Chapter 339 - Behave

Chapter 339: Chapter 339 - Behave

The Uber pulled away from the curb while Zac stood beside Roxie with both bags hanging from one hand. Roxie looked at the bungalow and nearly sighed in relief.

Home.

She was exhausted enough that even the few steps from the curb to the porch looked annoying. Her shoulders hurt from using the crutches all morning, her ankle had started throbbing again somewhere between Briarwick and the ride back, and the rest of her body still felt stiff from sleeping on the plane and bus.

Zac handed her the crutches, and Roxie adjusted them beneath her arms before making her way toward the house. She moved carefully with the brace around her ankle, using the railing to get up the porch before finally reaching the door. By the time she stepped inside, even her arms were starting to hurt.

Zac closed the door behind them, dropped the bags near the wall and walked straight toward her. Roxie barely had time to look at him before he bent and swept her up.

She screeched. "Zac!"

His arm was already beneath her knees while the other held her firmly around the back.

"I was walking!"

"You look better in my arms."

Roxie giggled despite herself and wrapped both arms around his neck. "Is this your way of treating me right?"

His mouth curved. "Not even the start."

The hand beneath her legs moved slightly, his fingers brushing over the bare skin above her knee before settling there again. Roxie laughed and tightened her arms around him.

"You enjoy this way too much."

"I do."

At least he admitted it.

Zac carried her toward the couch and lowered her slowly, one hand staying against her back until she was settled. He carefully stretched her injured leg along the cushion, then leaned over and pressed a kiss against her forehead.

The kiss was soft enough that Roxie looked up at him immediately.

She expected another one.

A real one.

His face stayed close, and Roxie found herself looking at his mouth. She leaned forward slightly, already expecting him to meet her halfway.

Zac straightened.

"What do you want to eat?"

Roxie paused.

The question ruined the moment so completely that she suddenly felt stupid for expecting anything.

"Nothing."

"You need food."

Roxie stared at him for a moment before looking away. She needed to get out of her own head. They had barely slept. They had traveled for hours, her ankle was injured, and Zac asking about food instead of kissing her shouldn’t mean anything

Still, she had leaned toward him.

He had definitely seen it.

"I’m still bloated from last night." She pouted.

Zac glanced toward her stomach, and Roxie immediately covered it with both hands.

"Stop."

"What?"

"Looking."

"You just told me you’re bloated."

"That doesn’t mean inspect me."

Roxie narrowed her eyes, but his mouth only twitched before he reached down and pulled her hands away from her stomach.

"You look fine."

"You’re required to say that."

"I’m really not."

His thumbs moved once across the backs of her fingers before he released her hands and straightened again.

Roxie watched him.

There was something strange about him today. Nothing obvious, because he had carried her twice already, kept touching her, joked about massaging her and flirted with her all morning. But every time they got close enough for anything more, Zac seemed to stop himself.

It bothered her more than she wanted to admit.

"I’m going to shower," he said, picking up one of the bags. "Think about what you want to eat."

"I already told you."

"And I’ll ask again later."

"Annoying."

He grinned. "Love you too."

Then he disappeared toward the bedroom.

A few minutes later Roxie heard the shower turn on. She leaned back against the couch and closed her eyes, enjoying the silence for maybe ten seconds before she became painfully aware of how disgusting she felt.

The bungalow felt strangely quiet after the last several days. Orlando had been full of noise from the hotel, teammates, competition music, crowds and airports. Then came the bus, the school and the entire homecoming. Now there was only water running somewhere down the hallway.

Her skin felt sticky from traveling. Her shirt clung slightly to her back, her hair felt dirty and even the inside of her Nationals jacket suddenly irritated her. Roxie pulled it off and tossed it beside her.

The shower kept running.

She looked toward the hallway.

Then, because apparently exhaustion had destroyed whatever self control she had left, she pictured Zac underneath it.

Roxie pressed her lips together.

How could she help it? Her boyfriend was ridiculously hot. She could easily picture the water running over his shoulders, down his chest and stomach, following the lines of his body until it reached the V at his waist and the thin trail of hair disappearing lower.

Her cheeks heated.

"Jesus."

