Page 21 of Snow, Ice, and Spice
A tidal wave of shame washes over me. “Oh my god…” I mutter. “You heard me, didn’t you?”
He opens his mouth but hesitates. His lips twitch like he’s trying not to wince. “I swear, I didn’t mean to. It was just really quiet and I heard a buzzing noise.”
The shame wave levels my insides. I cover my face with my hands and groan.
“Maya, it’s okay. Really. I get it. We all have, um, urges.”
Theo’s comforting tone makes me wish the ground would swallow me up right here, right now.
I drop my hands to my sides and groan even louder this time. He gawks at me with wide eyes, like I’m a wild animal and he’s not quite sure how I’m going to react.
“It’s completely natural.” He starts to say some more reassuring things, but I hold up my hand.
“Please stop talking.” I tug a hand through my hair. Suddenly I’m no longer cold. The utter humiliation of this moment is roasting me from the inside out.
His brow furrows like he’s confused. “There’s no need to be embarrassed, Maya. It’s a totally normal thing to do.”
I stare at him.
He shrugs. “It happens. I swear, it’s no big deal. I’ve overheard a couple of my teammates jerking off sometimes when we play away games and we have to share a hotel room—”
“Oh my god, shut up!”
Theo pulls his lips into his mouth and quickly nods at me.
I shake my hands at my sides, the nonsensical movement the only way I can think to expend the nervous energy coursing through me.
“I never, ever want to speak of this ever again,” I blurt.
Theo frowns like he’s confused. “Maya, there’s nothing for you to be embarrassed about.”
I let out a laugh of pure disbelief. “Theo, you overheard me masturbating last night. That’s one of the most mortifying things that could ever happen to someone.”
His gaze on me is mystified as he shakes his head, like he can’t quite make sense of why I’m so embarrassed.
“You have nothing to be mortified about,” Theo says. “Hearing you last night was hot as fuck.”
The shame tsunami inside of me skids to a halt. “What?”
The expression on Theo’s face as he gazes at me is a strange mix of intensity and intrigue. He opens his mouth to speak, but then the doorbell rings.
I spin around to the front door. Who the hell could that be? It’s barely nine in the morning on a Sunday.
I spot movement in the glass side panels flanking either side of the front door. I recognize Tori’s auburn hair instantly. She leans over and smiles at me. And that’s when I notice she’s not alone. I spot both of my brothers, Becca, my cousin Austin, and his husband Declan.
“Were you expecting someone?” Theo asks from behind me.
I let out a sigh. “Nope.” I walk over and let them in.
“Surprise!” Tori announces before pulling me into a hug. I smile despite the awkward timing of my family’s surprise visit.
“What are you guys doing here?” I ask as I hug all of them.
“We thought we’d surprise you with some goodies,” Tori says. She gestures to Becca and Austin, who are holding two massive paper bags of what I assume are Tupperware containers of food.
“Oh…thanks…”
Tori’s smile starts to drop. “Is this a bad time? It’s just that you said yesterday it was cool for us to stop by whenever, so I gathered everyone who was free. I thought it would be fun.”
