Glancing over her shoulder, I see that we’re closing in on two in the morning, and I pull the blanket up over us both. “Now, let’s get some sleep and just agree to let this all unfold naturally, okay?”
Amelia pecks my cheek before placing her head on my shoulder and rubbing her hand over my chest lightly. “Deal. Goodnight, Owen.”
Pressing my lips to the top of her head, I inhale the sweet smell of her shampoo and let my eyes fall closed. “Goodnight.”
11. Listen to Your Heart
It’s the most restful sleep I’ve ever had—even if it was a few hours shorter than what I’m normally used to—and it isn’t until an incessant buzzing on the bedside table wakes me up that I realize why.
Owen’s here. In my bed. Holding me in his arms. The events of the night before come flooding back, and I smile, turning my face into his chest and inhaling his musky scent.
I know that the two of us being together should feel wrong, but the more distance I had put between us, the more it hurt. So, if anything felt wrong, it was being apart…even if us embarking on this adventure together might seem unconventional to some people. My dad, for example.
Owen’s phone vibrates again, and he growls, his chest rumbling against my face. “Good god. Who the hell is calling me this damn early?”
I giggle, lifting my face and resting my chin on his shoulder as he reaches for his phone. “You’re kind of a bear in the morning, aren’t you?”
Running his hand over his weary face, he looks down at me and smiles. “Sorry. I just hate it when I’m woken up from such a deep sleep.”
“Noted,” I affirm with a nod before sitting up. His eyes trail down my body, stopping on the exposed skin of my upper body as I stretch my arms over my head. “I’m going to hop in the shower before I have to head to class.” I hold out my hand toward him, smiling coyly. “Care to join me?”
Owen chuckles, the outer corners of his baby blue eyes creasing. “I’m not sure I’m going to be able to keep up with your sexual appetites,” he confesses, placing his hand on my bare knee instead of in my hand, his thumb moving back and forth over the smooth skin.
Letting my mouth fall open in mock-insult, I stare at him. “Hey, I didn’t say we were going to do it… I mean, I hadn’t entirely ruled it out, either…I was only inviting you for some clean and wholesome shower-time fun.”
“Hmmm,” he hums softly, the sound moving like a gentle vibration under my skin. “Something tells me that any activity that involves you and me naked together is going to result in anything but clean and wholesome, Amelia.”
“Fair enough,” I concur, “but I really do need to shower and head to class.”
Owen nods. “Go ahead and start without me. I’ll join you as soon as I check my messages.”
My cheeks hurt from my incredibly wide smile, and I lean forward to kiss him before hopping off the bed and heading for the bathroom. “Okay!”
I leave the bathroom door open a crack before I turn the shower on to let the water warm, and I brush my teeth before Owen joins me, because, really, morning breath is the worst. After my teeth are clean, I hop behind the shower curtain and wet my hair before lathering it up with shampoo. I’ve just begun to rinse the suds from my hair when I hear the bathroom door creak and the latch click into place. I peek around the curtain and smile when I see Owen at the sink with his black leather toiletries bag, digging through it and producing his toothbrush, toothpaste, and shaving supplies.
“Leave the scruff,” I speak up, causing him to look in my direction and furrow his brow. “I like it.”
Owen chuckles, but he puts his razor and shaving cream back in the bag. “You got some kind of fetish I should know about?”
My laugh bounces off the tile walls of my bathroom, and my cheeks warm. “Not exactly…I just like the way it feels against my skin.”
Intrigued by my response, Owen concedes and brushes his teeth quickly and then makes his way over to join me in the shower. I can’t seem to take my eyes off him as he walks across the tile floor completely naked. He’s not only good-looking with a physique most men my age would desire, but his confidence only adds to his sex appeal.
When he pulls the curtain back to step inside, a blast of cool air hits my skin, making it prickle with goosebumps. I take a step back so Owen can stand beneath the showerhead as I run conditioner through the length of my hair. I watch, entranced, as rivulets of water stream down his body, over every muscle in his back and toward his extremely biteable ass, and I start to think that maybe this shower won’t be as clean and wholesome as I’d originally intended.