“Do you want me to give you some privacy?” he asks, sensing myunease.
“Please,” I whisper, not able to quite look him in theeye.
“Sure.” Max walks around the partition. I hear him sit down on the bed on the other side. “I’ll just wait here in case you needme.”
That simple act of kindness, of respect, has tears welling in my eyes. Max and Bryce have shown me so much kindness even though I left them without a word. It is more than I could ever hope for. Knowing this is going to hurt, I take a deep breath, cross my arms and hold onto the hem of my pyjama top. Even doing that makes me wince. Shit. Gritting my teeth, I pull upwards, then scream out loud as a sharp pain stabs my side. My arms drop. “Damnit.”
“Are you alright?” Max asks from the other side of thepartition.
I look longingly at the bath. I want nothing more than to step into it. Maybe I could use some help after all. “I can’t seem to get my top off. It hurts trying to pull it over my head.” I feel a bit of an idiot saying that, but if I want to get into the bloody bath, then Max’s assistance is the onlyway.
Max walks back around. “Here, let me help you.” I feel my cheeks colour and my breath hitch as he steps up close tome.
“Lift your arms up over your head and I’ll pull your top off. I’ll be as gentle as I can, promise,” he says, smiling at mewarmly.
I do as he asks, lifting my arms up above my head. It hurts, sure, but not as much as me trying to pull the top off by myself. Max grabs hold of the hem and lifts it up carefully. Goosebumps erupt over my skin, but I don’t think it’s because of the cold. The attraction I feel is instant, it blooms in my chest and warms my skin. Fuck, I want him to touchme.
A moment later I am free. My immediate reaction is to cross my arms across my chest, but that would be painful, so I don’t. My nipples harden in the sudden cooler air. Max’s gaze drops to my chest, lingering for a moment before sliding lower. He steps closer to me, his eyes widening when he sees the bruise which I know isthere.
“Fucking hell, Louisa. No wonder you’re in so much pain.” He reaches out to stroke a finger lightly over my arm. “I’m so sorry this happened to you. When Hud finds out he’s going to lose his shit. I’m surprised Brycedidn’t.”
“Oh, he did. He punched the arsehole. I thought Bryce was going to kill him, but he held himself back. I don’t think he wanted me to see him thatway.”
“No, he wouldn’t have. I’m not sure I would have had the same self-control and I’m certain Hud definitely wouldn’t have. It was just as well it was Bryce, because me or Hud would have ended up injail.”
Max steps closer tome.
“Do you need my help to remove your pyjama bottoms too,” he says smoothly. There is a hint of desire, and a large dose of amusement in his voice. A smile pulls at his lips. I’ve missed his gentle ribbing. It’s what I love most about him. I gaze at the bath and figure what thehell.
“Please,” Isay.
Max’s hands drop to my waistband, his warm fingers brushing against my skin. I am all too aware in this moment that I am not wearing any underwear. Thankfully I shaved last night. Only a few days before I’d been a hairy mess. God, that would have beenembarrassing.
“These are very soft,” he says absentmindedly. His mouth parts as he draws them slowly downwards, crouching with the movement. I hear him pull in a breath as he slides my pyjama bottoms down my thighs. They drop to the floor in a heap and I step out of them. Max remains kneeling on the floor in front of me. I am completely exposed to him. Suddenly it isn’t just Max who is breathing heavily. For a long while he just looks up at me from his spot on the floor, then just when I think he is about to stand he does something completely unexpected. He pulls me gently towards him and rests his head against the flat of my stomach, his arms snaking gently around my lowerback.
“I’ve missed you so much.” Max doesn’t attempt to do anything more than just hold me. I look down at the top of his head and find myself running my fingers through his hair. My heart squeezes inside mychest.
“I’ve missed you too.” My voice catches, and I swallow the rising sob. I’ve barely cried myself, even though over the years I’ve had plenty of reasons to. Max looks up at me and I am floored by the emotion in his eyes. Hestands.
“I understand why you left. I won’t pretend it didn’t fucking hurt because it did. But I get it. I’m just glad you’rehere.”
“Max…” I begin, brushing my fingers along his cheek. I want him in my arms. I want Bryce and Hudson too. Perhaps I should be surprised by my need, scared of it, but I’m not. The moment I saw Bryce in the café earlier, I knew deep down what I wanted. Leaning towards Max, I feather a kiss against his mouth. Even that slight touch hurts, but I want him to know how I feel. He smiles under mylips.
“There will be all the time in the world for that, but first you need to get in thisbath.”
“Louisa should be in it already,” Bryce says, as he strides around the partition. In his hand is a tray of food. He places it on a table situated to his left. He notes my lack of clothes, and his eyes darken as his gaze slides over my nakedness, but he checkshimself.
“Louisa doesn’t need you ogling her. She needs to get in a bath and relax,” Bryce chides. He has changed and is now wearing a pair of slacks and a hoody and I find that I’m the one doing the ogling. Dressed down, he looks even more delicious. If my skin wasn’t already flushed from being undressed by Max, it most definitely would benow.
Max steps back. “I was just helping Louisa undress,” he says, looking a littlesheepish.
“I can see that, Max.” Bryce walks over to me and inspects my growing bruise. “That’s pretty nasty. Tomorrow, you’re getting checked out by our doctor, noexcuses.”
“Okay then,” I agree, too exhausted toargue.
“Let’s get you in this bath.” He takes my hand and I step over the edge and into the water. It is the perfect temperature, not too hot and not toocold.
“How’s that?” heasks.
“It’s wonderful.” I slide lower into the water and lay my head back against the side of the bath, resting it on a padded cushion covering the lip. Closing my eyes, I allow my body to relax. Max and Bryce move away, and I can hear Bryce filling in Max on what happened. A few, choice swear words are thrown about but I block the conversation out, feeling suddenly and completely exhausted. All I want to do is sleep. So I let my body and mind relax further, safe in the knowledge that neither Bryce nor Max will let anything happen tome.