Page 9 of Until We Kiss

He’s smooth skin, wide shoulders down to his ass. My eyes track over him and stop at a smattering of errant hair creeping down his crack.

A patch of hair.

Fuck.

Most guys would wax that off, but I just keeplookingat it.

Steam thickens on my skin like paint, but I’m still shivering so hard that it’s unbalancing my knee, making my hip ache with how I’m standing. My sweats are heavy.

“Theo?” Carter twists halfway to look at me, palms still on the wall, lower back bowing, ass pushed out, his chest reddened from the water. “You good?”

“Yeah.” I inhale the dense, humid air, highly aware of where I’m looking.

At his face.

His forehead wrinkles. He pushes off the wall, turning toward me fully and…

Oh, shit. Say something.

“Elephants have a specific warning call that means ‘human’,” I blurt.

He blinks at me. “What?”

“Nothing. Sorry. Shit.”

He just keeps standing there, completely fucking naked, water spraying over one shoulder, his eyes narrowing as he takes me in.

“Elephants are smart,” he finally says. “They’re one of my favorite animals.”

“Yeah, me too.” I lick my lips, another shiver racking through me so hard that I swear my stomach shakes.

His brow furrows. “You gotta get in here.” He steps to the side, so the water is hitting his hip, those wrinkles in his forehead keep deepening until they look like little waves. “Seriously, get warm. I’m getting worried about you.”

He does look worried.

He’s always worried about me.

I suck in a breath and step forward, my throat tightening as I near him—a foot of steam-heavy air between us. He steps out of the water, letting me in.

The first drops of water hit my chest, stinging, and my mouth opens, letting out some kind of guttural noise.

I ache for warmth, my shoulders curling forward but head tipping back as I step under the spray. Water sears my raw skin, every muscle tensing, ass flexing, toes curling.

The noise fades, and for a moment, I forget he’s there—that huge presence hovering, then he moves, sweeping a curl out of his eyes as a shiver races over his shoulders.

He’s still cold.

He should be… in the water with me.

I step to the side. “Get in.”

He nods, another shiver racing over him, tremblingeverything, and then he slides in next to me, his arm pressing against mine, our cold skin touching.

But we’re too big to both fit under the spray of the single shower head. Side-by-side, at least.

I swear the world is out to get me.

I close my eyes. “Come closer.”

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