Page 41 of Piece By Piece

“You already did too much. God, I can’t believe I cried all over you. If you tell anyone about any of this, I’ll have to cut off your tongue and throw it off the rooftop,” she threatens me. I make a show out of sealing my lips.

“Deal. Now, do you want to eat something? A midnight snack?” I ask. She considers it for a second before shaking her head.

“That’s okay, thank you. But, uhm, could I maybe take a bath? I haven’t had time for one in forever and I can’t shake this weird chill.”

“Yes, of course. Come, I’ll show youeverything.”

Chapter 20

Aliena

Sebastian surprises me by taking me straight to the last room on the second floor. His room. He does the whole thing so nonchalantly that it hardly seems like a big deal, but I know that no one is allowed in here. Ever.

Still, he opens that door for me and tells me to go in. Sadly, I don’t get much of a look at the whole interior since the lights are off and he’s leading me into the adjoint bathroom with a hand on my lower back the next second.

He turns on the lights there and I get a good look at the massive room he brought me to. It’s elegant and dark grey themed. LED strips are embedded along the edge of the ceiling, and the big walk-in shower takes up an entire corner. What takes the cake is the giant bathtub though.

Grey steps that match the floor lead up to it and there won’t be any awkward climb out since another small step aligns the wall where you’d have to get out on the inside of the tub. It’s magnificent. Not so big that it would feel like a pool but big enough to comfortably fit two people.

I shoot him a knowing look over my shoulder. “Interesting,” I tell him. He laughs and shakes his head.

“Incredible where your head is headed again but I’ll have to disappoint you. Believe it or not, I’ve never had anyone in here,” he tells me, which satisfies me to new levels.

“Thank you. Really. Any of your guest bathrooms would have done, though, just so you know.”

“That would have been a shame. I’m a shower person anyway so I barely use the tub. You’re free to use it whenever you want.” The way he speaks – As if I had agreed to move in. As if it was decided and set in stone.

I cock an eyebrow, feeling my lips twitch. “You’re giving me unlimited access?”

“Oh yeah. Make sure to take me up on that offer especially when I’m taking a shower. I’m always happy to put on a show,” he teases me. Then he starts rummaging through his cabinets while I look at the glass door of the spacious shower.

Speaking of temptation.

“Aha! Here we go. I hope you like lavender,” he says, handing me a small glass bottle filled with a dark blue liquid. “Use as much as you want, I have more of them. My mom gives me one for every birthday and I don’t have the heart to tell her that I don’t actually use it.”

I take that bottle and thank him. “That’s really sweet of her. When’s your birthday?” I ask. That’s the only way I can ration the remaining bottles so there are enough until his next birthday.

“January 19th,” he tells me.

“Oh, that’s soon,” I remark as I walk over to the tub. There, I hesitate. “Uhm, what am I looking at?” I ask, studying the different buttons and levers. He steps up to me from behind, placing one hand on my back to stabilizehimself as he leans over the tub to explain all the different functions it possesses.

By the time he’s done, I remember only about half of it. Mostly because I was more aware of his hand on my back than the words he said. I just repeat the most important things to make sure I got that right.

“Yeah, that’s it. You’ll be fine, right?” he asks, smiling softly.

I nod. “Yes, thanks.” Before he turns and leaves, his eyes focus on something slightly over the top of my head and he reaches out to pull out a twig from my strands. I laugh softly. “And thanks for that,” I add.

“No biggie. Why don’t you turn around so I can get the rest of them? That way I won’t have a whole forest in my tub tomorrow morning,” he proposes. Instead of resisting, I silently turn around. It’s not like I mind his hands on me. No, not at all.

For the next few minutes, Sebastian works on freeing the small twigs from my wild strands with utmost care. Then, there’s a hairbrush in his hand and he starts brushing out the tangles from the lower half of my hair, slowly working his way up. I relax into it, surprised by how pleasant this is.

No one has ever brushed my hair, not to mention taken such care of me. It does something weird and fuzzy to my chest.

“You’re really good at this,” I hum, keeping my eyes closed. It’s all I can do not to start purring or moaning where I stand like a weirdo. Sebastian laughs softly.

“My mother taught me. She said it was important for a man to know how to properly treat a woman. I’m pretty sure she just used that as an excuse to get me to do her hair.”

“Smart woman,” I remark, leaning back against him slightly. I could fall asleep right here.

---