Page 30 of Stray for You

I swear that the faintest of smiles twitches along his lips, if only for a heartbeat.

Chapter Fifteen

Cameron

I FALL ASLEEP WITH Julian on my chest. I keep expecting him to shift and squirm, but he stays there, getting heavier as his breathing goes deep and even.

For some reason, I never move him. I let him sleep on me, and soon enough my eyes are heavy and my body is warm and I drift off as well.

We must move at some point in the night. When I wake, we’ve shifted, but we haven’t drifted very far. Julian is on his back, and I’m … I’ve rolled onto my side, and I wake with his hair tickling the tip of my nose. My first breath is him, and as my eyes clear, my first sight is the blurry shell of his shoulder.

I very nearly kiss it.

Julian stirs. He twists onto his side, smiling before his eyes clear when he finds me beside him. I may have held back, but he doesn’t. He tips forward, kissing the tip of my nose before I can object.

He covers his mouth with his hand. “I’ll brush before I demand more.”

My brain is still booting up when he hops out of bed and practically skips to the bathroom. Of course he’s a morning person. Somehow that fits his whole irritating …thing. Though how irritating can it really be when I’m waking up next to him for the second time? Shit.

I drag myself out of bed. I put on briefs, but don’t botherwith anything else. There wasn’t much of me he didn’t see … and touch … and taste last night, so what’s the point in putting on uncomfortable jeans? Still, when I join him in the bathroom, his eyes immediately crawl up and down me, and I almost regret my choice … until I realize he’s completely naked.

I turn to the mirror, keeping my eyes on my face as I splash some water on it.

“Toothbrush?” Julian says as he pulls it out of his mouth and spits into the sink.

“That’s disgusting.”

He rolls his eyes. “You swallowed my cum last night. My toothbrush will not kill you. Here, I’ll clean it.”

He rinses it in the sink, then pats it dry on a towel before applying a fresh dollop of toothpaste. I stare for a moment before finally accepting it and shoving it in my mouth before I can think too hard about it. It’s better than feeling gross all morning, or so I tell myself as I scrub out my mouth and spit the toothpaste into the sink.

By the time I finish, a different faucet is running. I set the toothbrush aside and take in the bathroom for the first time. It’s massive. I could fit half my apartment in here. It has two sinks along the countertop, as well as a separate area with a dedicated mirror for makeup and shaving. A door leads to a tiny little room exclusively for the toilet. I could probably fit every single article of clothing I’ve ever owned in there. The shower occupies the far back corner, but across from it sits the tub, a massive basin with a rounded lip and an array of products sitting on a ledge above it. Julian is leaning over to feel the water temperature as the basin fills, and I have to look away quickly before he catches me ogling his ass.

He straightens and sets his hands on his hips. “Join me?”

“In there?” I say, nodding at the tub.

“Well, we could squeeze into the shower, but I figure this ismore comfortable.”

I blink, pausing. “You want to … take a bath with me?”

“I prefer to clean up before a long flight,” Julian says like it’s the simplest thing in the world. “We can wash up, eat, then…”

Then he’ll head to the airport, he doesn’t add. Then this ends.

I sigh and shove my briefs down, kicking myself free of them. I may have offered Julian some privacy when he bent over the tub, but he affords me no such courtesy. He eyes me shamelessly, and I hurry past him and sink into the water before I can regret this.

Julian hops in after me, sloshing water over the side in his excitement. We sit on opposite ends of the tub, our legs overlapping. Julian swiftly isn’t satisfied with this arrangement. He drapes his legs over mine and scoots forward until he’s almost sitting in my lap.

“Let me wash you,” he says.

“I’m an adult. I can wash myself.”

“Well, yeah, obviously. That’s not why I asked.” When I hesitate, he pushes. “Stop being obtuse and grab the soap.”

“I don’t remember you being this bossy.”

“You don’t really know me. There’s a lot about me that would probably surprise you.”

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