moved his mouth to my cheek and trailed kisses along the tear’s path. “From your ridiculous bows to your frilly dresses, to your color-coordination to your willingness to stand up even when you’ve been knocked down.” He wrapped a hand around the side of my neck. “I love how you treat me, not like I’m a charity case or a future meal ticket, but like I’m interesting. You take the time to ask about my day, to find out what I like or hate, what I’m feeling.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck and pushed my cheek to his, giving him a tight hug.
“You look at me with your heart in your eyes, CC, as if you’d follow me to Hell if I asked.”
