Page 48 of Fanged Desire
“Comfortable?” I cleared my throat, turning my head so far in the other direction I heard my neck crunch.
I could hear the smile in her voice. “More than I expected.”
I nodded, unsure of what else to say. The quiet stretched on, and I could feel her eyes on me.
“Hunter,” she said suddenly, and I heard the faint echo of my name ricocheting off the walls. “Why are you really here? With me?”
I sighed, leaning back against the sink. “I told you, I like the company.”
When I glanced at her again, Addison’s lips twitched in a tired smile. “You’re a terrible liar.”
“I don’t know!” I relented, hunching my shoulders and folding my arms a little tighter. “I’m just… here because I want to be.”
“Well,” I heard the swish of water as Addison shifted in the tub, and that familiar sunny tone colored her voice again, “while you’re here, would you mind pouring me a glass of wine?”
I turned toward her without really meaning to, incredulous laugher bubbling from my lips. “Wine and bubble baths, is that all it takes to make you happy?”
Addison shrugged, glistening bare shoulders peeking out from behind the rim of the tub. “What can I say? I’m a simple girl.”
In the kitchen I rummaged through her cabinets until I found a wine bottle and a single glass. The place was surprisingly tidy for someone who seemed like she lived in constant chaos. I popped the cork and carried the bottle and glass back to the bathroom.
At Addison's request, I poured a little into the glass, and then a little more when she cocked her head to the side, and then eventually handed her the bottle when the liquid reached the brim and it apparently still wasn’t enough for her.
We sat in comfortable silence for a while, the small room misting up as Addison lolled amongst the bubbles. She seemedmore relaxed now, the wine working its magic. I could see the tension easing from her shoulders, the lines around her eyes softening.
“Hunter?” she said after a while, breaking the quiet.
“Yeah?”
“That woman in the street – the one you were staring at back when we went to the spa.” Her voice was hesitant, almost shy. “Who was she?”
My stomach tightened and I scratched the back of my neck. I knew exactly who she was referring to, but I wasn’t exactly keen to lay bare all of my worst attributes just yet. Or ever, really.
And yet, I found myself offering up the truth, uttering the name I hadn’t spoken aloud in years.
“Selene.”
When I glanced her way, Addison’s eyes had narrowed, curiosity piqued. “And?”
“And… she’s my ex.” I sighed, dropping my chin to my chest. “That’s all there is to it.”
“Your ex?”
“Yeah.”
She tilted her head, studying me. “What happened?”
I hesitated, then shook my head. “It’s complicated. Let’s just say... it didn’t end well.”
Addison frowned but didn’t push. Instead, she took another swig of wine, her expression thoughtful. “You’ve got a lot of walls, you know that?”
“So do you,” I shot back, and quickly looked away again when my eyes gleamed over her bare body.
She laughed softly. “Touché.”
The wine loosened her up more, her questions becoming bolder as the minutes ticked by. She asked about my job, my friends, and even my favorite color – “Green, obviously.”
I answered most of them, dodging the more personal ones with a quip or a change of subject. But she’d gotten me talking, and I enjoyed it more than I expected to. It was oddly comfortable, intimate in a way that wasn’t sexual in nature. It went deeper than that, unmasked as we were.
