something else in mind?”

She’s quiet for a while and then she finally looks up at me,

her blue eyes large. Her cheeks are still pink and her hair frames

her face and her shoulders. “I didn’t have anything else in mind,”

she says. “I was just wondering.”

She’s lying, but I let her off the hook. Gathering some of her

hair out of her face, I move it behind her ear. I’m about to tell her we should probably get up when there’s a knock on the door.

“Um… I’ve been waiting as long as I can,” Seth says through

the door. “But at some point I have to come in there and get my

stuff.”

Callie pushes up from me and starts to kneel, with the sheet

pressed against her chest. I grab ahold of the edge of the sheet

and tug it down, then brush my finger over her nipple. She shivers

and I feel gratified as she gives a shy smile, backing off the bed,

naked.

She searches for her clothes, trying to cover her body with

her hands. She is so small, thin, fragile. I can’t help but think about how she said she made herself throw up and how I think maybe

we need to talk about it, since we’ve been talking about my

problems so much.

“Callie, please,” Seth begs, sounding hoarse and hung over. “I

really need to get my stuff.”

“Just a second.” Callie grabs a pair of shorts and a T-shirt

from one of the bags Seth was carrying yesterday. She gives me

another reserved smile before retreating toward the bathroom.

“Will you let him in when you’re dressed?” she asks, as I slip my

boxers back on.

I eye her over. “What are you doing?”

She combs her fingers through her hair. “I’m going to take a

shower. I have sand in my hair from last night.”

A slow smile spreads across my lips. I know I’ve been kind of

intense with her and she’s probably sore as hell, but I can’t help it.

As images of her in the shower, the hot water dripping down her

body, hair, nipples, appear in my head, I decide I need to take a

shower with her. Besides, everything is perfect right now and I

want to drag it along for as long as I can before we have to return

to real life and our problems. “Yeah, me too.” I stand up from the

bed and she pulls a perplexed look from the doorway of the

bathroom. She doesn’t get what I’m saying and I don’t expect her

too. She’s innocent and sweet and her mind doesn’t instantly

wander to the gutter like Daisy’s would.

I walk toward her, loving that she’s biting her lip. “You look

lost,” I say as I reach for her arm.

Her gaze skims to my chest and for a second I feel

self-conscious. “That’s because I am. Do you want to take a shower

first? I can wait if you need to?”

I smile and it’s real, not plastered on. Touching my fingertip

to her bottom lip, I bring my other hand up to her bare hip. “I’m

saying I’ll take a shower with you.”

She lets out a startled gasp and I’m worried I’ve pushed her a

little too far. Then her cheeks turn pink as her eyes quickly roam

over my body and she chews on her bottom lip. She doesn’t say

anything when she meets my eyes and I can tell she’s curious.

“Don’t worry.” I lower my finger from her lip. “It’ll be fun. All

soapy and wet and slippery.” Her eyes enlarge as my fingers

envelop around her hips and I scoop her up. She lets out a giggle

and I smile as I back us into the bathroom.

“Wait a minute,” she says right as I’m about to kiss her. “We

need to let Seth in. He’s going to get upset.”

Begrudgingly, I walk back to the bedroom door and unlatch

the lock. Then I hurry back to the bathroom, still carrying Callie,

who keeps giggling every time my fingers touch her stomach. As

I’m kicking the bathroom door closed, I call out, “Seth, you can

come in.” Then I seal my lips to hers and kiss her until we run out

of air. Then we part, breathing ragged, and her fingers are

brushing the nape of my neck.

I glance around, ready to turn the shower on. “Wait, where’s

the shower?”

She points over her shoulder at the corner of the wall that’s

framed with a narrow doorway. “I think it’s back there.”

“That’s not a closet?”

She shrugs. “I don’t think so. If it is…” Her eyes wander

around to the sink, the toilet, and the towel rack. “Then I’m

thinking there’s not one.”

Cupping her ass to hold her weight, I walk around to the

doorway and round the corner. There’s a small section that dips

back with empty rods and shelves. I veer to the left because it’s the only place to go and the room opens up. There are frosted glass

windows on the wall and the ocean is right outside. There’s also a

massive oval tub in the corner that is raised up on a rectangular

podium that is framed by tile steps.

Callie frowns. “There’s no shower?” She tries not to smile.

“That sucks. I was seriously warming up to the idea of it.”

I give her a gentle pinch on the back of her leg and she

squeals and clutches onto me. I make my way back to the tub

without setting her down and turn the faucet on.

“What are you doing?” she asks, watching the water stream

out as I stick my hand in and check the temperature.

“Taking a bath.” I secretly love the fact that there’s only a tub

and no shower. The possibilities of what we could do in this big

bathtub are endless.

She fidgets nervously, her body stiffening as she warily eyes

the water filling up the tub. “We’re going to take a bath together?”

Her nose scrunches up and I’m about to tell her that we don’t have

to if she doesn’t want to when she says, “Then we’d be, like, sitting in each other’s filth.”

I sputter a laugh and then step up onto the stair. “How dirty

do you think I am?”

Every once in a while she’ll get this conniving look in her

eyes and it’s appearing in full form. “I don’t know.” She scales up

my body. “Guys are known for their filthiness, aren’t they?”

I pinch the back of her leg again and she jumps, letting out a

squealing laugh. The movement sends me forward and I stumble

into the bathtub, slipping on the bottom. I try to land as gently as I can so she won’t get hurt and I end up slamming my elbow into

the corner of the tub and water splashes everywhere. She’s

laughing as I struggle to sit up in the water, with her straddling me.

“Oh, you think that’s funny?” I sit up, still holding onto her

waist, my fingertips delving into her wet skin. Beads of water are

streaming down her body, her hair, her soft skin and it’s even

better than I ever could have imagined. We sit there for a while,

listening to the water fill up the tub, looking at each other, waiting for the other one to speak.