Riot novel · Chapter 11 of 24

Chapter 11: The Tub

I went back to the bakery on Monday and stood at my old station, and the owner cried into a dish towel.

Nobody said a word about the video.

A line of customers waited out the door, and half of them were there to wish me luck.

At six that evening Art picked me up at the back door, and I did not argue about the ride.

Rhys had asked for me, and for once I let myself want to be asked.

I put Sabine's card and the envelope on his kitchen island, and he looked at them for a long time.

"I could end her with this tomorrow," he said.

"Then why don't you?"

"Because a card is not a crime. I want her to say it herself, in front of people who matter to her."

"That sounds like your mother talking."

"My mother would say forgive her."

He said it lightly, but his eyes had gone far away.

I took his hand and led him down the hall to his bathroom, where the tub was big enough for four.

I turned on the taps.

"Sit," I said.

"Joss."

"Sit down, Rhys. You haven't stopped moving since Thursday."

He sat on the edge of the tub, and I knelt in front of him and began to unbutton his shirt.

I took my time over every button, and he watched my hands.

"You said you wanted to know about my father," he said, when his chest was bare.

"I said it a week ago."

"I didn't want to say it."

"You can say it in the water."

He laughed softly and let me pull the shirt off his shoulders.

By the time the tub was full of steam, we were both naked, and he had lowered himself into the hot water with a sound I felt in my bones.

Keep reading free with an account. Start Riot from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.