Page 97 of Wrapped in Red

I sniffed softly. “Yeah.”

“Okay.”

CC took me to the bathroom and turned on the shower with me clinging to him for dear life. He undressed me, dropping my clothes on the floor, then he did the same for himself. He picked me up and placed me in the tub, then followed me inside.

“Step under the water, princess.”

I reached for him. “Please.”

I kept my gaze on his feet, staring at his toes and taking in how long the second toe was, in fact, bigger than the first one. The little hairs that stuck in weird directions. I liked it, though. I liked everything about CC. I always had.

“I like your toes.”

“Do you?” CC chuckled as he lifted my head up with his finger. “You have a foot fetish, Ez?”

I tried to look away, but he gripped my chin.

“I love you,” I murmured. I wrapped my warms around him as the hot water washed over my head and down my body. “Don’t leave me.”

“I’m not going anywhere, princess. I love you,” CC assured me as he held me under the stream of the water. We stayed like that for a few seconds before he surprised me. “What’s on that video, Ezra? How bad is it going to be when I finally have to watch it?”

I choked back my tears. “Bad. Please don’t make me tell you. You’re going to hate me.”

“That’s impossible, boo. I could never hate you,” he whispered as he brushed the wet hair back from my forehead. He leaned down to turn off the water. “Stay right here.”

My teeth chattered together as I watched CC pull the curtain back and climb from the tub. He grabbed two towels and then he smiled at me as he wrapped one around me tightly before he hung the other one around his waist. I let him dry my hair with a smaller one and then I followed him into the bedroom. He dug out some clean clothes, and I didn’t object as he dressed me in an oversized sweatshirt and a pair of pajama pants. Then we both climbed into bed. CC wrapped his arms around me and held me against him so tight that I never wanted him to let go.

***

Iwoke up alone. CC’sside of the bed was cool to the touch. He’d left longer than I wanted to think about. Had he even slept there at all? I sat up and dragged a hand through my curls before I gripped the back of my neck. I felt like I hadn’t slept at all, but that wasn’t the case. The sun was up. I climbed from the bed, then went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and freshen up. As I came out, I heard hushed voices.

“You had no right to say anything.”

“I was only looking out for you, Carson.”

“Is that what you call that, Holt? You don’t even know him.”

“I know enough.”

I froze. Holt was here right now? He hated me. It was obvious by the way he was talking about me. I swallowed nervously and moved to the hallway. I should say something.

“Look, Carson, Holt’s only looking out for you. Are you sure that Ezra isn’t just using you?” That sounded like Watts, maybe?

CC growled. “Fuck you. Ezra isn’t like that.”

“I’m not.” I burst into the room. “I love him. I’ve loved him a lot longer than any of you have known him. I don’t care about his money or his fame. He could stop racing right now, and I’d still want him.”

Holt’s hazel orbs flashed angrily. “Really? Where were you when I stayed here? When Watson and I weren’t together. He didn’t even mention you.”

“That’s enough, Holt,” CC warned.

“No, I want an answer. You never even mentioned your so-called best friend. I was here for a couple of weeks. You never spoke about Ezra or brought him up at all. I slept here, ate here, cried on your shoulder. Almost twenty years is a long time to be friends, Carson. Where was he that whole time?” Holt stared at me.

I stormed into the room with my hands on my hips. “We had a fight. I kissed him. He let me.” I stopped to stare at CC before I reached over to link our hands together. “He let me jerk him off, and I liked it. It was so much more than that, though. Neither one of us realized that our feelings were deeper than friendship until that moment. We didn’t talk for months.” I nudged CC. “Tell him, baby. Tell him why you went after him.”

“Oh, oh, pick me!” Killian grinned as he raised his hand, but Matthias grabbed it and pushed it back down.

CC sighed softly as he looked at me. “I went after you, Holt, because you reminded me of Ezra. You’re almost the same height, the same body type. I thought maybe I could get over Ez if I had someone else.”