Page 104 of Game Misconduct

He grimaces. “Not great. The painkillers helped.”

“Annaliese made me promise to take a bubble bath. Do you… Would you like to join me?”

I’ve never taken a bath with anyone. Never showered together. Being naked was always about getting off. In, out, done.

But with Nick, every time we’re together, I believe more and more that he likes me and my body, not in spite of it. That he’s not pretending to be interested in me as a person just to get laid.

I know better. But that doesn’t make those insidious thoughts any easier to tackle. My mother’s voice in my ear is as loud as ever.

He makes a content noise deep in his throat. “That sounds nice.”

I kiss him again, short and chaste, before I force myself to pull back.

“Come find me in a few minutes. I’ll get everything ready.”

In the hall cupboard are a few votive candles. I fill the tub with hot water, squeezing a good amount of my favorite soap into the stream to create orange blossom–scented bubbles. The candles are lit and placed strategically around the bathroom.

And then I turn the lights off since the fluorescents still gives him headaches. With the light from the votives, the bathroom is cast in a romantic glow.

This isn’t about romance. It isn’t about sex. This is for us to be together, to relax a little.

I strip off my clothes, leaving them in a pile in the corner, and then tie my long hair up into a bun on the top of my head. When I finally step into the water, sinking into the deep tub, I let out a happy sigh.

A shadowy figure appears in the doorway, and I turn to watch as Nick strips off his shirt and joggers. I drink in the contours of his body, the hard muscles blemished by fading bruises.

“How are we going to do this?” His voice is a low murmur, rumbly and thick.

“I thought maybe I could be the big spoon for a little while.”

His sigh hits me right in the chest. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

Even sitting up straight, the water covers my breasts, and as he steps into the tub and settles his back to my chest, it sloshes along the side of the tub.

I wrap my arms around his torso, pulling him into me. My chin rests perfectly along his shoulder.

“This feels nice,” he murmurs, almost shy. “I’ve never done this before.”

“Taken a bath?”

“Not with someone.”

“Me either,” I admit.

He gathers some of the bubbles in his hands, bringing them to his face and inhaling deeply.

“This is like the hand sanitizer. It won’t get you high,” I tease.

Nick cranes his head to look back at me. “Do you know why I love the scent of your hand sanitizer so much?”

“Why?”

“Because it’s yours. For three and a half years, the scent of orange blossoms taunted me. And now, I’m surrounded by it, every single day, and I can’t be happier.”

I’m speechless.

“Nick…”

He shakes his head, the movement ginger. “I’m crazy about you, Bex Marie,” he murmurs. He arches his head back until our mouths are millimeters away, his breath ghosting over my lips. “Abso-fucking-lutely crazy.”