Page 133 of Lawless
I desperately want to rip the towel away and see her, but I don’t.
I’ve no idea what she’s just been through, how bad it got. I’m more than willing to give her whatever time she needs to get her head straight.
Resting one hand on my head, she steps into the underwear and I tug them up her legs.
The leggings follow, and then I stand and pull the tank over her head.
Finally, I pull the towel away from her and discard it on the floor.
“Sit,” I demand before rushing back to the bag and rummaging around inside.
Once I have what I need, I march back and encourage her to slide to the edge of the couch so I can sit behind her.
With a hairbrush locked in my hand, I begin brushing through her wet locks.
We sit in silence as I work, untangling the knots the last few days caused.
Eventually, a large shadow darkens the doorway a second before Reid appears with a towel wrapped around his waist.
Alana doesn’t react to him, but I can tell from the way he sucks in a deep breath that they’re looking at each other.
The air crackles between them until it becomes so thick, it’s hard to breathe.
I’ve no idea what happened between them in the bathroom, but clearly, it was intense.
“I could get used to this,” Alana finally whispers.
“You’d better. You’re ours now. Isn’t that right, Big Man?” I tease, using her nickname for Reid.
His shoulders tense, but he doesn’t argue with me.
“You hungry?” he asks.
“Yeah,” I agree.
He waits for Alana to say something, but when she remains mute, he just nods and disappears from the doorway, although not before he quickly checks on Mav.
Oh yeah, things are definitely changing around here.
* * *
With my fingers interlaced with Alana’s, we slowly make our way downstairs.
The scent of bacon began wafting up the stairs about ten minutes ago, making my stomach growl so loudly, I finally got to see a smile on my girl’s lips.
No words were said between us after I finished her hair, instead, she spun around, wrapped her arms around my neck and refused to let go. It was a really fucking good place to be.
I needed that connection just as much as she did.
But sadly, my need for food put an end to it.
It was only the beginning, I know that. But still, the second she pulled away, I mourned the loss of her touch.
“Hungry, little dove?” I ask as we hit the ground floor.
“I don’t know,” she confesses quietly. “I’m just… tired, I guess.”
Wrapping my arm around her shoulder, I tug her into my side and hold her close.