Page 30 of Tracking Snow

But I don’t, because that would wake Ariel and she’d roll out here and beat me with that red cowboy boot she nicked from that consignment store where the clerk was rude to us.

I’m in and out of the shower in record time, grabbing that pair of boxer shorts that are too big for me. I couldn’t pass them up when Ariel and I went to the pop-up sale at Chapter Three, Isabelle’s romance bookstore, even though there was only a size large left. They have a bunch of tiny swords and books on them. I normally roll down the hem to get them to fit.

Six takes them and disappears into our tiny bathroom.

Waiting in my bedroom, I’m full of manic energy, bouncing around. No longer cold, I change into spandex shorts and an oversized tee featuring a pin-up girl winking as she holds up a sharp knife beneath the words, Tell Me To Smile One More Time.

It’s not that I haven’t had a guy spend the night before, but this feels different.

My excitement takes a dive as the disgusting scent of concentrated ammonia hits my nose. Or in other words, cat piss.

"Ugh, no the hell you did not, you little bastard..." I grumble as I walk over to my favorite pair of combat boots I’d foolishly left out instead of putting them in the closet behind a firmly closed door even evil cat paws can’t figure out how to open.

Dipping a finger inside my boot, a quick sniff tells me Lucifer, that fucking evil stray cat of all that is unholy in this world, has indeed defiled my beloved boots. "I am going to make you dog kibble, you little jerk," I grumble even as I open the drawer and pull out a bottle. I rip out the laces and drown the offense in enzyme cleaner.

"I hung my clothes on the shower rod," Six says from behind me.

I quickly stash the bottle of cleaner and kick the boots into the corner, then turn around.

Six stands just inside my bedroom wearing those dark blue boxers and nothing else.

Chapter 10

Fever Dream Next Door to the Sleeping Klepto

SNOW

My jaw drops as my body heat skyrockets. My thighs press together on instinct, fighting the girl boner that arises hard and fast.

Like our living room, there are so many fairy lights hanging in my bedroom that it’s unnecessary to turn on a lamp. Their warm light casts an appealing sheen over the hard, lean planes of The Seven’s pale body.

I felt all of that in the water between our clothes, but now it’s all on display. Down to his long muscles streamlining along his thighs, to his bare feet, he is...yummy.

My mouth dries up, and my heart beats in a quick, excited staccato.

Six’s curly hair is heavy and limp, slightly dripping. It hangs in his eyes, and something about that makes my knees turn to jelly. My stomach defies gravity, floating inside me.

What...what is this feeling overtaking me?

The word comes to me from one of the paperbacks dog-eared on my shelf that I picked up at Chapter Three: The Pixie and the Pirate.

Swoon.

That’s the word.

I’m goddamn swooning. I want to run my hands and mouth and tongue all over The Seven.

Six quirks a brow at me. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Like what?" I croak.

"Your eyes are all big, and your body seems...tense."

Because I want to jump your bones so bad my teeth hurt.

"No reason," I lie. I have a feeling Six could easily be spooked, so I wrestle back my every base instinct that commands I maul the magic-wielding hot boy.

He shrugs off my weirdness before walking around my room, studying this new environment with the same attention he gave to the rest of my apartment.