Page 23 of Indigo

“Then grab a pen.”

fourteen

Hank

My fingers test the water until I’m sure only cold is coming through, and then I turn on the other faucet to speed the process. Once the bath is filled with water, I stand at my full height and shoot a text to Nash to remind him to pay for this room for a little longer and get one for us too. I’m sure Indigo only had money for one night, and this won’t be fixed so easily. I doubt she wants us in her room longer than necessary.

My body freezes as I watch the water fill up the tub and I scent her approach. She’s quiet as a mouse, but I’m tuned to her, pulled to her orbit. Her presence makes me vibrate with want, tangling every thought in my head until there’s nothing but unintelligent murmurs. Things have definitely changed since we last saw her. Every emotion is at its highest. Every word out of her mouth, I feel as if she’s whispering against my skin.

“Is that going to work?”

I glance her way, finding her leaning against the banister, hands protectively around her midsection and eyes on the cold bath between us.

“It’ll help.”

The certainty in my tone is fake. I have no idea if this will even relieve her, but she’s not so scared since Nash offered this option, and that’s a win in my books.

“My thoughts are scattered,” she confesses. “It takes me a lot to think.”

“Your body doesn’t want you to think right now. The hormones are against you.”

Her mouth closes in a flat line, and she looks at me for the first time. “It’s not fair.”

I nod, though it feels wrong to stand here and shit talk scent-matching. I love that destiny picked her for us. There’s no one better. The only problem with this situation is that she doesn’t want me.

“Got a shit ton of ice,” Cassidy announces as he barges in.

Bucket in hand, he doesn’t look at us as he drops the ice in, wincing as the ice cubes float. It’s going to be hell for her.

“We’ll give you space,” I say, leaving the bathroom, and Cassidy follows me.

My hand closes around the knob when Indigo turns on her heels, with a scared expression painting her gorgeous features.

“It’s cold.”

“It’s a cold bath, Sour Peach.” Cassidy nods.

The nickname gets her to scowl, and it’s absurd that I breathe out in relief. I like her prickly much more.

“What I mean is that… it’s going to be horrible.”

She doesn’t need us to reply. She knows it. I can almost see the gears turning in her head as she weighs the alternatives, and with a nod of her head, she decides once again that nothing is worse than being with us. Great.

This impossible woman has the power to slay me with one hard look. I never thought I’d be this comfortable letting someone destroy me, but it seems it’s my fucking fate to let someone walk all over my heart.

“Let us know if you need anything,” I say before closing the door.

We wait with a breath stuck in our lungs, eyes trained on the door, but nothing happens. Not a sound comes from the bathroom. Nash comes in with a bag full of supplies, but says nothing as he takes a spot on the bed and watches the door with the rest of us.

After ten minutes and no sound, we start wondering.

“Indigo?” Nash knocks. “You can’t stay in for long. If you get too cold, your body will find a way to heat you up. It does the opposite and makes things worse.”

Nothing.

“Indigo?”

Before he has a chance to knock again, the door opens, and Indigo greets us in nothing but a towel.