“You don’t want babies?” he questions, turning off the water, then handing me a towel. Maybe it’s the accent, but something about the way he asked that is criminal.
As if a fire is quite literally licking my ass cheeks, I hightail it out of the stall.
“Hell no,” I say, wiping the water off my face before wringing out my hair.
I turn right as he steps out of the shower, droplets cascading across his tanned skin, clinging to the fine dusting of hair on his chest, and getting lost in the divots in his stomach. My mouth dries.
“Okay, maybe.”
Both dimples are on full display as he stares at me from beneath hooded eyes.
“All it takes is the tip, bella.”
Chapter 37
Enzo
“Selachians? What does that mean?” Sawyer asks, a slight wobble to her tone and anxiety carving lines into her face as she steps on the metal walkway.
She must’ve noticed the name of my center written across the landing pad. She wasn’t ready to get back on to a boat yet, so I got us a ride here on a helicopter instead.
“It’s Latin. Sharks are a part of the Selachii family,” I explain.
I grab her hand and lead her down the boardwalk, the grated metal ringing beneath our weight. I had glimpsed the shark when we were getting ready to land and wanted to check it out before I showed Sawyer the lab.
“Oh shit,” she breathes behind me. “Please tell me there’s no head-dunking this time.”
I toss a feral grin over my face, and she looks torn between slapping it off and keeping an eye on the shark. “Not this time.”
She scoffs while we come to a stop in front of the enclosure. Even distorted from the water, there’s no mistaking her size.
“She looks like she’s about eighteen feet,” I observe, eyeing the shark with a critical eye.
“Are you fucking kidding me right now, asshole?! Now you decide to show your goddamn face?” a familiar voice shouts from the elevator.
I look up to find a very pissed-off Troy charging toward us. He’s glaring directly at me, likely murdering me in six different ways right now.
“I’ve missed you, too,” I drawl, unbothered by his anger. I haven’t had the chance to get a new phone yet, and I’ve been a little busy getting acclimated to being home again.
When I had called him from the hospital to get Senile Suzy, he about blew out my fucking eardrum with his ranting. It was a small miracle that I was able to shut him up long enough to convince him to get the van.
We only just got home yesterday, and the both of us are still exhausted and need to heal. I hadn’t planned on staying here long, but I knew that Troy was losing his mind without me here, and frankly, I was beginning to lose my mind without my job.
“You’ve been gone near a goddamn month, and I get one phone call to go get a hippie van, and then nothing?”
“My phone is currently at the bottom of the ocean,” is my response. “And the van was more important at the time.”
Clearly, it’s not a suitable excuse for Troy based on the snarl that overtakes his face.
The second he’s within arm’s reach, I’m preparing for him to cock back his fist and send it flying into my face, but instead, he grabs me by the shirt and tugs me into his embrace.
I sigh and slap his back in greeting, but I’ll admit I missed the fucker, too. He’ll just never know it.
Troy releases me, then turns to Sawyer. “You came back with a girlfriend, too? Where the actual fuck have you been?”
She gives him a toothy, awkward smile.
“Her name is Sawyer,” I supply. She looks to me in shock, a flash of fear in her blue eyes. But she’ll never need to worry about him.
He’s the only person I’ve ever trusted, and despite how he loves to run his mouth, he also knows how to keep it shut. And if he doesn’t, he also knows I’d kill him.
“I’m Troy,” he introduces, holding out his hand to my girl. “Zo’s best friend. He’ll tell you that I’m not, but he’s just being coy.”
She grabs ahold of his hand. “He’s also just a stronzo,” she tacks on with a smile, a glimmer in her eye.
My eyes widen briefly, astonishment and something absolutely primal mixing in my bloodstream. I can’t tell if I want to spank her or fuck her for insulting me in my language, but I do know that I love her for it.
She meets my burning stare without a concern in the world, a smirk on her pretty lips. I’ll correct that later.
A booming laugh bursts from Troy’s throat, his head tipped back. It’s scarcely enough to pull my attention away from her, my fists and jaw clenched with the desire to take her where we stand.