I had just pulled a baggy t-shirt and a set of boy shorts for my pajamas. And now I wished I had something more sophisticated. I had the fancy underwear, that was a rite of passage for all girls, but it hadn’t occurred to me to bring them in. All I could make sure of was that I was freshy smooth and smelled really good.

When I came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around my hair, Austin was waiting in his desk chair. He had a mug of steaming something. He hit me with those infamous bedroom eyes and I felt my knees go weak for a brief moment.

I crossed the room to him and he held out the mug.

“Thank you.”

Axel was curled up on the end of the bed. He always started as the smallest version of himself, then by the end of the evening, he would be stretched out as far as he could be. He was an expander.

I sat on the bed and sipped my drink.

“Do we want to talk about anything?” He templed his fingertips and put his elbows on his knees.

No. I didn’t want to hash this out. I didn’t want to analyze motivations and consequences. “How about we do that in the morning?” I offered.

“That’s the best idea I've ever heard.” He stood up and went to his dresser, pulling out clothes before he went into the bathroom next.

His hair was wrapped in a towel when he came out, and I set my now empty mug onto the coffee table in the sitting area of his bedroom.

Austin whipped back the sheets on his bed and I climbed in the opposite side.

“No pressure tonight. Just let me cuddle you, kitten.” He held open his arms.

I crawled into his chest that was still slightly damp from his shower. He hugged me close. After cuddling for a bit, he reached over and pulled his phone off the charger. “Want to see the pics?”

He unlocked the phone with Face ID and navigated to an app. “This will have the unedited images.”

He made the screen bigger. He flipped through picture after picture of Axel and me. I had no idea how many he had taken—they seemed limitless. He would sometimes pause on a picture and make it bigger or adjust the properties of the image to play with it a bit. This was truly his art. He had transformed me into a winter princess, a warrior goddess with just the camera and some water.

“These are incredible. Wow.” I put my hand on the center of his chest.

“Right? The pool was fire. I really think I can design a hell of a campaign for them from this. It’s just great material. Check this out.”

He showed me the picture of Axel and me in matching crowns with our noses almost touching.