Page 81 of The Gods Veiling
“I heard you scream. Are you—” His eyes drift down me, widen, then flare for a whole other reason. They meet mine once again as he leans against the doorframe, and a smirk I can only describe as dangerous crosses his face. “You know you’re practically naked, right?”
Gods, someone kill me now.
The cool air from the hall hits the bare skin of my stomach and my nipples harden painfully in my bra. I’ve never been more grateful in my life that I didn’t completely undress myself.
Why the hell did I skip putting clothes on?
I act as confident and unfrazzled as possible when I speak. “I’m aware. The knocking scared me, and I rolled out of bed. That’s why I screamed.”
“You were already asleep?”
“It’s been a long, exhausting day.”
He clears his throat when he seemingly remembers he was coming here for something. “You never came back out, so I figured you were hungry.”
My stomach answers before I can voice anything myself or grip the plate he passes me. His eyes follow the sound. “Starving actually. Thanks.”
“Sounds like it.” He pauses, again checking me over from head to toe. “Why didn’t you come back out?”
I bite my lip, debating on how honest I want to be in this moment. Seeing as I’m standing in nothing but a bra and underwear, now holding a plate of food, not honest enough it sparks up any more of a conversation.
“I did, but you all were shouting, so I decided to give you all some space and went to talk with Yemi.”
“Sorry about that. Hopefully, over breakfast tomorrow, we can all have a more civilized discussion.” His hand runs through his hair and down the back of his neck as some of the flirtiness he’s got going on slips away.
“Actually…I told Yemi I’d have breakfast with her. Apparently, there’re rules I can break that will get her in trouble, so she’s going to go over some things with me while we eat.”
“You’re worried about getting her in trouble?”
Welp, there go any dirty thoughts I may have been having.
The question makes my jaw tense. It’s not fair that these men don’t know the first real thing about me and I’m already having to attempt to fix my image with them.
The desire to be a smart-ass is strong, but I force myself to shove it down. “Yes.”
“Lunch then. You can figure some things out with her over breakfast and us later. Tomorrow’s an off day, so it’ll give us a chance to explain schedules, our expectations, and whatnot before we jump into it the day after.”
Their expectations…
“Great.”
“You sure you’re—”
“Yep. Thanks for the food. See you tomorrow.”
I really want to slam the door, but the thought of waking them all up or pissing him off halts my twitching arm.
It closes gently with a deafening click and I bang my head against the back of it. The warm rim of the plate heating my hand has two things happening.
One, me hauling ass to my bag to find something to sleep in.
And two, my mouth salivating at the delicious smell that’s now invading my senses.
I snatch the first oversized shirt I can find and yank it over my head. I don’t bother looking for more light in the room. The rug in front of the fireplace is cozy enough and I waste no time stuffing my face with whatever this creamy dish over rice is.
The filling meal has exhaustion settling over me once again. It’s even stronger now that I’ve got my stomach full of food and my mind full of pissed off embarrassment.
My sheets are still just as warm as I left them, and they welcome me back as though I never left.
