The unexpected tenderness shocks me so much my eyes flutter open.
The way Sebastian is treating me sends warmth spilling through my chest, spreading all the way down to my toes as if someone flipped a switch inside my body.
I swallow hard and decide to tell him what’s going on. If he’s going to stalk me, we might as well pool our resources to find out if that text and Savannah's attack are connected.
“I got a text the night I bumped into you when I was leaving the pub. Basically calling me a slut for…,” I pause, my voice foggy with exhaustion. “Touching your hand, I guess? It was threatening and from an anonymous number. When I found Savannah, it just made me wonder if it’s connected. If I’m next.”
His entire body seems to tighten. The easy strength in his arms doesn’t falter, but his whole vibe is different than it was minutes ago.
“I don’t know,” he finally says, “but I’m going to find out. I don’t want you worrying about anything anymore.”
My eyes are pulling shut again as we reach my dorm building. My head lolls against his shoulder as he carries me down the corridor like he’s done it a thousand times before. Somewhere through the fog in my brain, a strange thought surfaces.
“How did you know where my room is?” I mumble.
His answer comes immediately. “There isn’t much I don’t know about you, Livy.”
My eyes snap open, and his words slice straight through the haze clouding my thoughts. I lift my head, staring at him in confusion. “What?” is all I can muster.
But he’s already adjusting his grip on me, pulling my keys from my loose fingers before I even realize I’m still holding them.
“Kalen’s sister lives here,” he adds smoothly, sliding the key into the lock.
Oh.
Right.
Juniper.
The explanation settles my confusion instantly even through the feverish fog in my brain.
I relax again, letting my head fall back against his chest.
“I need a bath,” I blurt out suddenly. The words tumble out before I can think them through. “It’ll wake me up.”
Sebastian groans softly, and it’s not a noise of irritation. The low sound vibrates through his chest and into my cheek, making my face grow warm.
“Oh no,” I rush to say, suddenly mortified. “I wasn’t asking you to…I didn’t mean…” My words trip over themselves as I realize how that must have sounded. “I didn’t eat anything today, and only drank that tea…I think that’s not helping the brain fog. I just felt sick and couldn’t force it.” Ugh. I need to stop talking. I’m only making this whole situation worse.
Sebastian purses his lips in disapproval at my admission. Heat floods my cheeks even more, and it’s definitely not from the fever.
Why am I getting this comfortable with a man I barely know?
Sebastian chuckles under his breath. “You don’t strike me as the type of girl who lets strange men from the pub give you a bath.”
I sputter immediately at his choice of words. “No! No one has ever given me a bath, no one has ever…” The words catch in my throat before I can finish the sentence.
Touched me.
I look up at him without meaning to.
His green eyes seem to darken, even just slightly, and my pulse stutters in my chest. Suddenly I have the very distinct feeling that the idea of being naked with me in a bathtub doesn’t sound unappealing to him.
Sebastian smirks faintly, pushing open the door to my bedroom. “Nothing to be embarrassed about, baby,” hemurmurs. “I’ve never given anyone a bath either. Or touched anyone else, for that matter.”
A laugh bubbles out of me before I can stop it, but when he makes no indication that he’s joking, I say, “You can’t be serious.”
Sebastian narrows his eyes slightly, his lips forming an exaggerated pout that I’m certain he picked up from Kalen. “What’s funny about it?”
