Page 97 of Living Legend

“I have some sweatshirts you can wear. It’s not a big deal. You can change in the bathroom,” Nicholas offered.

“Sounds cozy,” I mocked. Nicholas rolled his eyes and got up from his chair. He walked past me, holding onto his side, and retreated down the hall to the room on the left.

His father turned back towards the sink and pulled out a sponge, drizzling dish detergent. “Go on now.”

Before Mr. Cassial sauntered off to bed, he told us that Nicholas would happily let me sleep in his bed while he slept on the couch. I watched as Nicholas narrowed his eyes at his father for casually giving away his room, but held down any back talk that might come up if he opened his mouth. I had laughed and said I didn’t need a bed, but he had insisted, so I didn’t fight too hard for it. His father told us goodnight with a wave of his hand over his shoulder and retreated upstairs to his room.

Then we were alone. I stood in front of Nicholas, who had already changed into another t-shirt and sweatpants, crossing my arms over my chest.

Nicholas handed me the clothes—a sweatshirt and a pair of sweatpants, telling me that obviously the sweatpants would be too big, but they had a pretty lengthy drawstring, so I could make it work. I gave him a nod before making my way to the bathroom. Shutting the door behind me, I leaned my back against the solid wood and could almost feel the whole door vibrate from the crackling thunder. The thunder isn’t what got me, but the rain, ah, the rain soothed me. The sound of the pattering liquid against the roof allowed me to clear my head whenever I needed it.

The bathroom was small, but not so small that I didn’t have room to move around. I couldn’t see myself doing a full cartwheel in here, but it was spacey enough. I set the clothes on the toilet lid and pulled my shirt over my head and scuffled out of my shorts, looking at myself in the mirror. I brought my hair over my shoulders, watching as it settled right in front of my breasts, each curl twirling whichever way it wanted and springing up the minute I wrapped a finger around it and let it go. I leaned against the sink, sucked in one long breath, and let it out, in, out, in, out. I looked down at the clothes and a surge of trouble ran through my veins and heated my skin. I unclasped my bra and let it fall to the ground, collapsing on top of the pile of my other clothes.

I reached for the sweatshirt, which was solid black, but when I turned it around, I noticed that two white wings decorated the back. I rolled my eyes but stuck to the plan. I pulled the sweatshirt over my head, pulled my hair out, and let it settle in its large mess around my shoulders again. My eyes traveled to the sweatpants still laying gracefully on the toilet lid, willing me to put them on, but I just blinked and opened the door to leave.

I took off my shoes as I left the bathroom, reaching down and picking them up, placing them right outside Nicholas’ room. I could hear rummaging in the kitchen and made my way over. The couch had a set of sheets on the arm and the throw pillows were arranged in a way that told me those were his sleeping pillows for the night. He was over at the refrigerator, leaning in and searching.

“What are you doing?” I asked, startling him.

Nicholas lifted his head, connecting with the top of the fridge with a loud thud. “Fuck,” he mumbled, rubbing at the top of his head.I pressed my lips together, trying not to giggle.

“I was just getting a drink that wasn’t water, since my father forgets I’m twenty-three and not—” he started, but let the words just fall away when he turned around and saw me. His eyes didn’tremain on my face too long. They skated down from my face to my sweatshirt-covered body to the hem that hit right at mid-thigh. His mouth dropped open a bit and he stared so hard, it was as if he wanted to burn a hole through my legs.

“Not what?”

“What?” He blinked up to my face again, confusion in his eyes.

“You started a sentence and didn’t finish it.”

Nicholas blinked a few more times and then looked down at the beer in his hand, as if he hadn’t even realized he’d removed it from the fridge. “Yeah…uh…I wanted a real drink now that the old man has gone to sleep.”

“You rebel,” I joked, padding over to the couch, making myself comfortable in front of the fireplace.

“Ha ha,” he replied sarcastically. It was odd, but I felt him hesitate for a few moments before asking, “do you want one?”

I swung my arm over the back of the couch and turned my eyes on him. I wrinkled my nose at the idea of beer but conceded. “Sure.”

“Don’t tell me you have more exquisite alcohol in Purgatory.” I watched as he rummaged through the fridge, picking out another beer and closing the door with his shoeless foot. He rounded the couch and reached out to hand me the bottle of dark liquid. He leaned down towards the coffee table, picking up a bottle opener sitting on top. He popped his cap off and tossed the opener over to me.

“Of course not, but beer has never been my top choice. I’m not picky about much, but this is one of those things.” He shrugged and took a swig of his drink as I popped the top from my own bottle. “Besides, how can I refuse when someone as pretty as you offers it to me?”

He leveled me with his eyes over the top of his beer bottle, saying nothing.The next thing out of his mouth was not what I expected.“You said that those things didn’t even know themselves anymore.”

I tapped my nail on the bottle, taking a small sip that I make me wince. “Hmm?”

“Back at The Skies, you made a comment that they didn’t even know who they were anymore. What does that even mean?”

“It doesn’t mean anything.”

“You are going to act coy now? Of all the times to open your mouth, you choose now to be coy.”

I rolled my eyes. “Stop whining. I’m not being coy. I really don’t know that much.”

“But you know enough to make an ominous comment like that.” He settled back in his corner of the couch and scanned me from head to toe again, this time making a point to not linger on my legs tucked under my thighs.

“If I tell you what little I know, will you shut up about it?”

“One of those things sliced through my side today. I’m not making that fucking promise.”

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