I rinse her hair, taking a lot longer than it should take, just because I like being close to her. I like doing these intimate little tasks. I shouldn’t like it as much as I do.
I hand her a towel and she wraps her head like a turban, and stands up. She’s not wearing any makeup and her hair is in a towel, but I’ve never thought she was prettier, not even the night she dressed up for my work party.
“I’m sorry about earlier,” she suddenly blurts out.
I brush back a damp lock of hair that has fallen across her forehead. “You don’t have anything to be sorry about. I was an ass, and I’m sorry.”
“I shouldn’t have done that.”
“Do you know that I’ve never even kissed you?” I whisper, looking from her eyes to her nose to her lips.
“You’ve kissed me lots of times,” she retorts.
“I’ve kissed you on the forehead, and I’ve kissed you on the cheek, and I think I kissed the corner of your mouth one time, but I’ve never kissed you. Not really.”
“Oh,” she says.
I wrap my arm around her waist and jerk her to me so fast she lets out a startled breath. Her palms land flat on my chest to steady her. “I think we should change that.” I kiss her softly on her cheek.
“I think I’d like that.”
I kiss the tip of her nose. “I would too.”
My lips hover over hers and she sucks in a breath. Then she steps onto her tiptoes and presses her lips to mine. I freeze. I stare into her startled, untrusting gaze, and then I slide a hand up the back of her neck and hold her tightly. The towel she wrapped around her head falls to the floor, so I palm the back of her head, tilt my face, and kiss her.
Her lips are soft and warm, and they’re a little shocked, but she softens under me, and her arms slip around my shoulders. She holds me tightly as she kisses me back. Her mouth parts on a whimper, and I slide my tongue inside, tentative at first, but her tongue meets mine and…
“Eww, gross,” I hear from behind me. I close the kiss, lift my mouth from hers, and rub my nose up and down the side of her nose as I squeeze my eyes tightly shut.
“They’re right behind me, aren’t they?” I whisper.
Wren looks over my shoulder. “Yep.”
“Are you two, like, boyfriend and girlfriend now?” Anna asks.
I open my mouth to say no, but Wren says, “Yes.” She holds my hand tightly as I step back. “Yes, we are.” She looks up at me with a question in her eyes. “We are, aren’t we?” I see the uncertainty written all over her face.
“We are,” I say. We abso-fucking-lutely are. “You two get your stuff together so we can get it loaded in the car, okay?” They run around the corner, only to run right back, both of them holding their noses. “What’s wrong?” I ask, although I can already guess.
“Roxy has a poopy diaper,” Devon says, still holding his nose.
“I’ll get it,” I say, but as I move to walk away, Wren tugs the fingers she’s still holding and pulls me back to her. She steps up onto her tiptoes and kisses me quickly and softly.
“I want to be really honest with you, so I want you to know that you can ask me anything and I’ll tell you the truth. Anything at all,” she says.
“Okay…” I’m a little confused.
“I just want to be sure you know what I’m thinking. I’m going to be more direct about my feelings.” Her face flushes. “Well, a little less direct than climbing into a shower with you naked. But still…”
“I want to say something really inappropriate but it might be too soon.” I bite my lips together.
“What is it?”
I shake my head. “Nothing. It’s not important.”
“Well, now it’s important, because I’m going to wonder what it is.”
I step closer to her and stare down into her face. “When you climbed into the shower with me…”