You're my dearest lie || Miraculous Adult

Chapter 34

Had some drinks - Two Feet

Marinette

I immediately squeezed my eyes shut and waved my hands in front of me, as if I could erase the image before my eyes. I cursed quietly and tried to apologize with my eyes closed when....

"Can you pass me the towel?"

"What?!"

Deep red, I stared at the floor and shielded my eyes with my hand.

"I mean... while you're here."

The audacity of his words didn't register with me.

I covered the shower cubicle in front of me with my hand and actually looked for the towel. I must have been so overwhelmed by the situation that I actually reached for the towel and handed it to him with my head turned away.

I could have slapped myself. Why hadn't I run straight away?

Now I was standing awkwardly in the middle of the bathroom, listening to Luka turning off the shower water and rubbing the fabric over his bare skin.

It was pretty stuffy in here and smelled intensely of mint and men's shampoo. I wondered why I hadn't passed out already. If not from the air, then why not from shame?

"I'm beginning to think you're doing this on purpose."

I immediately turned white as a sheet and felt my pulse double.

Luka opened the glass door and walked past me to the sink. I was lucky that he had tied the towel around the most important part of his body. I didn't try to distract myself from his defined bare back.

"I just wanted to use the restroom okay? How did I know you were in here!" I returned excitedly as Luka unflinchingly reached for another towel to dry his hair.

Stunned, I stared at him.

Both Couffaine siblings really did have the talent of not being bothered by anything, and it almost drove me mad. Ashamed, I stared at the shiny double washbasin and thought hard about how to get out of the situation in one piece.

"You went past the toilet. You wanted to barge back in, admit it."

His grin resonated in his voice and I wondered what object from the sink I could throw at him if it hadn't been too expensive. Had I really walked past the toilet? How could it be that I had taken the third door instead of the second? Why was I so lost in thought and looking at the paintings in the hallway?

"I've never been here before. How was I supposed to know that this was the bathroom? And above all," I said, my eyebrows furrowing in incomprehension, "why didn't you freaking lock the door?"

It didn't affect him at all. He wasn't a bit embarrassed that I had seen him again in his God-created naked form. No, on the contrary, it amused him more and more every second.

Luka acted as if he really wanted to suppress his sly grin.

"How was I to know that, of all people, you would barge in again?"

I promptly opened my mouth to object, but I couldn't get a single word out.

He always managed it. Making me look like a pervert. And we both knew how good he was at this game.

I clenched my fists in frustration. On the one hand, I wanted to sneer at him, but if my gaze slipped over his naked torso for even a second, he'd use it against me.

"Okay, listen," I wanted to make it clear when I suddenly heard the front door slam shut from downstairs.

"I'm here, Juleka!" came an echoing voice that sounded like Luka and Juleka's mom.

Suddenly Luka stopped rubbing his hair. I could have sworn that his mother's voice went far more against the grain than me catching him naked again.

"Wait, doesn't your mom know you're here?" I asked tonelessly as he carelessly dropped the towel and reached for the hairdryer on the hook.

"Nope, I only came here to have a shower."

I didn't have the nerve to think about the truth of his answer when suddenly a door opened dangerously close to us.

I heard the chatter of my friends as I saw Luka unconcernedly press the hairdryer cable into the socket.

"Are you insane?!," I hissed and grabbed him by the arm. "You can't turn on the hairdryer now. What if they hear us?"

Panicked, I looked towards the bathroom door, which was a hand's width open. I was lucky they couldn't see us from that angle, but what if he made himself known now? And apparently no one even knew he was here?

"I can still close the door," he whispered back dramatically.

My friends' voices were louder, but they were probably still in Juleka's doorway.

I turned to him with pressed lips.

"Do you realize what it will look like if they notice you doing this?"

Luka didn't understand the gravity of the situation. Frustrated, I stared at the dirty grin that flitted across his lips.

"You can bet that..."

"Shh!" I said, pressing my palm to his mouth. Luka had spoken again in his dark, full speaking voice, but I didn't let my friends discover me and him - covered only by a towel, mind you.

My heartbeat pulsed in my ears as they walked past our door and greeted Juleka's mom.

I prayed they hadn't noticed the empty loo and wondered where I was.

Luka tried to say something back under my hand, but I hastily pressed harder against his mouth as Juleka and the others walked deadly close to our door.

When they were back in Juleka's room and the door slammed shut, I breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Thank God," I gasped and took my hand from his face.

"You should shut me up more often," Luka said out of nowhere and I stared at him in amazement. Unconcerned, he pulled his wet hair back as the corners of his mouth twitched treacherously.

"I mean, there are other ways to shut me up, if you know what I mean."

I looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"I can throw the curd soap in your face next time if you like."

He looked at me through half-lowered eyelids, propping himself up against the washstand as he leaned down slowly and dangerously close to me.

"I'd beg for that," he murmured, causing my muscles under my stomach to contract against my will.

My pulse skipped a beat and I could barely escape his eyes.

"Don't you dare tell my friends about this," I whispered calmly, bravely holding his gaze. Even though I found it quite difficult with that spicy shower scent emanating from him.

His left eyebrow twitched in amusement, which almost made me go white-hot.

In that second, a few drops left the ends of his hair and brushed the fabric over my chest. Luka noticed how I had flinched imperceptibly and looked at the stain on my cleavage.

Everything inside me was tingling unbearably and I suddenly felt hot. His eyebrows twitched at the sight and when he looked up again, I could barely look him in the face with intimacy.

"I have to go," I said louder than I intended and took a few steps back.

"And... blow-dry your damn hair!"