To Be Young And In Love In New York City

Chapter 31: "What Kind Of An Idiot Does That?"

Taking the towel River had handed her, Colette dried her hair. Her clothes were still soaking wet and she had a desperate urge to get out of them. 

She traced her toe on the bathroom tiles, water dripping from her feet aligning with the invisible figure she was drawing. From behind her, she heard River unzip his pants. She saw him take off his pants and his shirt to reveal his boxers from the mirror. A small blush crept up her cheeks and she quickly looked away. 

He turned to her, placing a small hand on her shoulder. She turned around to look at him and they were facing each other. He took the towel out of her hands and placed it near the sink. "Take these off before you catch a cold," He told her, gesturing to her clothes with his eyes. "I'll give you mine."

"Can I take a shower?" She asked softly, looking away from him.

"Oh. Uh......." He looked at the bathtub before looking back at her, "I was gonna take one but you can go first."

"Oh, no no. You go. I'll wait."

"No Colette, it's okay."

"No, really. I insist. You're already naked."

"Maybe we can take one together?" He asked hesitantly, watching her expression carefully.

"Uh...." She really hoped he couldn't see how red her cheeks were, "Okay, I guess."

"Alright. You take off your clothes, I'll run the shower."

She heard the shower start as she took off her skirt, throwing it into the wet pile of clothes. She felt vulnerable with her legs exposed; she had been half-naked around River before but that day it was different.

She tried to take off her top, reaching for the zip at the back. Whoever thought it would be convenient to put zips at the back was an idiot. She pulled the zip down and felt her hair pulled back. She cursed under her breath and tried to untangle her hair from the zip.

She couldn't. Whichever her position she placed her hands in, she simply couldn't get her hair out of it. "Uh, River?" She called, getting irritated with the zip. "Can you help me out?"

River turned off the shower and got out of the bathtub, approaching her with a frown. "What's wrong?"

"I can't...get this...out!" She said, still struggling. River gently moved her hands away from the zip, placing his on them. He carefully analyzed how her hair strands had gotten stuck in the zipper and slowly but surely got them out of the tangled maze. Colette grunted in relief, scratching her scalp. "Thank you."

She didn't turn around; instead she took of her top, revealing her black bra and then turned around casually, unaware of how close River was to her. The small amount of gap between them was the first thing she noticed when she turned, making her suck in a sharp breath. She looked at River, but his eyes were too busy scanning her half-naked body. She suddenly felt hyper-aware of herself; her breasts felt too saggy, her hips too wide, her thighs too thick.

River moved closer to her, his eyes still on her body, and placed his hands on her waist. His eyes moved up to meet hers and for the first time, she saw something in his dark eyes that she had never seen before: lust. 

His hands left her waist and landed on her face, cupping it. His face moved into hers, their noses brushing against each other, their mouths so close together that if either of them moved even a single degree, their lips would be on each other. 

Colette felt her heart beat louder, the butterflies in her stomach growing intensely. She knew he was getting excited too from how rapidly he was breathing, the air he was exhaling tickling her nose. She decided to make a move, since he always did, and kissed him. Slowly.