Dark as the Night

59

A/N: This... was seriously a long time coming. I'm so sorry for my extended hiatus.  I had hip surgery last year and thought I'd be able to write while convalescing but as it turns out, my inspiration dried up.  It has taken me almost a year to write ONE manuscript chapter.

Then I write it, revise it, break it up into Wattpad chapters, and come to post it only to discover... this chapter, right here.  And the one following it.  Posted but unpublished.  So I'm publishing them one right after the other to get you going.  I'll be updating once a week again starting next week.

If you're still with me, thank you for your patience! I hope you enjoy this adorable Odai scene.  I had a lot of fun writing it from both of their perspectives, showing how they cutely misinterpret each others' nervous gestures as being smoother than they are.

-Evie

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Odessa found herself humming "Miserable," the name James gave her for the song he'd played that morning in the car, while she put away her newest purchases. There weren't many; a light jacket she'd found in a consignment store, a lacy bra elaborate enough that even Leila would approve, and... sandalwood oil.

It wasn't true sandalwood essential oil, but she'd been too impatient to save up for the pure stuff, so she compromised and bought an aromatherapy-grade blend of sandalwood in carrier oil. It was much cheaper and still smelled good, which was good enough for her. For now.

She frowned at the memory of James teasing her for only just realizing she could buy the less expensive blend. Then she smiled as she remembered with fondness how Tai had taken a drop of the oil and dabbed it on his collar bone, claiming with a playful grin that she could now smell it whenever she wanted. It was such a childish thing to do, but the significance of it, of him acknowledging the important place the scent had in her heart, made her happy.

And, she noted with a blush, he'd alluded that she should get close to him, which was... bold. And flirty.

And now that she was thinking about Tai flirting with her and basically offering for her to – what, nuzzle him? – Odessa found herself thinking of other things. Tai's collar bone, Tai's chest, Tai's broad shoulders, his arms. His arms wrapped around her, pulling her close, as he had done a few times in the past. Before, it had been comforting and friendly, but now she was starting to see those hugs differently. She was starting to see them as something she wanted. To be in Tai's arms as more than a friend? Maybe?

Butterflies started taking flight in Odessa's stomach, and she shivered. Was that something Tai would want, too? Did he already? She began running back through every interaction they'd had recently. They had flirted a bit, but... wasn't that just him being, well, Tai?

She began to sweat, now second-guessing every joke, every playful comment, every touch. Just as she started to feel feverish, she put an end to that line of thinking. No, she commanded herself. This is absurd. Stressing herself out over everything that may or may not be a sign of Tai's – what, attraction? – was going to get her nowhere. Her only experience with romance was watching her mother and...

A sharp sense of anxiety punched her in the stomach and she ended that line of thinking, too.

A bath would help. Baths helped everything.

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Having returned from the men's baths, Tai put his shampoo and soap away under the sink in the tiny, shower-less bathroom attached to his room. He'd contemplated putting his name in for the position of floor manager next year but decided that it wasn't worth the hassle just for a larger room and private shower. James was the manager for his floor and he tended to handle all issues by scowling menacingly at people. But Tai had neither the patience nor the McKenna Glower to deal with the drama. Besides, if he really needed a private shower, he could go to the wood shop.