“What?” I asked.
“Nothing,” Troy said. “Just enjoying the view.”
I flipped him off and kept cooking.
We ate breakfast like nothing had happened, like we hadn't just had a threesome on the kitchen table, like this was completely normal.
Maybe it was becoming normal. Maybe this was just what our lives looked like now.
When we finished eating, I looked at Troy. “You want to come to the training facility with me today?”
He blinked. “To watch you train?”
“To watch. Maybe join in if you want.” I shrugged. “Figured you might be getting stir-crazy sitting around the house all day.”
“I am getting stir-crazy.” Troy leaned back in his chair. “But are you sure you want me there? That's your space.”
“Yeah. I'm sure.” I looked at Dmitri. “You're coming too, right?”
“Da. For security.” Dmitri stood and started clearing plates. “Is not safe for either of you to be out without watching. I follow. Keep eye out for trouble.”
“Great.” I finished my coffee. “We leave in an hour. That give you both enough time to get ready?”
“Yeah.” Troy stood and stretched. The apron rode up showing off the lace still clinging to his hips. “I need a shower first though.”
The shower was already running when I walked into the bathroom. Steam filled the space, turning everything soft and hazy. Troy was under the spray with his head tipped back and water running over his face and down his chest in rivulets that caught the light.
I stripped off my sweatpants and stepped in behind him. The water was hot enough to sting my bruised ribs but I didn't adjust it. I just moved closer until my chest pressed against his back.
Troy leaned into me without saying anything and let his weight settle against mine. His skin was warm and slick under my hands.
I wrapped my arms around him carefully, avoiding the worst of the bruising on his ribs that mirrored my own, and just held him while water poured down over both of us.
“You okay?” I asked quietly.
“Yeah.” His voice was rough. “Just tired.”
“We don't have to go to the facility if you're not up for it.”
“I want to go.” He turned in my arms and looked up at me with dark eyes that were too serious. “I want to see you in your element. Want to understand that part of your life.”
I kissed him slow and deep, tasting water and him and the lingering evidence of what we'd done downstairs.
When I pulled back, his hands were fisted in my hair and his breathing had gone uneven.
“We keep doing this and we're never leaving this shower,” he said.
“Would that be so bad?”
“Dmitri's waiting. And you said you needed to train.” Troy stepped back slightly and grabbed the soap. “Turn around.”
I did and felt his hands on my shoulders, working the soap across my skin with careful attention to every bruise and scrape. He washed my back, my sides, down to my hips with focus that felt like devotion.
“Your ribs look worse,” he said.
“They're healing. Just takes time.”
“You should ice them after training.”
