Page 96 of Jackrabbit

He came up sputtering and pissed the fuck off, his hair plastered down his forehead, curls stretched straight so he couldn't fucking see. “Y-you bastard.”

Sucking in a painful breath, Colt scrabbled for purchase on the porcelain side of the tub, his fingers locked with cold. He slipped and fell right back into the water, ice cubes clinking and chiming around him, loud even underwater. He broke the surface again and hooked both arms over the side of the tub, ready to murder that big, sexy asshole. When he shoved his hair out of his face, water flooding his eyes, he found Beau watching him with his arms crossed. His palm was against his mouth, and—

And he waslaughing.

Colt blinked, and Beau lost it. The sound was warm and unguarded, and Colt forgot to be angry. Shit. He loved Beau’s laugh. Loved the way his crow's feet dug deeper into the corners of his eyes, the way he sounded so surprised by it, out of practice.

“You look like an angry, wet cat,” Beau wheezed as he leaned against the doorway. He wiped at his eyes and looked back at Colt—who glared again just to see what would happen—and started up again. “Ridiculous. You're ridiculous.”

Sinking into the icy water until just his eyes and nose were above the surface, the fight drained out of him along with all his warmth. How was he supposed to stay mad when Beau was laughing like that?

When Beau’s laugh had eased into chuckles, he came to kneel next to the tub. “You should take your shirt off while you’re in there. It’s gonna be hard to when you’re out.”

Colt rose up so his chin was just grazing against the ice. “You j-just wanna see me n-n-naked.”

Beau chuckled. “Boy, a blue-lipped, shivering mess isn’t really my type.” He checked his watch. “You’ve got eight more minutes. Take the shirt off before your arms go numb.”

“Too late.” Colt groaned and sat up anyway so he could peel his shirt off. He tossed it at Beau’s head, but of course Beau caught it with an eye roll.

“I’ll be right back.” Balling the dripping shirt up, Beau left the room.

Colt absolutely watched his ass. He was cold, not dead.

Movement caught his eye as he sank back into the ice, Toast poking his head into the room. The cat’s eyes locked on Colt, and Toast crouched low.

“I wouldn’t,” Colt warned. “He might toss you in, too. He’s feeling mean today.”

Toast meowed and crept inside. Then he popped his head up and jumped onto the counter, flicking his tail as his eyes tracked a cube floating in front of Colt’s chest.

Steady footsteps sounded from the bedroom, and Colt and Toast turned as one to watch Beau come back carrying a bundle of clothes. More of Beau’s things. Awesome. Colt still had two of his shirts, and he never planned to give them back. If Beau wasn’t careful, Colt was going to have half his closet soon.

Beau paused to stroke down Toast’s back, and the cat gave him that crunchy, stuttering purr as he arched into the touch. “Don’t worry, bud. I’m not planning on drowning him today.”

“Today!” Colt fumbled for an ice cube and tossed it at Beau’s legs. It hit the floor instead and skittered off into the bedroom. “My aim’s only bad because I’m frozen solid.”

“Mhmm.” Beau checked his watch again. “Five minutes.”

When those five minutes were up, Beau reached into the towel warmer and pulled out another huge towel. Then he dropped the bundle of clothes inside and shut the lid, spreading the towel out between his arms and holding it open for Colt. “C’mon. Time to get out before you really do freeze.”

Great. Except that when Colt went to stand, he realized he couldn’t even feel the bottom of the tub. He sighed, too goddamn cold to fight it, and turned to look up at Beau with his biggest eyes. “I can’t.”

Beau watched him for a long moment and lowered the towel. “Can I help?”

It sounded so vulnerable, so sincere, that Colt didn’t even consider saying no. Teeth chattering, he nodded.

Towel over his shoulder, Beau stepped up to the tub, grabbed Colt under both arms, and started guiding him up out of the water. His hands felt scorching, blood rushing toward the warmth of them. “Easy. Nice and slow.”

He helped Colt over the side of the tub and onto the green bath mat before wrapping the blissfully warm towel around his shoulders. Colt sighed as heat seeped into his skin, though he had a feeling it would be a long time before it got to his bones. Hands rubbed him through the towel—down his arms, his back, his chest. Beau was focused entirely on getting Colt warm and dry, and that focus was making Colt feel a lot warmer than the towel. Being cared for so thoroughly by Beau, of all people, made something in him settle.

“Thank you.” Colt looked up to find Beau watching his face. “I know I’m difficult. I appreciate this anyway.”

It was silent for a long beat, and then Beau gave a soft huff. Not a laugh, but almost. He turned his attention to Colt’s arms and kept rubbing heat back into them. “Like you difficult. You’d be borin’ otherwise.”

Colt couldn't have helped his grin if he’d tried. Or his blush, really, but Beau was concentrating so much on getting Colt defrosted that he didn’t notice. Pretended not to, maybe, but it didn’t matter because Beau didn’t say shit he didn’t mean. Ever. He liked Colt being an unrepentant brat. Didn’t tolerate it. Didn’t like Coltin spite ofit. He just…liked him.

“Softie,” Colt murmured as he leaned forward and pushed his forehead against Beau’s chest. Beau's hands stilled on his arms, just for a heartbeat, before starting up again. “For the record: I like your stubborn ass, too.”

He pulled back enough to look up and found that face so close to his that he could feel Beau’s breath across his cheeks. Beau’s gaze flicked down to Colt’s mouth for a fraction of a second before finding Colt’s eyes again. Colt’s pulse kicked, heat sliding up his chest.