“Shit, sorry,” she shouted, catching a flash of skin before I yanked the hemline down.
“It’s okay,” I managed, my heartbeat still drumming.How much had she seen?
“I didn’t realize. I wasn’t sure if you needed this.” She held up a fresh towel, offering it to me. I took it from her, wrapping it around my hair. “It’s good to see you didn’t get stuck this time.”
I laughed flatly, feeling the closing proximity between us in the small bedroom.
“I see you found my favorite T-shirt. I wondered where it went.” She hummed. I immediately looked down, having assumed the T-shirt I’d grabbed from the dresser was my own.
Instead, I found the tagline sitting next to a little racket that read “I serve harder than your ex.” I didn’t need to look in the mirror to know that my face was quickly burning red.
OH GOD.
“Oh, I thought it was mine.” I panicked, fingertips pulling at the hem, realizing what I was wearing underneath: nothing.
“It’s fine.” She smiled, unaware of the mental screaming I was doing. “It looks better on you anyway.” Chloe moved around the bedroom as if it were her own.I guess it was.“Do you have anything I can borrow?”
“Yeah, sure, of course.” I stumbled over my words, spinning around to the dresser. I pulled out some clothes, judging her size to be similar to my own, and passed them over. Her fingers brushed against mine again as she took the material.
“Thank you,” she said, before, without any hesitation, she turned around and pulled her wet clothes off.
I spun around, heart pounding against my chest. I mean, it wasn’t anything I hadn’t caught glimpses of before. In locker rooms and in beachside bikinis. But this feltdifferent.
“It’s so cute here. I forgot how nice it is,” she said casually. As if she wasn’t currently half naked behind me.AS IF THIS WAS NORMAL.
“Yeah, it’s really comfortable,” I just managed to say, stumbling over my words. I heard a thump, probably the dog getting up to mischief, and I instinctively turned around, only to see Chloe’s naked back.
Her shoulders looked like they were carved from ivory, tan lines prominent along her milky skin from her time on the court. I was hypnotized as she moved, her hair stuck to her back. Her arms lifted before I realized I could also see the swell of her breast. Before it could register, she pulled down the tank top I had given her.
Then she looked over her shoulder, her gaze catching on mine, and a sly smile slowly curled her lips. “Private too.” She winked.
I froze.Did she mean what I thought she meant?She must have seen the panic cross my face as she corrected, “I mean,it’s away from my parents. I needed the space.”
“Oh yeah. Of course,” I said, smiling. “They seemed like they care?”
She let out a heavy breath, turning around fully, her wet clothes wrapped up in a towel. “You havenoidea.” Chloe shifted her weight, her gaze dropping for a brief second before meeting mine again. “They mean well, but sometimes it’s... suffocating, you know?”
I chuckled softly. “Sounds exhausting.”
“It is,” she admitted. “Are you hungry?”
“Is that your way of sayingyou’rehungry?” I asked. There was alow rumble of thunder, the storm reminding us of its existence. “Was that you or the weather?” I joked.
“Me,” she said quickly, grinning brightly.
I hummed to myself, heading for the kitchen. “I don’t think we have a lot over here.” Chloe’s chef had been making most of our meals, but that didn’t mean I hadn’t stashedsomesnacks. “But I do have some ramen?”
“Fresh?” Chloe asked, following me through.
“No.” I shook my head. “Instant.”
“I’ve never had it.”
I paused, looking back at her. “You’ve never had instant ramen?”
She shrunk in on herself. “I’ve always had a chef, or room service.”
“Have you ever had to make your own food?”
