Page 89 of Red Fire
I listen hard, but I don’t hear anything else. Am I going mad? No! I heard it.
“Who’s there?” I yell again. Maybe it’s Octavia. Maybe she came back. Fuck, I hope so.
I hear something in the bedroom; I’m not sure what it is. One thing is for sure, someone is there.
“Hello?” I yell. I’m about to turn the shower off when the bathroom door opens, and Aspen walks in. She’s…it’s her…she’s naked.
She smiles. “Creed. I almost can’t believe you’re back.” Then she’s in the shower with me. The one I was in this morning…with Octavia.
“I can’t believe you’re here.” She’s almost in tears. “It’s you. It’s really you.” She comes in under the water and puts her arms around me. She presses her body against mine, holding me close.
It’s a familiar feeling. I know how she feels. I’ve had Aspen naked in my arms countless times, and yet…it feels wrong, somehow.
So wrong that I pull away from her and leave the shower. I grab a towel, wrapping it around my waist.
Fucking wrong!
All wrong!
“What is it? What’s wrong?” she asks.
“I um…I…” I wipe a hand over my face. “I don’t know,” I finally settle on.
She switches the shower off, walking out. I take in her naked form, and I feel nothing. Not a thing. There was a time I couldn’t think of her without getting hard. Here she is, naked and dripping wet, and I’m left cold.
What the hell?!
I hand her a towel. She wraps it around herself. “I came to talk to you. To see…um…how you’re doing. I thought we’d go to your parents together…but…” She licks her lips. “What’s going on, Creed?”
“It’s a lot, that’s all. One day, I’m in the jungle, and the next…” A female falls out of the sky and into my care. A tiny human. “I’m struggling to process everything.” I swallow thickly. “I’m…I don’t know what to feel. How to feel. How to process everything. I’m…I…” I’m not really sure what I am, so it’s tough to articulate.
“Oh, my gosh,” Aspen says, putting a hand over her mouth. “Oh, my!” She looks astonished. Her eyes are wide, they go to me and then the floor and then back again.
“What?” I ask, frowning.
“Where is the human? Octavia…where is she?”
“She left for the castle. I took her there earlier. She…um…she wants to go home to the Mainland. Octavia gave me your message, by the way.” I give a small smile. “She really likes you.”
“I liked her, too.” Aspen looks shell-shocked. “Holy smokes, Creed.”
“What?”
She groans. “You’re in love with the human. You’re in love with her.” She looks up at the ceiling. “How didn’t I see it? You know you’re in love with her, right?” She narrows her eyes on me.
I frown. I frown hard. “No, you have it wrong. It isn’t like that. It…I mean…it…”
“I’m right, Creed,” Aspen says, her lip wobbling. “You love her. I can see it. Your whole face lit up while you were talking about her.” Her voice is a little broken.
“It did?” I hadn’t noticed.
She sniffs. “I know you had sex with her. I could tell, but I didn’t think it meant anything. Shit! I was wrong. Completely wrong.” She paces away from me. Then she turns, facing me. “Just so you know, her face lit up, too.” Aspen’s eyes get hazy.
I don’t say anything. I wait.
“The human…Octavia. Her face lit up when she spoke about you, Creed.” Aspen pushes out a heavy breath.
I make a face. “No, I don’t think—”