as mine. Not really but it looks a whole lot healthier.
I shrug. “You were already letting me shower here and you gave me the toothbrush. I didn’t want to ask for more.”
“Well you’re going to have to get over that shit real quick sweetheart,” Ares mutters, the term of endearment sounding more like he was chastising me instead of being kind. He stalks out of the bathroom and Ollie moves away just before getting bowled over.
His gaze follows Ares. “Geez man.” Ollie shakes his head then he looks back at me. “I’ll knock when he gets back. Milo just had to run over to the apartment to get it.”
“Thanks Ollie.” He grins at me, taking a few steps into the bathroom.
“Get out of my bathroom!” Ares booms, causing me to wince.
“Shit,” Ollie curses turning to go, he watches me over his shoulder until the door closes.
Freshly showered with a thick white towel wrapped around my hair, I push the door open. A hot wave of steam clouds into the room before me. All four of them are huddled close together with their heads almost touching, whispering furiously. They’re so deep in debate none of them hear me exit the bathroom. I run my bare toes over the thick carpet. Should I clear my throat, say something? I can’t make out what they’re saying, but it seems urgent.
Reaching out I tap my fingernails on the door like I just push it open. Ares’s head jerks up in my direction. His lips lift, in a fake smile. “All good?” His question throws me off, what wouldn’t be good.
“Yes,” I mutter hesitantly.
“Good, come sit, let’s watch a movie.” Dante motions me over to the far side of the bed and I poke at the towel on my head. I feel silly with all of them watching me.
I make my way over to the bed where an open laptop is sitting. I’m greeted with several chick flicks and rom-coms on the screen. Wrinkling my nose, I look up. This is the last thing I want to watch.
“Go ahead, pick whatever you want,” Dante urges me. I sit down and pull the laptop over, scanning the selection for something bearable. Peeking up at them again, I notice none of them are watching me. They’re all making themselves look busy by grabbing a few pillows and blankets from the end of the bed and floor.
Ares makes his way over to the bathroom, disappearing inside and leaving the door open. Searching over the titles, I find a tab at the top with romance selected. I tap the action adventure tab instead. I find a recent anti-super hero movie and click on the watch now button.
Ares returns, dropping on to the bed next to me. He scoots over enough to see my selection. A dark chuckle rumbles up his chest. “You see this yet?”
“No, but I wanted to. Have you?”
“I actually have, it’s pretty good.”
“We can find something else.” I hit the back button, but Ares stops me, placing his hand over mine.
“No, I don’t mind seeing it again. We should watch this one. Here…” Using the track pad he returns to the watch now button and hits play. “Movie’s about to start,” Ares announces before putting the laptop at the end of the bed and turning up the volume. He crawls back over to me. My stomach tightens—how can he make something so mundane make my head swim? He’s watching me from under his brow, eyes turning to black pools the closer he gets.
Ares hand reaches out and he pulls the damp towel from my head, tossing it to the floor. My still sodden hair tumbles down, partially covering my face. Ares’s hands are gently pushing it back before I have a chance. “I brought this.” He holds up a black paddle brush. That must be why he went to the bathroom.
I reach out to take if from him, but he pulls it away, holding it to his chest. My eyes go to his, questioning what he’s doing. He looks over his shoulder, and is satisfied the others are still finding places to lounge. On the bed, he rests his back against the wall behind us. “Will you let me?” he whispers near my ear.
I bite my lip, no one has brushed my hair since I was a little girl. I’m worried what the others will think. I glance over at them, and Ares must understand what I’m thinking. “Stop over thinking and let me do this.”