I chuckled and kept walking, still feeling her eyes chase the steps I left behind. I didn’t need to look back to know her smile stayed longer than her guard meant for it to.
This blizzard isn’t ready for us… but oh well. We’re here now, and shit is about to get real.
Chapter nineteen
Chesteria
“Steam, Sass, and the Last Straw”
The lights were dim, soft instrumental music played from a speaker, and a wall of foggy windows gave just enough view of the snow flurries outside.
I sank into the indoor hot tub, letting the warmth melt the tension from my shoulders. It covered everything except my neck… and my thoughts. My nerves had been tap dancing on edge since that trip began, and being trapped in a snow globe full of passive-aggressive energy wasn’t exactly the escape I had in mind when I said I needed a getaway.
I leaned my head back, letting the heat work its way into my bones. When the door creaked, I opened one eye.
Bryce strolled into the dimly lit room with a towel casually draped over his shoulder, moving with that confident, almost swaggering walk that said,Yeah, I know I’m fine.His chest was bronzed and broad like God had a gym membership when hemade him. A vein on his bicep flexed as he rubbed the back of his neck, muscles shifting like poetry in motion. Tattoos sprawled across his pecs and dragged down his ribs like secrets only I’d ever really read. And that print? That thick thang wasprinting, and sitting in his shorts like it had something to say and no intention of whispering. It wasn’t just there; it was watching me.
A flash of memory elbowed its way into my mind, rude and vivid. I thought about thelasttime I saw it unclothed and unbothered, all proud and warm between my thighs like it had always belonged there. I could almost feel that slow stretch again… that deep fill.
My thighs pressed together under the frothy bubbles of the hot tub on instinct, trying to trap the ache before it got louder. Heat rushed straight to my center, pulsing low and needy.
Yeah, the water got hotter… and it damn sure wasn’t just the jets.
“Didn’t mean to intrude… I just want to make sure you abide by your fifteen minutes,” Bryce said, his voice low and smooth as honey but edged with just the right hint of mischief.
I smirked, not even trying to hide it. “As long as you keep that moment quiet, we’re good. Although I feel like you need this soak just as much as I do.”
I scooted to one side—not out of invitation, but acknowledgment.
That’s all it was… right?
Bryce eased into the hot tub, and the water sloshed gently around him. He let his head fall back against the elevated ledge, eyes closing as if the day had been trying to jump him.
“Hell yeah… just what a nigga needs,” he muttered, letting out a low grunt that had no business sounding that good.
And suddenly, fifteen minutes felt dangerous as hell.
Steam curled between us, thick enough to blur the lines we kept toeing.
“Bryce, we really can’t watch TV,” I said, trying to focus on anything besides how good he looked leaning back like that. “I was planning on finishing this show today.”
Bryce cocked his head, smirking slightly. “So you mad at the weather and me?”
I rolled my eyes with a giggle I didn’t mean to give.
“Listen, if the power is still out mid-week and the tank looking good, we’ll talk about one movie night,” he winked, trying to reason.
I let out a soft sigh and shifted against the wall of the tub. “I almost agree with Isis when she said this is prison. But it could be worse, so I’m not going to complain. And I damn sure don’t want whatever chore you got lined up for complainers.”
Bryce sat up a little straighter. Something shifted in his expression.
“Your chore?” he repeated, low, slow, and teasing. “Oh, your chore wouldn’t be anything like hers.”
I glanced over at him, cautious.
“Nah, they’d be scrubbing dishes or shoveling snow,” he went on, voice low and teasing. “Maybe out there untangling’ extension cords in the dark or alphabetizing’ canned goods by expiration date. “But you?”
Bryce paused. His eyes met mine with that look that used to unravel me without even trying.
