Page 74 of Nemesis

The first few months after the accident had been the hardest. I was barely able to get out of bed, let alone shower. I was always overcome with fatigue as I’d mourned my parents and the life I’d once known.

Theo eventually had stepped in and helped take care of me beyond the scope of what his job required. He’d helped feed me, get me out of bed, and shower. He’d even spent hours online, watching tutorials on how to wash my curls properly since he didn’t want to ask me directly.

I looked up at him, brushing my reminiscing away to savor the present. I met his gaze as he worked his hands down the sides of my head, the brush of his fingers against the nape of my neck sending a shiver down my spine.

He rinsed my hair and worked the conditioner into my curls, letting it set as he cleaned the rest of my body. He touched me with such delicacy and took care of me with such devotion that I had to hold my emotions back from spilling out.

This felt right. It always had.

And once he was done, I did the same for him.

“I missed this, missedus,” he said huskily, taking my face between his palms. He placed a gentle kiss on my lips and they parted with a soft sigh.

I missed us too.

After washing everything off, he turned the shower off and grabbed two towels, bundling me in one and wrapping the other around his waist. He wrapped his arms around my body and just stayed still, his head on top of mine, his eyes closed as we both relished in the feel of each other.

I glanced at the image of us in the mirror until I zeroed in on the hand on top of mine, noticing something on his ring finger that hadn’t been there the last time I’d seen him.

I didn’t remember him having any tattoos.

“Theo,” I said quietly. He hummed, meeting my gaze in the mirror.

I traced my finger over the ink, and his skin broke out in goose bumps under my touch.

“What’s this?”

He tensed behind me. “Look closer.”

I obliged. It was a tattoo of three black dots, equally distanced, with a vine that wrapped in the back. I turned his palm over to see what it led to, only to find the initials SA next to it.

Wait.

It finally dawned on me what this meant. I turned in his embrace and faced him.

“Theo,” I said softly.

He closed his eyes for a moment, his shoulders slumping. “It’s always been you. It’s only ever been you.”

He’d inked me on his skin. Our three squeeze hand signal. The initial of my first name combined with his last name.

A lone tear escaped, trailing down my cheek. He hooked his finger under my chin and his thumb brushed across my cheek to wipe it away. His eyes searched mine as he towered over me. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

“I know,” he said softly.

I lifted on my toes and brushed my lips against his tentatively. He opened up for me and I wrapped my hand around his neck, tugging him forward.

Without hesitation, he wrapped his arms around me, hauled me off my feet, and pinned me to his chest. His tongue swept into my mouth and everything around us vanished.

My legs wrapped around his waist as he placed me on the bathroom counter. We kissed until we were both left breathless.

He broke the kiss and brought me back to the bedroom, then placed me gently on the bed. He walked over to the dresser and grabbed clothes for both of us.

“Those aren’t my clothes,” I noted, chuckling.

He grinned, walking back to me. “You look better in mine,” he said, removing the towel wrapped around my body and patting me dry. He then pulled down another one of his shirts and helped me into a pair of his boxers.

“How come you have so much stuff here?” I asked, curious as to how he had time to pack so much stuff when I’d barely been able to bring a few things with the time constraint.