Hollywood and Mr. Popular (the original)

Chapter 22

At least 3 feet of snow covers the ground when I wake up in the morning. I jump out of bed, throwing on a sweater, a scarf, earmuffs, jeans and boots. Seeing that Mom is still asleep, I leave a note saying I'm going to Eli's and trudge to his house.

But by the time I make it to his front door my bones have pretty much frozen in place and I stifly raise my hand to knock on the door. Ms. Alexander opens and her eyes widen as she waves me inside.

"Come in, come in." She drapes a blanket across my shoulders and calls Eli downstairs. I feel my cheeks warm as Eli stumbles downstairs, running his fingers through his bedhair. His usual abs remain, accompanied by pecks and biceps with the absence of his shirt. His mouth drops open at the sight of me and I blush even more.

"Angelface, what are you doing here?"

"I came to see you." He chuckles softly, running his fingers through his hair again.

"I"ll go run you some bath water." I blow softly on my fingers while he runs me water. He returns a few minutes later, pulling me upstairs and into a bathroom. "Have you eaten?" He asks, turning his head while I'm undressed.

"No." I say, stepping into the hot water.

"I'll have my butler make us something." I lower myself into the water which has scented bubble bath that I've learned to associate with Eli. I close my eyes and lean my head against the cool wall. Peeking out of one eye, I notice Eli staring at the ceiling. I giggle softly.

"You can get in if you want." The tub is wide enough so that we can both fit without touching, I just hope he has enough respect not to try anything.

"Seriously?" He says, his eyes widening in excitement. I laugh, scooting over so there's room for him, closing my eyes as he strips and practically jumps into the tub. "Whew." He breathes, lying back and shutting his eyes as well. "This is nice."

"Have you never had a bath before?"

"Never with a hot girl in the tub with me." My skin tingles in appreciation to the compliment. "You know this is the last thing I expected to be doing with you? I'm still not a hundred percent sure I'm not dreaming."

"Well to be fair, this is the last thing I expected to be doing with you too."

"Life's full of surprises." The water makes a sloshing noise as he shifts and my body stiffens. "Hey, can I aso you a question." I exhale sharply, trying to calm myself down and open my eyes to find him looking at me. I nod. "What size onesie do you wear?" I blink, completely caught off guard by the question. Then I start laughing uncontrollably, sitting up, but bending so that the suds cover my breasts. He raises an eyebrow.

"What kind of a question is that?"

"A perfectly normal one." He says defensively. "You have to wear something when you get out."

"I don't think I'll be able to fit your onesie. A t-shirt will work fine." He rolls his eyes.

"Will you just answer the question?"

"I don't really know. Usually an extra small but sometimes a small depending on the size." He nods.

"Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" Before I can answer, he gathers a hand full of soap bubbles and rubs them over my face. Unfortunately, my mouth had been open, so some had gotten into the water.

"Oh my God, that's disgusting." I say, spitting the bubbles out.

"And spitting in the water isn't." He chuckles. I splash him with water and he laughs even harder. "Oh come on, that's not fair." He splashes me back and we wage into an all out war. I squeeze my eyes shut, squealing, laughing and splashing; Eli doing the same. The door to the bathroom opens and Eli's maid's smile instantly turns to a scowl.