“I just…” I gesture vaguely at him. “You’re… I mean… you’re taller than a building and built like a Greek god and?—”
Sebastian cuts me off by looking down at me with an intensity that steals the breath from my lungs.
“And waiting for you, Miss Rhodes.” His voice is completely serious. “All of those things can be true at once.”
My eyes widen.
I press the back of my hand against my forehead.
“Am I hallucinating?” I mutter. “Do I have a fever?”
Sebastian snickers quietly as he carries me into the bathroom.
“Iliterallydo not want you to give me a bath,” I mumble weakly. “I don’t even know why I said that to you.”
My favorite stalker ignores me completely. Setting me carefully on the edge of the sink, he steps closer until his tall frame boxes me in on both sides. His hands rest on the counter beside my hips, trapping me between his arms.
For one dizzying second, I think he’s going to kiss me.
My heart jumps, but instead of kissing me, he only leans down slightly, his voice low even though we’re alone.
“I’m going to start the bath,” he says. “And while you get settled in, I’m going to get you something to eat and drink. Since I clearly can’t trust you to handle that yourself.”
I gasp at his audacity. “You can’t trust me? A literal man who practically admits to stalking me?”
He shakes his head slowly, his expression grim, but I can tell he’s being playful and not serious. “I think we’re going to have to stay in constant contact so I can make sure you’re staying hydrated.”
At least? I think he’s joking until I realize he’s not.
“Do you not… have classes?” I ask incredulously. “A whole sport you play? Hobbies?”
I’m not actually asking because I already know the answers. I’m just pointing out how ridiculous he sounds.
His thumb brushes gently across my cheek, pushing a strand of hair out of my eyes. The simple touch sends warmth spilling down my spine.
“Nothing that matters more than you,” he says quietly.
And then he steps away, leaving my jaw to plummet to the floor.
He turns on the tub faucet, adjusting the temperature carefully before adding a dash of soap that quickly turns into a soft layer of bubbles.
I sit there with my mouth slightly open as he tests the water with his hand like he’s done this a hundred times before.
When he looks back at me, his expression is brooding again.
This man is actually offended that I forgot to eat and drink enough today, and I don’t even know what to think about that.
“I’ll knock before I come back in,” Sebastian says, “Get settled in. I’ll be a few minutes.” Then he leaves the bathroom, presumably to find food.
I’m left sitting on the counter, wondering how my life got so strange that a giant rugby player just scolded me for dehydration and started running me a bath.
Considering this isn’t the worst thing that’s happened to me today, we gotta see it through.
I slip off my clothes and toss them in my hamper, and slip completely naked into the perfectly hot water and say a little prayer that I won’t regret this.
LIVY
The bath has worked its quiet magic on my aching body, the heat of the water soaking deep into my muscles. The tightness that’s been living in my shoulders for days finally begins to loosen. Steam curls lazily through the small bathroom, fogging the mirror and softening the edges of everything around me until the outside world feels far away and really unimportant.
