The hiss of the shower was the only sound as she stepped carefully around piles of glass and into the single bedroom. Straight through was an ensuite bathroom with the light on that illuminated the small bedroom.
The bed was made, the furniture was sparse, and every rustic decoration was simple and in its place. This told her the living room was all the vampires’ doing and that Wyatt was just as tidy now as he was in his youth.
Harper quietly dressed for bed and pulled her toothbrush out of her bag. Silent as a hunter, she padded into the bathroom. The steam was really thick, as if Wyatt was scalding himself. A sick feeling filled her stomach as she realized what he was doing. Washing his neck out with soap made more sense now. His relationship with Arabella wasn’t something he reveled in. He was disgusted. With himself or with Arabella, she didn’t know yet. Maybe she didn’t want to know. Maybe she wanted to hold onto her anger so she could keep her heart at a distance until he was okay for her to leave again.
Harper turned on the tap and squeezed some of Wyatt’s toothpaste onto her brush.
The curtain was slapped aside, and Wyatt’s startled face appeared, his eyes blazing such a light blue they were almost white. God, he’d turned out to be handsome.
He twitched his attention to her toothbrush, then back to her face. “What are you doing here? I thought you left.”
“You thought wrong.” Harper began brushing her teeth. From here, she could see a delicious sliver of his arm and right side. His abs sure made pretty shadows.
Wyatt’s phone sat on the edge of the sink, and the screen lit up. A message from Kane came through.
“What does it say?” Wyatt asked, stretching his neck to see it.
“Are you still alive?” she read out loud around the froth of minty paste.
Harper picked it up and wrote back, No thanks to you, Captain A-hole. Send.
“What are you telling him?”
“I’m thanking him for being such an awesome friend,” she muttered sarcastically as she created a cartoon penis and typed in, You are a pecker and you suck at arm-wrestling. Send.
Wyatt frowned and disappeared behind the curtain. A moment later, the water turned off.
“I usually shake off to dry,” he muttered after a minute of silence.
Harper set the phone down, spat her toothpaste, and tried not to laugh. “Like a dog?”
“Can you hand me a towel.”
“I already saw your dick tonight. Don’t let me stop you from your routine shake-off.”
“Yeah, well it feels weird now. Being naked when I’m pissed after a shift is really fuckin’ different than stepping out of a shower.”
Harper rinsed her mouth and dried her lips with the hand towel, then handed the tiny piece of fabric to him with a bright smile.
Wyatt narrowed his eyes at her offering. “I have a boner.” He gave her a wicked grin and jacked up his eyebrow. “That wouldn’t even cover it.”
Harper threw the hand towel at his grinning face and sauntered out of the bathroom. She pulled down the thick cotton comforter of the bed, then snuggled under them. “My eyes are averted!”
The door closed with a decisive click, and Harper clasped her hands over her mouth to hide her laughter. God, she’d missed that naughty smile of his. It was just as she remembered. One side of his mouth curved up, and his eyes danced with a look that said he could find some trouble.
Harper fluffed up the pillows and surrounded herself with them, leaving him only one. Call her greedy, but she required a specific nest to sleep in, and she was pretty sure Wyatt wasn’t going to complain about a line of barriers between them.
“Woman, get out of my bed.”
“Polite decline. Your girlfriend shredded your couch cushions.”
“I sleep naked.”
He was trying to scare her off. Wouldn’t work, though. “You can sleep one night with some pants on, or you can sleep on the floor. Now quit your bitchin’ and pick a spot. I spent most of the day packed into a plane like a sardine with a bunch of complaining humans, spent an hour and a half driving here only to lose at arm wrestling to a friggin’ Blackwing Dragon in a bar, and then battled vampires for you. I’m tired and not up for a row.”
“You’re bossier than I remember.”
Harper smiled at the wall in the dark.
“And you’re a pillow hog,” he muttered as the bed bounced and bumped with him settling in.
When she looked over her shoulder, Wyatt was on top of the covers with his back to her. At least he was wearing briefs, but as he sighed in the dark, there was a slight tremble to his breath. He was going to freeze tonight.
Harper flopped over like a pancake. “I’ve decided something.”
“I thought you were tired.”
“I’ve decided we should be friends.”
“That doesn’t work for—”
“You don’t have to argue about everything. We were friends for years before we were more. And I get it. We’ve both grown up and changed. But you need a friend right now, Wyatt.” Harper hugged her pillow closer and thought of all she would endure with The Unrest. “And so do I.”
Wyatt sighed in the dark. “Okay. Friends until you leave.”
“No asshole. I mean…besties. We’re gonna be BFFs. Messaging and meeting up around the holidays. Supporting each other when we settle down. Our kids will grow up knowing each other, and I’ll be friends with the mate you choose. I want the whole nine.”