“Why.”
“Someone stole all my shit while I was in the shower. And all the towels mysteriously disappeared.” She edges from the door enough for me to see that she’s holding a semi-translucent shower curtain wrapped around her torso like a lifeline. She mistakes my frown at my errant erection for refusal and hastily adds, “and you’re like, ten feet tall.” While gesturing to my body. Her cheeks darkening in embarrassment, the flush creeping down her neck and chest to join the cool water dripping down her pebbled skin.
“I’ll give you my shirt.”
“Oh thank fuc?—”
“If you put it on right here.”
The look of shock on her face alone is worth it. “What?”
“Put it on right here,” I repeat before reaching behind me and peeling the shirt off my back, “and you can have it.” I extend my hand but she’s frozen, lips parted in shock.
“Are you serious?”
“You see me laughing?”
She growls. This little thing actuallygrowlsat me. “What kind of fucked up quid pro quo shit is this?”
I shrug, unrepentant, trying to suppress the chuckle in danger of escaping my chest. Thankfully she’s too pissed to look below my waist. “Tit for tat.”
Her eyes narrow then, all signs of embarrassment replaced by that same fire I’d loathed and longed for not half an hour ago. “Now he’s got fucking jokes,” she seethes before squaring her shoulders. “I’m not getting naked in front of you.”
“Okay.”
When she closes her eyes in exasperation, I take a moment to devour her body with my eyes. “You’re a dick, you know that?”
This time my lip twitches before I can stop myself. “You want it or not?”
She opens her eyes, glaring at me. “Not.”
“Have a nice walk,” I say, tossing my shirt over my shoulder and crossing my arms again, watching her struggle to wrench her eyes from my chest. With a groan of frustration, she turns around and walks back through the door, unintentionally giving me a fantastic view of her ass through the thin plastic before the door slowly shuts. Long after the metallic echo fades from the gym, memories of the last hour replay through my head. Her ass against my dick when she took me by surprise. The way my hands collared her wrists. Her body underneath mine, pressed into the mat as I straddled her legs.
How she mocked me.
How she defied me.
How she refused to stay down.
I need to hit something. Anything, to rid myself of the growing discomfort in my chest. Maybe Thane has something in his stash that would numb whatever the fuck I’m feeling right now. The thought finally propels me to move, grabbing my bag and slamming the gym door open so hard it pings off the concrete exterior.
My pace increases until I’m running across campus, other students scurrying out of my way. I ignore their blurred faces as the blue hues of twilight saturate the sky, cooling the air in my lungs as I try to burn off the restless energy that’s building in my chest.
I arrive at the dorms sooner than I’d hoped, but not even taking the stairs three at a time quells the writhing emotions that are slowly suffocating me. B the time I unlock our door, I’m barely breathing heavy. Thane and Roth are in front of the fireplace, the former bent over the latter, moving the tattoo gun back and forth over his arm. Roth rests his head against the back of the chair, a glass of his favorite scotch hanging precariously from his other hand. Thane looks up and nods then turns back to the piece he’s re-touching, and Roth opens one eye, raising his glass in greeting. Save for the buzz of the tattoo gun and the crackling fire, the living room is otherwise silent. The moment the door closes behind me, it’s like a weight has been lifted off my chest and I can finally breathe.
“You good?” Thane asks, his voice raw from whatever he’s been smoking.
“Fine,” I lie, which makes Roth to open his other eye to peer at me. Fucker won’t let me have any secrets—but he’s one of three people in this world who actually care whether I have any, so I let it go.
“We have things to discuss. Join us after you get changed,” he orders. I grunt and pass by them as I walk to my room to drop my bag. Thane’s head suddenly snaps up, his ice-blue eye flashing dangerously with the presence of his demon.
“What’s that smell?” he asks, inhaling deeply. Roth copies him, and his already piercing gaze turns predatory.
“The new girl. Carrick’s making me work with her.”
“Why?” Roth demands.
“He’s a lazy fuck. Why else does he do anything?” I shrug dismissively, trying to conceal my own reaction to having her scent all over me—which is slowly driving me mad as it seeps into my skin. Thane’s blue eye fades as his demon retreats, and Roth and I relax infinitesimally as he shakes his head to clear it from his mind.
