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While the tub filled, she tossed in a selection of scented salts and aromatherapy bubbles she had stocked Joey’s bathroom with over the past couple of months.
Her clothes fell to the cold tile floor piece after piece. Gradually, Layne lowered herself into the heat of the bathwater until she was submerged up to her shoulders.
Leaning her head back against the edge of the tub she closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind of everything except the sensation of her muscles relaxing in response to the warmth surrounding her.
Joey appeared in the doorway, a bottle of Sagamore Rye in one hand and two glasses in the other. She cracked open one eye when she felt his presence and peeped over at him before closing her eye again. “I don’t need a glass.”
He used his foot to nudge a bamboo stool over to the edge of the tub and took a seat on it. Cracking open the bottle, he filled the two glasses. One was handed over to her.
She opened both eyes, and her soapy hand took the glass. “How long are you going to stay in here?”
“As long as it takes.” Sincerity and honesty wrapped around his response.
“For what?” Her eyes got lost in looking at the amber liquid sitting still in the glass.
Joey hadn’t touched his beverage yet, focusing all of his attention on her. “To know you will be okay.”
Layne scoffed lightly. “You might be waiting a hell of a long time.”
A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “I know, but you’re worth it.”
She gulped the stiff liquid to try and squash down how those words made her feel. Fortunately, he didn’t press her for small talk while she took some downtime for herself.
With the heat surrounding her in the tub, and the warmth of the rye inside of her, she finally felt a state of nothingness overcoming her. Her brain wasn’t yapping in her ear, and her heart wasn’t trying to fill her soul with sunshine and rainbows.
As for Joey, he just sat there on the stool next to her while indulging in the occasional sip from his drink.
When her beverage was gone, she handed him the empty glass. “Could you hand me that towel over there?”
Setting her glass on the counter next to the sink, Joey fetched the towel and handed it to her. Without asking, he gave her privacy and exited into the bedroom.
After drying herself off, she brushed her hair out looking at herself in the mirror as she did so. She could still see the evidence of her emotional outburst all over her face, especially in her eyes. Layne wrapped the towel around her body, securing it in place before she came into his adjoining bedroom.
Joey wasn’t anywhere to be seen, but on the bed laid out for her were a pair of royal blue silk pajama shorts and the matching camisole she kept here for overnight stays.
A few minutes later, she emerged from the bedroom in her pajamas to see Joey standing there in the hallway, leaning back against a wall as he scrolled through some messages on his phone. “Where are you planning on spending the night?”
He looked up to see her appear in the hallway, smiling as he admired how stunning she looked even after a hell of a night for both of them. “Where do you want me to?” There were no expectations set in his voice.
She was silent, unsure of what she wanted from him. Seeing her uncertainty, he approached and set his hands on the soft bare skin of her shoulders.
“Go get into bed.” He nudged her back towards his room, encouraging her to do as he said. Layne trudged back to the bedroom, glancing back over her shoulder to see if he was following her.
Joey indeed followed, watching as she climbed into bed laying down in the middle with the sheet pulled up to her waist. He stopped at the edge of the mattress, tugged a blanket up over the sheet, and tucked it in around her.
Then, he joined her. Laying on top of the blanket, on his side facing her, he brushed a few rogue strands of her hair away from her face. “Try to get some sleep. I will be right here in the morning.”
She looked up at him with eyes full of all her vulnerabilities. “I’m sorry.”
Her apology took him by surprise. “For what?”
“That I lost my shit tonight.” Layne frowned, hating that she let her emotions get the best of her. She was used to being more level-headed than that. Maybe Mick was right. Maybe Joey was responsible for clouding her thoughts and judgment.
He shook his head, a hand cupping the side of her face. “Shh, you don’t have to apologize for being you, Layne. Never apologize for that. I signed up for this, and that includes you flying off the handle. It includes you being stubborn as fuck. But it also includes all the benefits of seeing the way you look at me when you think I won’t notice, the way your nose has a cute little wrinkle when you laugh, and the way your voice sounds when you say my name.”
Layne’s lower lip quivered slightly as his words sank right down into her heart past the partially crumbled emotional wall she had tried to reconstruct inside of her.
“Come here.” He pulled her into him as he rolled onto his back, leaving an arm around her.
