Page 20 of The Scars Within (Twisted Thorn #1)

I grabbed my clean nightclothes and towel, eager to wash away the day’s exhaustion with a long, hot shower. Scurrying into the bathing chamber, I was ready to unwind when I suddenly noticed three pairs of eyes staring at me in shock.

I froze, unsure of what to say, until Rhodes turned towards me.

He was showering alongside three other guys in their respective stalls.

His dark hair was partially wet and laying messily over his face.

He was holding a sudsy sponge over his shoulder.

He turned to look at me, the suds dripping down his back.

“Well, hello there,” Rhodes said in a deep, playful voice. “Did you mean to step into the men’s bathing chamber?”

“I-” my voice caught. I cleared my throat as I thought of what to say. The pesky events of today rammed into my mind all at once.

Pehper pouring an iced coffee all over me.

Captain Thorne calling me out.

Failing to channel air.

Figuratively being knocked down.

Failing to channel earth.

Literally being pulled down .

I’m exhausted. And I can either run away from this embarrassing moment and let it be the finishing touch of my shitty-ass day, or I can embrace it and let it brighten my already-ruined day.

I did pinky promise, after all. Maybe I can have some fun with this.

“Yes. Of course, I did,” I replied, mustering a confidence I wasn’t entirely feeling.

I casually walked into the shower stall between Rhodes and a stranger, holding my head high. Once inside, I let my towel drop. The stalls had half-walls, and given my height, there wasn’t much to see from eye level.

Then it hit me—Rhodes is easily six feet tall. Shit.

“Shayde isn’t here,” Rhodes said over the wall. He was looking me straight in the eyes, but I could tell he was silently fighting himself to keep his gaze up towards my face.

“I’m not here for Shayde,” I snapped back.

“Hmm.” Rhodes turned to adjust his shower faucet, unfazed by the situation. “I’ll be quick, don’t worry.”

I huffed, “Is that what you say to all the ladies?”

The room fell silent. Any conversations that had been buzzing before came to an abrupt halt. Davis tried to stifle a choking cough.

“Sorry, water went down my throat,” Davis muttered, his voice strained as he cleared his throat.

Feeling impressed with my remark, I started to hum with my eyes closed as I rinsed my hair. When I opened my eyes again, I caught Rhodes glaring daggers at me over the wall.

“Wouldn’t want you to feel uncomfortable,” Rhodes deadpanned.

“Are you sure about that? Or do you just need to leave before you feel too...” I flicked my eyes downward for emphasis. “ comfortable ?”

He pursed his lips.

I cocked a brow. “Tell me, Wylder. Is showering next to a female where you draw the line? ”

Rhodes softly shook his head, trying to fight a grin before he dunked his head under the running water.

We showered in awkward silence. Once I rinsed out my hair for a final time, it was just Rhodes, Davis, and myself left in the chamber.

I could smell the cashmere sandalwood and vanilla wafting from Rhode’s steamy shower.

The effort to keep my gaze away from Rhodes was brutal.

I turned around to get a better angle for the shower head to rinse the oils from my hair and heard the squeaks of Rhodes turning his shower off.

From the corner of my eye, I could see his back was to me. So shamelessly, I let my gaze tilt sideways to see him drying off with a towel. I found myself momentarily captivated by his firm, wet physique until he turned back around and caught me staring.

“Better stop staring, Thorne. Before you make me too comfortable ,” he teased with a grin.

I met his gaze, momentarily speechless. He grabbed his belongings and left the bathing chamber in nothing but a towel wrapped around his hips. I realized then that Davis had already slipped out unnoticed. When had he left?

There’s something about Rhodes that I can’t understand. Laney was right about the Wylder twins; they couldn’t be more different. While Shayde is like playing with all the cards face up on the table, Rhodes is like playing with all the cards face down.

And blindfolded.

With your hands tied behind your back.

When I’m with Shayde, I find myself putting on the ‘normal girl with a normal world’ act. But when I’m with Rhodes... I find myself letting go of the need to pretend. I can be sarcastic and I can joke around. I can burst into laughter while lying in a pool of spilled coffee.

I can be myself.

Which is someone that I am still trying to find.

That feeling of vulnerability is a sensation I’ve never experienced before; it’s like being swept up in an uncontrollable storm. Hoping that you land somewhere safely on your feet, surrounded by people who love and accept you for who you are.

And I can’t help but wonder if Rhodes is also trapped within his own storm. It’s like his eyes are proof that while he is meant to be one thing, he is fighting to be another. The blue in his eye is trying to overpower the gray, struggling to be the opposite of what others expect him to be.

As if he is expected to be gray, but deep down, he wants to be blue.

As I finished my shower and wrapped myself in my towel, I couldn’t shake the idea that Rhodes could be more like me than I wanted to admit. No matter how much of a relief it feels to be myself around him, I can’t forget that I caught him having a heated argument with Captain Thorne.

What in the elements would a nefarious war captain have to do with a second-year cadet? And where was he last week when we were all supposed to be in Dragon Valley? I didn’t see him until after the aerial duel.

My instincts tell me to run. But Rhodes Wylder is an uncategorized genre on the shelf, and I’m dying to know where it belongs.