She leaned her head back and closed her eyes.

Zac was supposed to be the shameless one between them. Yet here she was sitting alone on the couch thinking about him naked in the shower while her nipples had already hardened underneath her shirt.

Roxie shifted and crossed her legs before the movement pulled slightly against her ankle.

She glared down at the brace.

Maybe that was why Zac was acting strange.

He had been careful with her ever since she got hurt. Every time she winced, he noticed. Every time she shifted wrong, he looked ready to grab her. Maybe he thought touching her would somehow make the injury worse.

Roxie frowned.

Her ankle was injured.

The rest of her worked perfectly fine. Her cheeks warmed up with that shameless thought.

She needed a shower.

Definitely a shower.

The water finally stopped, and a few minutes later Zac came into the living room wearing fresh sweatpants and a clean shirt while rubbing a towel through his wet hair. His skin was still damp around his neck, and the shirt clung slightly across his chest and shoulders.

Roxie stared.

He looked so good it was irritating.

Her eyes moved down before she could stop them.

Gray sweatpants should honestly be illegal.

They did absolutely nothing to hide him. If anything, they made it worse, and Roxie could practically imagine what was underneath them without even trying.

Her cheeks turned hot again.

Zac’s hand slowed.

"What?"

Roxie immediately looked toward the bathroom. "I want to shower."

"Okay."

He lowered the towel.

Roxie waited for him to move.

Instead, he stood there for a second, looking at her. Then his ears slowly started turning red.

Roxie noticed immediately.

Zac cleared his throat. "Want me to help?"

She stared at him.

The red spread farther over his ears.

Roxie laughed. "You’re a pervert."

He laughed too. "I was asking."

"Sure."

"You have one good ankle."

"I’m injured. I’m not invalid."

"I know."

"I can shower by myself."

Zac tossed the towel onto the arm of the chair and walked toward her.

Roxie reached for the crutches.

She barely touched one before Zac bent and swept her up again.

Roxie screeched so loudly she surprised herself.

"Zac!"

He laughed while she grabbed around his neck.

"I said I can do it myself!"

"You can."

"Then put me down."

"No."

Roxie smacked his shoulder, but Zac kept walking toward the hallway as if she weighed nothing.

"You are such an asshole."

She tried staying irritated, but her face was already close to his neck and he smelled ridiculously good. Fresh soap, shampoo and clean skin mixed with the familiar smell that was just him.

Roxie became quieter.

Zac kept one arm firm around her back while the other stayed beneath her thighs. Her shorts had ridden slightly higher, leaving more skin against his palm, and the warmth of his hand seemed to spread straight through her.

Roxie looked down.

His fingers were spread across the back of her thigh.

She swallowed.

The bathroom suddenly seemed much farther away than it actually was.

Roxie looked toward his face and noticed the tightness along his jaw.

Interesting.

She shifted slightly in his arms.

His grip tightened.

Just enough for her to feel it.

Her mouth curved.

Oh.

So that was it.

He wasn’t distancing himself.

He was trying to behave.

That realization sent another rush of heat lower into her stomach.

Roxie shifted again, this time letting her body press a little more firmly against his chest.

Zac looked down at her.

She gave him the sweetest smile she could manage.

His eyes narrowed. "What?"

"Nothing."

"You’re doing something."

"I’m injured."

"That has nothing to do with what you’re doing."

Roxie laughed and rested her cheek against his shoulder before burying her nose against his neck.

"You smell so good."

Zac said nothing.

She felt the slow exhale that left him.

Roxie smiled against his skin.

"You okay?"

"Perfect."

The answer came a little too quickly.

She almost laughed.

Zac carried her into the bathroom and stopped near the toilet.

"Here?"

"Yeah."

He started lowering her.

Slowly.

Roxie kept her arms around his neck as her body slid against his. Her chest brushed him first, followed by her stomach and thighs, and what should have taken only a second suddenly felt much longer.

Zac’s hands tightened.

Roxie stopped breathing.

He stopped lowering her.

For a moment neither of them moved.

She was still partly in his arms, their faces close enough that their noses almost touched. His eyes dropped to her mouth.

