Page 108 of Just Wait

She grins even wider. “I was thinking about taking a bubble bath in the Jacuzzi tub. Do you want to join me?”

My head bobs erratically. “Yes.”

After everything she’s been through, it’s probably a good thing that I have no chill where she’s concerned. She can only benefit from seeing how badly I want her.

Despite the fact that we’re both naked, soaking in the hot water, the bubbles do a solid job of giving us some modesty.

The tub is massive.

We could easily fit another person or two, but when we came back in, Mal and Kincaid were chilling in the living room.

While I can’t be positive what they were thinking, I assume they either wanted to give me some alone time with Lumen, or they realized that we overwhelmed her earlier.

The woman in question stares across the bathroom.

Sometimes I wish I was more playful like Malcolm. He’s always able to set others at ease with a joke or some off-the-wall comment. She’s been quiet, and I want to find a way to connect with her.

I settle for asking, “Whatcha thinking about?”

Lumen sighs, focusing back on me. “It’s rather depressing. Are you sure you’d like to hear about it?”

“Oh, beautiful. I thrive in the darkness. Give me all the dark, depressing shit.” I grin to offset my words, but it’s sadly true.

“Seeing Theo wasn’t great,” she says softly. “I’m a hypocrite. I ended things, but it’s still going to hurt like a bitch to see him moving on.”

“You wanna hear something really embarrassing?”

She nods. “Absolutely.”

I laugh. “I stalked Callie’s social media for like six months after we broke up.” Bringing a wet hand up, I swipe it over my face. “I’m not a psychopath, I swear. I feel like women can say that and get away with it, but when a man says it, it becomes unsettling. I didn’t want her back. Though I did still love her at that point, or maybe I just had love for her?” I shrug, sinking down in the water. “I also kinda hated her by then, but I had this obsessive need to know if she had moved on. I compared myself to everyone she was with for a while. It was really unhealthy, but I think it’s part of moving on in the digital age. Or maybe I’m justifying.”

“God, that’s the most relatable thing anyone has ever said to me.” Lumen laughs. “Thank you for making me feel like less of a psycho.”

“Moving on is complicated.” I grab her foot, which rests by my thigh, and dig my thumb into her arch. “It doesn’t help that everything is still raw, and you keep running into him.”

“Even if I could get away physically, it’s only a matter of time before Tangled Desires is on the radio.” She huffs, lowering in the water. “I’ll have to hear the songs I wrote for them, and that’s really going to suck.”

“I can only imagine,” I tell her, nodding.

Malcolm hasn’t shut up about how talented she is, and I believed him, but hearing the label is taking legal actions to buy out her songwriting credit is fucking crazy. From what Kincaid said, they seriously lowballed her offer too.

“Is your goal to create music long term?” I ask, teasing my thumbs up the top of her foot to caress her ankle.

“I don’t know,” she whispers, glancing away. “It would be my dream job, but also…” She trails off, and I stay quiet, giving her space to think before speaking. “It’s complicated.”

“I get it, but for what it’s worth, I’ve heard Tangled Desires perform. You’ve got crazy talent if you decide you want to use it.”

Lumen pulls her foot from my grasp, moving it under her and repositioning until she can float in the water over to me.

She climbs into my lap, planting her hands on my shoulders. “Thanks for talking me off the ledge. I was freaking out about multiple things tonight.”

It gets hard to focus since her pussy floats right above my cock, but I do my best to be a gentleman.

“You took me on a walk, then gave me a bath,” she says softly, blinking up at me from under her lashes. “I just wanted to say thank you. I like you a lot, Ry.”

My heart thunders. “Me too, beautiful.”

I’m not sure if I kiss her or she kisses me, but we meet in the middle. The water sloshes around the tub as I weave my hand into her wet hair. Her pussy lands against my pelvis, grinding against me as our tongues clash.