I glance around his kitchen and living room to find nothing, not even a leftover plate from dinner last night. The house looks impeccable and when living with Damian, that task is practically impossible.
I make my way up the stairs and after checking that his room is empty, I stare across the hallway at the bathroom door. It’s closed and I fear for what I might see in there, but I have to check on him. Hell, who knows, maybe he’s not here at all and I’m currently walking through an empty home like some kind of creeper. Geez, Lucien would be proud of how far I’ve come.
I gently knock on the bathroom door and push it open just a smidge. “Damian?” I question. “Are you in here?”
I get no reply but the soft sounds of something scraping along glass that has me pushing the door wider. I step into the bathroom and what I find breaks my heart.
Damian sits at the bottom of the shower, fully clothed with what looks like a whole dish of lasagna and a spoon. He’s nearly halfway through it and I don’t doubt that his mother was up early cooking this for their whole family to share for dinner. She’s going to be pissed, but taking one look at him right now, it’s clear to see that he’s hurting.
He doesn’t look up, he just keeps focusing on his lasagna as I make my way across the bathroom. I open the shower door and slide down to my ass beside him, thankful that he didn’t plan on turning the taps on.
“Talk to me, Damian. What’s going on? Why is this bugging you so much?”
“Your boyfriend is an ass.”
“I know,” I tell him. “But that’s nothing you didn’t already know. He just wants you to be honest with yourself so you can finally get what you want.”
“But I don’t know what the fuck I want.”
I reach over and take the lasagna dish off his lap and steal the spoon from his hand. “Yeah,” I whisper. “You do and as much as you hate to admit it, Slade was right. It’s freaking you out.”
Damian slouches back against the shower tiles as I dig into the lasagna. “I know,” he finally murmurs, giving in. “He’s right…as usual. I don’t just like Nessa, it’s so much more. I’m so fucking in love with her and I’m terrified that I’m going to fuck it up. She doesn’t even want me like that. I’m just a bit of fun until she finds someone else and that’s all on me because that’s what I’ve led her to believe.”
I fall back against the tiles beside him and let out a heavy breath, stunned to have heard those words come out of his mouth. Did he seriously just say that he was in love with her? “You know, she’s smarter than you think. She sees how you feel about her. We all do and I think you’ve actually got a chance if you play your cards right. Just show her that you’re serious about her. No more games, no more screwing around. Take her hand and show her that she’s yours.”
“I don’t think it’s that simple with Nessa. She’s going to fight me on it.”
“She will,” I agree. “But don’t you think that fighting for something is so much better than having it fall into your lap? She’s going to fight you until the death, just like I do with Slade but in the end, it makes it that much better because it means that you have something to fight for. She’s just as scared as you are. She thinks you’re going to break her heart. She thinks this is a game to you, but show her what she means to you and she’ll be yours.”
Damian’s head falls back against the tiles as I scoop another bite of lasagna into my mouth. “You really think so?”
“I know so,” I tell him. “Now get your ass up off the floor. I bet you’re one of those people who piss in the shower and I don’t want to sit down here a second longer than necessary.”
Damian groans and gets to his feet before taking the lasagna out of my lap and helping me up. I groan as my leg screams in protest, but this is Damian’s time to sulk so I hold it in as much as I can. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the pain in my leg. I just have to hope that I’ll be lucky enough for it to fade away to a distant ache one day.
We start making our way out of the bathroom when Damian talks at my back. “How am I supposed to win over a girl like Nessa without losing my balls in the process?”
I shake my head. “You’re on your own there,” I grin. “She’s not going to agree to be yours with some lame gesture. You’re going to really have to make it worth her while. Oh, and quick tip. Make sure you shower first. There’s nothing worse than having a guy trying to win you over when he smells like shit.”