Roxie’s lips parted. That was the look she had been waiting for since he kissed her forehead on the couch.

Her fingers moved slowly into the damp hair at the back of his neck.

"Zac."

His eyes lifted to hers. "Yeah?"

"You’re supposed to put me down."

"I know."

He still held her.

Roxie’s heartbeat picked up as she became aware of everything at once. His palm beneath her thigh, the hand around her back, his chest against hers and the warmth still clinging to him from the shower.

She looked back at his mouth.

"You’ve been avoiding me."

Zac’s eyebrows pulled together. "What?"

"You wouldn’t kiss me."

"I kissed you."

"My forehead."

His mouth twitched. "That counts."

"No, it doesn’t."

Roxie leaned closer.

Zac stayed exactly where he was.

His ears were still red.

That made her smile.

"You were trying to behave."

Zac exhaled through his nose.

Roxie almost laughed.

She had him.

"You were."

"You hurt your ankle yesterday."

"My ankle."

"I’m aware."

"Then why are you acting like the rest of me is injured too?"

Zac’s eyes moved down her body before returning to her face.

That single look wiped the smile from Roxie’s mouth.

His voice dropped. "I’m trying very hard to remember that."

Heat rolled through her.

Roxie tightened her fingers in his hair as Zac’s gaze dropped to her mouth again.

She kissed him first.

He stayed still for barely a second before his mouth pressed back against hers.

Hard.

Roxie immediately pulled him closer.

The kiss felt completely different from the soft one on her forehead. Whatever control Zac had been holding onto lasted only a few seconds before his hand shifted higher against her thigh and his mouth opened against hers.

Roxie made a soft sound into the kiss.

His grip tightened.

She kissed him harder.

Her fingers slid deeper into his damp hair while his breathing changed against her. For a few seconds she forgot about the shower, her ankle and everything else because kissing him like this was exactly what she had wanted since they came home.

Then Zac pulled back.

Their mouths were still close enough that Roxie could feel his breath against her lips.

She opened her eyes.

He looked affected, but still controlled enough to stop himself.

"So that’s why," she whispered.

His forehead rested against hers. "Why what?"

"You’ve been acting weird."

"I haven’t been acting weird."

"You have."

"I’m trying to keep you from making your ankle worse."

Roxie stared at him.

Seriously?

After everything happening inside her body since he walked out of that shower, Zac was still talking about her ankle.

Heat rushed into her cheeks again, only now embarrassment mixed with it.

Suddenly she felt like she was the one chasing him.

She had stared at him in gray sweatpants.

She had pictured him naked in the shower.

She had kissed him first.

And Zac was apparently still worried about being responsible.

Her eyes narrowed.

"Put me down."

Zac blinked at the sudden change in her tone. "What?"

"I can shower by myself."

He lowered her carefully until she was sitting, still looking at her like he was trying to understand what had just happened.

"You sure?"

"Yes."

Roxie took a deep breath and looked toward the shower.

Her mood was ridiculous.

A minute ago, she practically wanted to climb all over him, and now she was irritated because apparently Zac Prescott had suddenly discovered self-control. Laughable. Irritating. And unfortunately, so loving of him.

Then another thought came.

Roxie slowly looked back at him.

There was one thing she knew about Zac.

If he ever lost against her, it would probably be because of his libido.

Her irritation faded.

A smile slowly pulled at her mouth. "Zac?"

He was still looking at her suspiciously. "Yeah?"

"I can still count on that massage later, right?"

He blinked.

Roxie made her voice sweeter. "You offered."

Zac pushed his wet hair back from his forehead. "Yeah. Sure."

"Good." Roxie smiled at him. "After I’m done, I’ll call you."

Something about her tone finally registered.

Zac stopped. His eyes moved over her once before returning to her face.

Roxie kept smiling.

He swallowed.

"Yeah."

There he was.

Roxie almost laughed when Zac finally turned toward the door, still glancing back like he was trying to figure out exactly what she was planning.

"Close the door."

His eyes narrowed.

Roxie gave him her sweetest smile.

Zac walked out.

The moment the door shut, Roxie looked toward the shower and smiled to herself.

Let’s see how long you behave, Zac Prescott.