Page 105 of Lucky Penny
“Go take a bath, andI’llfigure out dinner.” His voice is smooth and strong.
Flutter.
“I can do both,” I insist, but he grabs my waist, spinning me toward the staircase, and pats my ass.
“Yeah, see, that wasn’t a suggestion. It was a command.”
I turn with my mouth wide open, but his jaw is tight, his eyes locked on mine.
“Go. Now,” he instructs, and I shut my mouth, silently heading upstairs toward the bathroom. I can’t recall a time when someone told me “I got this” and I got to go relax.
The stress of the hospital slowly melts off my shoulders as I plug the drain of the clawfoot tub and start the hot water. Steam fills the small, tiled bathroom immediately, and I shove my clothes into a pile in the corner of the room.
I rummage through the bathroom cupboard and find the bubble bath soak packets I sent Fia for her birthday.
There’s no point in pulling up my hair; I want every inch of me to be submerged in the scalding hot water. For just a few minutes,I want to feel like I’m ten feet underwater, far, far away from this reality.
Only the dim vanity light remains, casting the bathroom in a golden glow from the retro fixture. I prefer my candlelit bathroom at home, but Ineedthis.
Gripping the sides of the tub, I settle into the frothy, milky bubbles. My long hair floats on the surface, and when I lean my head back, I expect them to come, the tears. The ones I couldn’t yield off all day. Now I feel safe enough to let them out, and they’re trapped in my throat.
I close my eyes and try to focus on the smell of citrus and eucalyptus.
But Danny’s words intrude my thoughts, and I snap my eyes open again.
He loves you, you know that, right?
“If he loved me, why didn’t he tell me the truth?” I whisper to myself, mindlessly rubbing the oily bubbles into my slick skin.
If he did, would I have listened? Would it have changed everything?
I swallow and clear my throat, like that will ward off intrusive thoughts.
I don’twantto answer those questions.
But then my heart jumps in my chest, and I jerk up. The water sloshes around me as the hinges of the bathroom door squeak.
“Tank, you can’t come in here,” I whisper grumpily. This old house needs all new doors—ones that latch—because Tank learned that all he has to do is nudge them with his nose and they’ll open.
But it’s Jesse who steps in, taking up half the bathroom with his frame. His eyes find mine, and I freeze.
The water is creamy white, hiding most of me, but the way he looks at me makes me feel like I’m standing here naked, dripping wet in front of him.
He doesn’t wait for my allowance or dismissal—and I’m not entirely sure which one I’d give him—before he shuts the door behind him and steps toward the tub, kneeling down on the floor next to it. Even on his knees, I have to look up to him.
“What are you doing here?” I ask him, but he doesn’t answer.
Jesse leans forward, cupping the back of my neck, capturing my mouth with his. It’s delicious and soft, and when he pulls away, I blurt out the words I can’t hold in any longer.
“He told me, Jesse… Danny told me.” It comes out choked, and my eyes burn as they gaze up at him. “Why didn’t you tell me the truth about that night?”
His eyes grow dark and pained. He drops his hands to the side of the tub.“I thought it was the right choice…”
I shake my head. “You left me… And for ten years you let me believe that you chose everything else over me.” A sob rips through me and I sit up, my chest now exposed, and I half expect to look down and see my heart bleeding. That’s what it feels like to look into Jesse Rivers’s eyes and tell him the truth.
That he broke my heart, and it’s never quite healed.
“We were supposed to do this together,” I say louder, anger and hurt on my tongue.
