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One that doesn’t include my past if I can help it.
Talon is back quicker than I expect, coming in with two small buckets of ice. He puts the buckets in the freezer part of the mini fridge before turning his sights on me.
“I figured you’d be there,” he says with a smirk.
“Why’s that?”
“Because your bed at home is shit.” He leaps onto the bed and flops down beside me, putting his hands behind his head. I giggle. He used to do that a lot when we were younger. I used to always fuss at him because he’d just barge into my room and jump onto my bed, normally disturbing whatever I was workingon at the time. But now, it’s oddly comforting. It feels like old times, as if we’re the same kids we used to be, but just older.
“Can’t argue with that,” I say after a while.
“I’m guessing you haven’t made it into the bathroom yet to see the shower and the tub.”
“I’ll get there, eventually.”
“I think you’ll like it.”
We sit in awkward silence for a little while longer. Things had been easier when they were mad about not knowing my name, but it’s a bit uncomfortable sometimes when we run out of relevant things to talk about. What do you say to someone that you skipped out on years ago without warning or an explanation? No apology in the world will make up for the time we’ve missed in each other’s lives or the fact that I never even came back after the fact.
“Where’s Tristan?” I ask.
Talon gives me a half shrug. “Don’t know.”
“Does he still not know?”
He’s quiet for a long moment before he shakes his head. “Not yet.” He scrubs a hand down his face. “And he’s going to be just as mad at me once he figures it out if he knows that I’ve known for a while and didn’t tell him.”
“Why didn’t you?” I ask. I’m actually curious, as I thought he’d for sure rat me out since he seemed so set on trying to protect me from his brother.
“It would’ve only made things worse in the moment,” is all that he says. Neither of us says anything. We just lie in comfortable silence as we stare at the ceiling. Dealing with Tristan has been like a double-edged sword for the both of us. Telling him the truth will have the same negative impact as withholding the information. It doesn’t matter what path we choose, because the result will be the same either way.
May as well take the easy route until it no longer works.
“Well, I’m going to take a quick shower,” I say as I force myself up. “I should probably wash my apartment off of me since I’m in this fancy hotel room.”
“I’ll be here,” Talon says.
I nibble my bottom lip as I ponder over my next few words. “Do you…want to join me?”
His gaze whips over to me, widening slightly. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”
I hold out my hand to him in response, smiling when he takes it. We both walk into the bathroom, and I’m immediately in awe. This bathroom is probably bigger than the bedroom in my apartment. Compared to the dingy, off-white color of my bathroom at home, this one is bright despite the lack of windows. White marble covers everything, swirls of gray and black making it more contemporary instead of sterile. There is a large standing shower, a separate soaking tub, a double vanity sink, and a porcelain toilet so shiny that I can almost see my reflection.
“Jesus Christ,” I murmur as I look around.
“Told you,” Talon muses.
I open the shower door and frown when I see all the buttons on the wall. “Yeah…this is definitely out of my pay grade,” I say. “How do you turn this thing on?”
“I got it,” he says with a chuckle as he nudges me out of the way.
I undress as he presses different buttons to turn on different parts of the shower panel and when he finishes, water is coming out of four different shower heads.
The hot water hitting my tired muscles nearly makes me melt into a puddle and swirl down the shower drain the moment I step in. It’s been so long since I had a shower with decent water pressure that I’m sure I could probably fall asleep standing up if I stay in here long enough. Talon enters behindme and closes the glass door, enclosing the space with warm steam.
“This feels like a dream,” I murmur as the water soaks my hair. The pressure of the water falling down on me massages my scalp. “Maybe I’m dead and this is heaven.”
Talon releases a deep chuckle. I can hear him moving around me before his hands appear in my hair. I open them to find him rubbing shampoo into my long purple strands as he looks down at me with soft eyes.
