He released me and stepped back, water beading and rolling down his head and shoulders. "I barely have control over my own body. I don't know anything about relationships, or if we have one at all. I want to touch you all of the time, but I don't want to overwhelm you. When I don't touch you, I have even less control. But I don't want to push you too much and risk losing you."
He dragged a hand through his hair, pushing the messy, damp waves out of his eyes. "I guess maybe I'm using you, but all I want is to have you next to me, so I don't know how to stop. You would rather work than be around me. I'm aware that I'm not what you want, or who you want. I'm just trying to keep my head above water here, and completely fucking failing at it. "
I stared at him for a solid minute.
Maybe two.
He stared back, his eyes dark and sort of...vulnerable.
I knew the ice king had a heart.
And my plan to thaw it was working after all.
"This is how you do a relationship," I finally said, gesturing toward him. "That's what we have, Callum."
"I don't know what that means for us," he admitted.
"It means whatever we want it to mean."
"Liv thinks friendship is the best part of a mate bond."
"Friendship sounds nice." I reached for the shampoo.
He caught my wrist. "Let me, Kitten."
I nodded.
Callum stepped behind me, grabbing the shampoo and working it into my scalp. "How was the forest?"
"That is another ridiculously normal question for you."
"I'm being your friend," he grumbled.
"Part of friendship is saying what you want to say instead of dancing around the subject. You wouldn't ask Liv how the forest was."
"She would tell me, whether or not I wanted to know. I'd have to ask if I wanted information from Merrily or Dare."
"Well, the forest was fine. Sable ate two rabbits."
"Did she enjoy them?"
"Unfortunately for me, yes."
"How does the digestion work, when you switch between forms?"
"I don't want to know. I hope it’s separate somehow." My eyes closed when Callum's fingers massaged my scalp, working the shampoo through my hair, but mostly just touching me. "How was the porch?"
"Miserable." His answer was neutral, and not measured in anyway. It was just a statement, like he was talking about the weather. "Liv showed up partway through her run to lecture me, on top of it."
"What did she say?"
"That I was fucking this up. As if I didn't already know."
My lips curved slightly. "You couldn't have picked a better best friend."
"You could've."
I elbowed him lightly in the gut."Jonah isn't really my best friend. I don't think I have one. We just sort of bonded over the Gwen situation. If he gets back with her, I don't think we'll talk much anymore."
