Page 18 of Live Like Legends

She ripped the soap out of my grasp, pointing at where the red had started to fade significantly at the top of my hand. “Then what the fuck is that?” Her tone was nearly lethal and I really,really, didn’t want to talk about this right now.

I clasped my hand around hers tighter as I pulled her into me. She let out a small gasp of surprise at our sudden closeness. “How about we talk about this…afterwards.” I bent down to kiss her, practically hearing her heartbeat thud from within her chest.

She let her lips graze my own. “I’m not being swayed by your cock this time, Nicholas.” She pressed her hand against my face, pushing me away.

I groaned, absentmindedly stroking the top of my hand, drawing attention to it. I stopped the minute her brown eyes flew over to it. “It’s really nothing.”

“How come I don’t believe you?” She rolled her eyes, reaching around me to turn off the water.

I watched her reach for the towel she’d slung over the shower wall, wrapping it around her body. I sighed, a bit saddened that I wasn’t freely viewing her gorgeous body anymore, but more so, I was considering all the outcomes from telling her the truth.

“You.” I admitted, stepping out after her.

Her eyes narrowed with confusion as she grabbed another towel from my neatly folded stack shelved above my toilet. “Huh?”

I tucked the excess part of the towel away once it was securely around my waist. “You caused it.”

She pointed her index finger towards my hand. “I burned your hand?” It was almost like I could hear the cogs and wheels turning in her head.

“Yes, but it doesn’t hurt for long and it normally goes away in a few hours or a day.”

“Nick, what the fuck!”

“I said it’s fine! What are you upset about!?” My tone wasn’t serious, which was clearly the opposite reaction she wanted from me.

She ran her hand roughly though her wet curls. “I’ve been randomly burning you and you’ve just kept it to yourself. Who does that?”

I let out a laugh with no humor laced in it whatsoever. “Someone who didn’t know what the fuck was going on, so he kept it to himself so he could figure shit out, while making sure the person he cared about the most was okay, like a good boyfr—” I stopped myself before I could finish, looking at the floor. We hadn’t had that conversation yet and with everything else going on, it was just never a solid time to bring it up. I didn’t know if Dani had ever had boyfriends before; she’d told me she’d never been in love or had someone say it to her, but that didn’t mean she’d never been in a committed relationship of any kind.

Iwantedto be her boyfriend, but I didn’t want that to happen while also mentioning that she nearly melted my flesh a number of times in the last few weeks.

She pulled her lips in, pressing them together as she let my last words fall away. I heard her feet pad along the floor before she was right in front of me. Her eyes looked softer when I gave her my full attention. “When?”

I tilted my head to the side, not understanding.

“When does it happen?”

I laughed again, but this time humor enveloped it fully. “Well, so far it’s only happened when we…well when you…”

“Nick…”

“It’s only happened when we’re…well right when you….”

She sighed, annoyed. “Just spit it out!”

“It’s when you come!”

She opened her mouth but closed it immediately. Her eyes widened in shock, but in a matter of seconds, her shoulders started to shake from laughing. “Wait, wait, fucking wait. That’s why you acted so weird the morning you went to see Ariel. When I was holding your hand, you took it away so fast that I wasconfused. It was right after I…oh my god!” The side of her mouth scrunched up, her laughter ceasing instantly, as she brought her hand up and slapped the side of my head.

“What was that for?” I rubbed my head, knowing it didn’t hurt one bit, but trying really hard not to chuckle over her frustration.

“You don’t just keep that to yourself, Nicholas. No matter how it happened, I deserved to know. Despite what you say, I hurt you and I don’t love that.” She walked past me, opening the bathroom door, letting some of the cool air from the other room filter in.

I lifted my head towards the ceiling, hating that I made her feel this way. “I didn’t think I’d be saying sorry this much today, but I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you. I’m being honest when I say you didn’t necessarily hurt me, and I mean…I’m not completely upset about how it happens.” I smirked over at her, watching as she playfully shook her head at me.

“Natalia is probably right,” she muttered more to herself than to me.

“What about Natalia?”

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