Chapter 22: At all

A jarring voice jolted Elle awake. Ava? After blinking blearily, as she tried to clear the haze of just waking up, her eyes flew wide open at the very first face welcoming her. Sebastian? Was she dreaming?

He was standing there, looking down at her, wearing the same neutral expression that he had on the last time they had seen each other. Finally realizing the presence of cold water surrounding her entire body, Elle moved, only to realize that her limbs felt numb and stiff. She slipped but her face did not sink into the tub as she had expected to.

A large hand had shot out, caught and was already cradling her jaw. Her eyes widened even more as she rolled her eyes up to look at him from that awkward angle. How… how did he move so fast? Was her mind playing tricks on her? It must be… right? It must have been the wine and the warm water…

"Towel, Ava." Sebastian's deep voice cut through her musings as he pulled her up and then out of the tub.