Zadia shook her head, brushing her teeth a bit harder. "It's nothing." She quipped, her mouth filled with toothpaste foam. She was trying to gather up the courage to ask him a question and him casually walking in and out of the bathroom was making her nervous. His potential answer to her question made her hesitant to ask. "Hey... Roman." She called gently. She could hear him making his way toward her again. There was a frown on his face this time, she noticed when he looked at her reflection. "What?"
Roman shrugged nonchalantly, although the sight of her brushing her teeth was... messy. It sorta irked him since he wasn't used to messes. "You get weirder and weirder every time I look at you." He stated.
Zadia spit in the sink before she responded. Her eyes focused on him. "Good weird or bad weird?" She asked him, leaning closer to the sink to rinse out her mouth.
"I'm not telling you." He answered and surprised her by stepping closer. His chin settled on the top of her head, his heavy hands at her side while they both looked at their reflection. Her fingertips tingled at the small gesture he made. Roman could be affectionate without even noticing, that's something she realized last night. "You called me." Roman reminded her, his eyes so close to wandering her naked body. As tempting as it may have been, he was afraid it would lead to sex and that the sex would lead to bad decision-making— like actually spending another day at his brothers' house.
"How do we do this?" Zadia asked him softly, drying her face.
His eyebrows furrowed with confusion. "Do what?"
"Normalcy." She said, "I barely know how to act normal around you," Her voice lowered. "and now I don't know how to act around you when we're near others."
Roman nodded, getting her point. "That's where your head is at." He stated as if he knew. "I was thinking you could act like yourself... stubborn, annoying, and chatty." He joked and Zadia was quick to turn around and smack his arm. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding." He said, trying to hold her wrist so she'd stop hitting him. He gripped her arms, pushing them above her head while he pushed her against the bathroom wall. "Stop fussing around, Hamilton."
Zadia's eyes rolled. "That's not my name. " She resorted, trying to escape his grasp. She stopped fussing once she saw he wasn't going to let her go. "Don't call me Hamilton."
Roman scoffed. "It's your last name." He cupped her face. "Maybe, forgetting it happened is our best chance at normalcy." He told her.
"You really think that?"
Roman hesitated, unsure of how he should answer. "No," He shook his head. "But maybe we shouldn't have a repeat of this?"
Zadia looked away from him. "Right." She repeated, straightening up. "Maybe we shouldn't." She cleared her throat, gesturing at her pinned arms. "I've got to get dressed."
Roman sighed, loosening his grip so her hands could fall by her side. "Zadia." He said her name and she moved past him, hating the growing hold he had over her. "This can't get out—"
"I'm not stupid Roman. Everything that happened here, stays here. I understand that." She stepped out of the bathroom to get dressed.
Roman slowly followed after her. "It's what's best."
"Mmh." She casually said, putting on her bra. "As I said, I get it, Roman." She raised her hand, grabbing the rest of her clothes. "Because I don't think you do." She moved around the room quickly, looking for something to wrap around herself.
"Would you slow down, what do you even mean?" He asked with his hands crossed, following her.
Zadia stopped for a moment and turned to point a finger at him. "What I mean is out of the two of us, you're the one that constantly can't make up your mind." She leaned on her side to grab the towel off the closet door. "You're telling me one thing now and will probably tell me something different in a few weeks... days even."
ChApTeR - 17
Start from the beginning
