Page 62 of The Ruckup
IT FEELS SO good to be home. With Leo. In a place I feel safe and cared for and like I can breathe again.
The second I walk in the door I feel better. As better as I can feel all things considered.
Leo leads me inside, dropping all my bags on the living room floor as we go. I follow behind him, not because he’s got my hand tight in his, but because I don’t want to be away from him. I tried that. It was awful.
I sniff, still a little teary as he takes me into the bathroom and flips on the light.
“What are we doing?” I ask as he turns to me.
“You’regoing to take a shower and then you’re going to bed.” He runs a thumb over my tear-streaked face. “The hot water will make you feel better and help you relax so you can sleep.”
I nod as he goes to work peeling away my clothes. “Okay. That sounds good.”
There’s nothing sexual about what he’s doing, but I can’t help my reaction to the gentle skim of his hands across my skin as he works the layers off my body. When one knuckle accidentally brushes my nipple, I shiver as arousal ripples through my body.
I need him. So much more than I even realized.
“I’m sorry.” My breath hitches on the last word.
Leo’s eyes slowly lift to mine but he doesn’t say a word, just keeps taking care of me.
And it makes me feel like I need to keep explaining. “I just didn’t want you to suffer for my mistakes.”
Leo is still silent, his eyes darker than I’ve ever seen them. His gaze burning into me with an intensity that steals my breath while he reaches into the shower and switches on the water and starts stripping away his own clothes.
“But no one’s ever looked at me like you do.” My chest tightens at the real truth of my statement. “No one else has ever seen me.”
My throat is tight as he pulls my body to his, stepping us under the warmth of the water, putting me directly in its path so it’s soaking my skin while he’s left in the cold.
“I see you, Maddie.” His words are soft. Almost as soft as his hands as he reaches for a bottle of body wash and squeezes a pool into his palm, rubbing them together before putting them on my body, starting at my neck. His thumbs work into the muscles of my shoulders as he carefully soaps me up. “I’ve always seen you.”
Leo lifts one arm, working the suds down to my fingers, massaging every inch he covers with a firm but gentle touch before moving to the other arm.
I love it and hate it at the same time. I thought I could walk away because I was doing it for him, but I can’t. In just a few short weeks he’s made me need him. Need this. “No one’s ever taken care of me like you do.”
He finishes with my arms before lowering to a crouch in front of me. “You deserve to be taken care of.” His hands glide up and down my leg, soaping up my skin.
“So do you.”
His hands stall for just a second before continuing on.
I wait for him to acknowledge what I said, but he simply continues working his way down my legs and over my feet, the tips of his strong fingers sliding between each of my toes before gently lifting each foot up so he can massage my soles.
It feels so good. Not just what he’s doing, but to be with him again. To feel safe. Protected.
Cherished.
If nothing else good came from my temporary lapse of judgment, it gave me the time and distance to see something important.
“I don’t want to be in a one-sided relationship, Leo.”
His eyes snap to mine.
“I want to take care of you too.”
He slowly straightens. “You do take care of me, Maddie.”
I shake my head. “No. I don’t. Not really.”
