Thatcher was just checking on a small cut on his elbow when he heard a soft knock on his front door. He quickly padded down the hall, knowing exactly who was on the other side.
"Good evening, Ms. Wolf." He looked down at the basket in her hands. "Did you bring some cookies for Granny?"
"Ha, ha," she replied sarcastically. "Although I do have some goodies for you."
He couldn't help the smile that spread across his face as he moved out of the way to let her in. The door closed softly behind her as he leaned over to gently kiss her. She reached over, her hand grabbing his side, and he pulled away with a small intake of breath.
"Oh no, what did I do?" she asked.
"Not you. Just had a tough hit there."
She looked down and gently ran her fingers over the bruise on his chest. "Oh, that looks like it hurts."
"It hurts."
Willow turned back up to look at him. "Yeah, you're probably useless to me right now."
When they first started dating, there were still times when he felt like Willow was intimidated by dating a football player like him. So he liked these moments when her sarcasm would come through and show him that she was comfortable with him now.
Willow grabbed his hand and gently pulled him back towards his bedroom, the glow of the lights reflecting off of her brown hair and her Thatcher Kent jersey. She dropped the basket on top of his bed and opened the top to start rummaging around inside.
"Get your clothes off," she demanded without looking back at him.
"Uh, did you miss the part where I got beat up and have a huge bruise on my chest?" he asked. "I also scratched up my arm."
"Sounds like a bummer." She turned around with things in her hand. "Hurry up and take your clothes off."
Willow walked into his bathroom and turned on the water for his bathtub as if she had done this before. Well, to be fair, she had done this part before when she filled up his bathtub with bubbles and made out with him in the water. Then he had his way with her on his fluffy bathroom rug.
But that wasn't going to happen tonight. He did as he was told and started stripping down while she hummed that AC/DC song in his bathroom. He could hear her say "Thunder," several times over the sound of the running water. Damn, she was adorable.
Thatcher wandered in wearing just his black boxer briefs to see Willow arranging some things on his bathroom counter. The room smelled like vanilla and something else. He only knew the vanilla because of Willow. It was a smell she liked to wear sometimes and it reminded him of homemade cookies.
"What's going on in here?"
She turned and smiled at him, but then a bit of concern spread across her face. "Ouch. Are you sure you're OK?"
She walked over and her fingers brushed along his thigh. He looked down to see another bruise growing there.
"Occupational hazard," he said with a shrug.
It did sting a little, but he didn't want her to worry about him. They would be gone in the next day or so, and it really was part of the job. He couldn't remember a woman treating him this warmly after a game, but that was probably because he also wouldn't let a woman get this close to him after a game.
Willow gave him a worrying look before taking a deep breath and looking up at him with a smile. He wasn't sure if she was just trying to put on a brave face or reassure him that this was OK. But whatever the reason, he was going to take it.
"Good news is I have something to fix that. Climb in."
He looked down at the water in the bathtub, which seemed to be clouded over with something fizzing in it. "What the hell is that?"
"A bath bomb."
"A what?"
She laughed in a way that sent warmth through his entire body. "A bath bomb. It's vanilla-scented and should soothe your aches. There's also some lavender, which should help you sleep better tonight." She gave him a lopsided smile and nodded towards the bath. "Go ahead, get in."
He did as he was told, taking off his boxer briefs and lowering himself into the bath. Ohhhhhh… she was right. Just sliding down into the warm water already seemed to lessen his pain.
"Good?" she asked.
