“What are you doing?” I hear Nikoli say behind me, making me jump and bang my head on the top of the cupboard I was looking through in the kitchen.
“Ouch!” I say, holding my head and leaning back from the counter before standing up to see Nikoli walking into the kitchen. I rub my head as he walks over, knowing my shifter healing will sort it out soon enough, but it still damn well hurts. Admittedly, I shouldn’t be so quickly scared.
“Shit, I didn’t mean to make you do that.” He comes over to stand right in front of me. “Are you okay?” he asks, looking at my head.
“Yes,” I chuckle, lowering my hand as he leans on the counter in front of me. I end up running my eyes over his white shirt, and very tight jeans. Those kinds of jeans shouldn’t be allowed to be made or bought by someone like Nikoli. They look way too good; good enough that I can’t keep my eyes off him. My wolf purrs in my mind, the same way she does when I’m around Colton too. She knows they are her destined mates, as well as mine.
“So…what were you looking for?” he asks with a slight laugh.
“The washing up liquid. It’s my core night, and I have to wash all this up. I can’t find it,” I say, and he laughs before walking over to the sink and lifting open the box on the window in front of it. He pulls out the washing liquid and smiles at me.
“Oh, right next to the sink. I should have guessed,” I laugh.
“I will help. You have a lot, by the looks of it,” he says, gesturing to the counters full of plates from the whole day. I didn’t realise it was my day because I couldn’t really understand the group chat message with the cracks on my phone. I didn’t know what they wanted me to do, so I found Gold and asked her. By that point, there was a lot to be done.
“You don’t have to,” I say, walking over and taking the washing up liquid off him.
“I want to. You wash, and I will dry,” he says as I turn the water on and add some liquid to the sink bowl. Nikoli gets a towel out of one of the drawers as I start washing the dishes.
“Do you like your room? is there anything you need?” he asks after a while.
“I love my room. I’ve never had a double bed before, and it’s so comfy.”
“I know you sleep well. You snore.”
“I do not,” I say, and flick some water at him. It drips down his shocked face, and then he bursts into laughter with me.
“Did you just flick me with water?” he asks through laughs.
“Yep,” I say and do it again. He puts his plate down, puts his own hand into the water, and flicks it at me. We go back and forth until we are soaking wet and covered in bubbles, laughing our heads off. I end up running my eyes down his white shirt stuck to his chest, showing off his eight-pack and his hard chest. Nikoli could win any wet t-shirt contest, hands down.
“Okay…” I hear Snow say and we both stop, looking towards where she is standing at the door with a big smile.
“Oh, hey, Snow,” I say, wiping some bubbles out my eyes. Nikoli chuckles next to me and hands me his towel. He goes and gets himself another one as Snow heads to the fridge.
“Having fun with your chores?” Snow asks, as she gets a bottle of water from the fridge and closes the door.
“Nikoli was just helping me do the washing up, and then…”
“You both decided to have a bubble shower?” she asks with a laugh. I know my cheeks are going a little red.
“Something like that,” Nikoli says behind me, and I turn in time to see him pull his shirt off, revealing the chest underneath that I was just admiring. It’s not like I haven’t seen him naked. I have many times after a shift, but it never seems to get old with Nikoli. All it does is make me want to go running with him, time and time again.
“I’m going to get some dry clothes before we carry on with this. Maybe you should do the same,” Nikoli says, his eyes looking down at my own black tank top that is sticking to my body. At least it isn’t white. I watch as he walks out the room.
“I haven’t seen him this playful or having fun in so many years,” Snow says once Nikoli is out of sight.
“I like him like this, so relaxed,” I comment.
“It’s because you’re good for him,” she states and walks out the room. It makes me wonder if Nikoli is good for me because, when I’m around him, he feels like home. The same way it feels with Colton.