Always

Chapter 81

A fluffy, white towel was wrapped around my shoulders as Harry's hands smoothed down my sides, pressing the towel into my arms and drying my skin. He had a towel of his own wrapped around his waist, his torso still glittering with beads of water as they clung to his chest.

His hair was much darker than it was normally, the wetness weighing it down across his forehead and down the back of his neck. It had grown longer in the time we'd been together, making it much more resistant to his attempts at controlling it. Looking at him now, with his hair dripping wet and his chest damp from the water of the tub and the steam in the room, I could hardly believe how beautiful he was.

I wrapped my towel around my chest before stepping forward into his chest and letting him wind his arms around my back. My lips pressed to the soft skin of his chest, absorbing a few of the droplets that clung to him before tilting my head back to look up at him. He was watching me curiously, his lips sucked into his mouth unconsciously.

"I love you," I said quietly. My hands rested on his chest and my fingers splayed wide across his muscles, the heat from him searing into my skin.

"And I love you," he said, smiling softly at me. His eyes looked even brighter in contrast with his temporarily darker hair, glowing green in the steamy light of the bathroom. One of his hands trailed up to my face, his fingers lightly tracing the outline of the bruise over my eye. It was the darkest it had been so far, and was pretty sore but I managed not to wince at his contact.

"Does this hurt?" he asked gently, eyes examining the bruise and flicking back to my gaze.

"A bit," I admitted. "But not too bad."

He frowned as he studied my injury further.

"I'm so sorry, Joey." His face looked pained as he watched me, and it hurt my heart to see him so upset even though it was on my behalf.

"Harry, it wasn't your fault, I told you," I said, my palms pressing further into his chest.

"It kinda was," he argued, his frown deepening even more.

"I'm the one who keeps getting into fights," I joked. "I'd like to see what she looks like."

I put on a tough expression and flexed my muscles playfully. Or rather, lack of muscles.

"Yeah, if you'd stop doing that, I'd really appreciate it. It's not good for my health or my masculinity," he teased back, finally seeming to lighten up a bit. He really did not like the fact that I had gotten hurt- that was very, very clear to me.

"Thought you were the manliest of men?" I laughed, letting my hand fall to his side and pinching lightly. He squirmed away from me and his mouth fell open in a laugh.

"I am," he said, deepening his voice drastically. I shivered at the tone as it reverberated through my body.

"Yes, you are," I said, grinning at him.

He leaned forward to press a kiss to my forehead, his arms sliding up my back to pull me into him even more and squeezing for a second before releasing me. He bent to gather our pile of clothes off the floor and moved toward the door.

"When's your mom coming home?" I asked as he started to move out of the heated room. He opened the door and a rush of cool air wafted across my skin, raising goose bumps along my arms as I followed him down the hallway and into his room.

"Umm... not for a while I think," he said, unsure of his response but betting on her being out for a while. He pulled a pair of black boxers out of the drawer and slipped them on after dropping his towel briefly. I giggled at the sight of his tiny little bum as I sat on the edge of his bed, not wanting to put my clothes from last night back on.