Chapter 23 - Like What You See?

Vera's POV

"Mum, you're home." I walked to meet her, my wet shoes squeaking against the floor.

"I'm glad you're home." Her eyes moved over my face, worried, then dropped to my hand before lifting to Liam. "The rain kept getting heavier. You two hadn't arrived, and I was starting to worry."

"Sorry, Mum. Liam had football practice."

"Ohh, I didn't know you play football." She turned to look at him properly.

"I do." He said it simply, just those two words.

"You both should go change." She turned back to me, her hand brushing gently over my sleeve. "Your uniform is stained, Vera. Go shower before you catch a cold."

"I'm going to my room, Mum."

I turned and walked up the stairs slowly, careful to keep my weight off my injured knee so she wouldn't notice the small limp in my step. Behind me, I heard Liam's footsteps following.

He reached his door first. I watched him from the corner of my eye as he turned the handle and pushed it open. For one second, his eyes met mine quickly before he stepped inside and shut the door with a soft click.

I stood there a moment longer, staring at his closed door, before I turned and opened mine.

I walked in and breathed in the smell of my room. It smelled like me, like my perfume.

I stood by the door and started unbuttoning my shirt, one button at a time, until it slid off my shoulders and I let it fall. I reached back and unzipped my skirt next, and it dropped around my ankles. I stepped out of it and left it on the floor, and started walking toward the bathroom.

Then I look at the chair at one side of my room, and back at the door where my clothes laid on the floor.

Then it occured to me.

My bag.

I hadn't brought it home. My phone was still inside it.

"Argh, my phone." I threw my head back and groaned at the ceiling, my hands covering my face.

I glanced at my door, thinking maybe I should knock on Liam's and ask if he remembered where I'd left it. But my whole body ached from the day, every muscle tight and sore, and the shower was what I needed right now, my phone could wait.

So I walked into the bathroom instead. I went straight to the tub and turned the tap, adjusting it until the water ran warm against my fingers. I let it fill slowly, then reached for my lavender soap and poured some in, watching the bubbles rise and spread across the surface.

I stepped in carefully, lowering myself inch by inch, and let my back rest against the cool porcelain behind me.

"After a day like today, this is exactly what I need." I said it out loud to no one, closing my eyes and letting my shoulders finally drop.

"My knee!" I yelped, my hand touching my knee as it brushed the cut, accessing it with my knee close to my chest. I had crossed one leg over the other without thinking, and pain shot up so sharp.

I dropped my leg back down slowly, more careful this time, and shut my eyes again, breathing out long and slow until the sting faded into a dull throb.

I don't know how long I stayed like that, enjoying the warmth of the water, my mind drifting somewhere quiet. When I finally opened my eyes, the tightness that had sat in my muscles all day was gone.

I lifted my hand out of the water and turned it over, looking at my palm, already soft and wrinkled at the fingertips, the way skin gets when it's soaked too long.

I used my toe to pull open the drain and watched the water start to disappear, swirling down slowly. Once enough had drained out, I stood up and reached over to turn on the shower head above me. Warm water rained down, washing the bubbles from my skin.

Water ran down my face first, then over my chest, down my stomach, and along the length of my legs. I tipped my head back and let it soak through my hair, rinsing it clean. When I was finally done, I stepped onto the mat and reached for the towel hanging by the sink.

I stood in front of the mirror and dried my hair first, squeezing the water out strand by strand so it wouldn't drip everywhere later. I was too lazy tonight to bother with the blow-dryer.

Then I picked up the second towel and started wiping down my body, watching myself move in the mirror as I wipes, my arms, my shoulders, down my stomach.

When I finished, I hung the towel back on its rail and reached for the door handle.

I opened the bathroom door.

And froze.

Liam stood right there, inside my room, his expression caught somewhere between worry and something else entirely. His eyes had been searching my face, until they dropped.

And stayed dropped.

"What are you doing in my room?"

He didn't answer. His jaw tightened, the muscle there flexing once, but he still didn't say anything.

I walked past him anyway, brushing close because the space beside him was small, even with how much taller he was than me. I felt the heat coming off his skin as I moved by. I crossed the room to my closet and pulled it open, then turned back around to face him.

His eyes snapped up to meet mine first, he definitely was looking at my ass, before they slid back down. Slower this time. They landed on my boobs and still went lower.my chest. I knew exactly where they had landed, and he made no effort to hide it.

He still hadn't moved from the doorway. He just stood there, watching me the way he had no right to, but I enjoyed the way his eyes all over me, so, I let him.

And I couldn't resist, asking the question I now had the opportunity to use back at him.

“Like what you see?”