38. Garret
Chapter 38
I don’t even try to stop the purr that rumbles from my chest as I finally get to hold Kelly close. Picking her up when she cried out was completely involuntary. We’re both lucky I manage not to brain myself on the counter or the towel bar while standing up. It would completely ruin any attempts at heroics.
She’s not struggling against me, but I also don’t want to risk making her uncomfortable. I let myself enjoy holding her for a moment longer before placing her gently on the countertop beside the sink. There isn’t a lot of room to maneuver, and there’s more than a little fumbling trying to find a place to sit her down so she can’t fall off the side. Just having her trying to help makes me realize that this girl is insanely accident prone, and I breathe a sigh of relief that I caught her in the kitchen earlier before she could fall and do herself some real harm.
Bracing my back against the wall, I kneel down and roll up the legs of her fluffy blue snowflake pants. The fleecy fabric is incredibly soft, and I briefly wonder if she likes the snow, or if the pattern was just convenient. My mind isn’t distracted for long, as a small patch of purple blooms on the fabric at the bend of her knee. When the skin there finally comes into view, it’s easy to see where it was recently damaged. It doesn’t look deep, but there is definitely blood trickling down her calf now. Shit.
Pulling open the cabinet door beside her legs I see, yes, one box of adhesive strips, no peroxide or cotton balls. When I turn the box over several tiny round bandages fall out. Why did he leave the whole box under here with just these? The box says it’s assorted but there’s nothing else here. My head thumps against the cabinet in defeat, but I can’t linger. Kelly needs help getting cleaned up and patched, and I know I can do that.
Trying to pull her pants legs over the injury proves another problem, as she hisses in pain despite how gently I attempt to lower the material back over her. Finally she pushes me backwards, holding onto my arm so she can stand, and shimmy out of her pants. She holds the cloth away from her knees while she pushes each one down to avoid the tender skin. I’m not happy she’s hurt, but at least the tears in her eyes are keeping my erection at bay when she stands up wearing just a tank top and panties.
Her tiny little growl of frustration is a bit of a surprise as she kicks her pants to the side and starts limping out the door, but that gives me an excuse to pick her up again to carry her upstairs. I head towards their bedroom on the second floor, and I believe that they have another functioning water closet there. I’ve barely settled her in my arms, my purr starting automatically again, when Sam comes down the stairs. He’s followed by the surly looking pair of Teddy and Steve, and Jake, the big red dog.
Teddy growls—actually growls—at me when he sees me carrying Kelly with no pants on. Sam watches both of us as Teddy stomps over and snarls in my face, “What the fuck did you do? Why is she bleeding? And where the fuck are her pants?” He’s jabbing me in the chest with his index finger, reaching across Kelly to poke me repeatedly, and I’m mildly amused when Kelly smacks at his hand as it passes in front of her.
“Come on guys, my legs hurt, and I just wanna get patched up…and I still need to fix Garret’s hands where they got scraped. You know I hurt myself this weekend. Well, I fell over in the bathroom and made it worse. Then my pants got stuck on ’em. So, I took the stupid thing off to keep from hurtin’ myself anymore, or staining ’em.” She lifts herself up and looks over Teddy’s shoulder. “Sam, where do you keep your first aid kit? There aren’t any Band-aids that’ll work in there.” She points back towards the bathroom we just exited.
Sam’s looks between us for a moment before he shakes his head and sighs. “The main one is out in the shop, but I don’t need anybody else gettin’ hurt trying to go get it in this weather. Come on, I have a few things upstairs that should work.” He turns around and marches back upstairs just as the kettle in the kitchen starts to whistle, causing Jake to let out a loud baying howl and rub his face against my leg. I think he wants to lick Kelly, but the way he keeps sniffing the air around her, maybe he can tell that she’s hurt.
Teddy lets out a long string of mumbled curse words before stomping towards the kitchen, presumably to turn off the stove while I follow Sam upstairs.
Sam
F irst I get to come home to my omega arguing with another alpha in my bedroom, now my beta is dripping blood up the stairs. Life certainly has gotten more interesting since last week.
What’s that old curse, “May you live in interesting times?” Sounds about right.
Garret follows me into our bedroom, skirting around the big rug I have by the bed. He may be an asshole, but he seems to be a considerate asshole.
Jake follows us upstairs, whining and circling Garret and Kelly, my dog seems to be as obsessed with her as the rest of us, except Steve. I’m pretty sure that if we left the door open at night, Jake would squeeze us all out of the bed except for Kelly, and then lay on her. But waking up with a face full of dog breath once was enough for me. He has a big squishy bed in the living room, another one at the end of the upstairs hall, one behind the dining table, and a cedar stuffed dog-house in the shop. Just in case he wants to hang out while I work. But for some reason, the last three nights, ever since Kelly started staying here, he falls asleep outside my door, like a big hairy tripping hazard.
The linen closet off the bathroom has way too much space, more than what I need for towels and fresh sheets. So, I keep backup first aid supplies in here: tweezers, adhesive strips, antibiotic cream, insect bite spray, you name it, and it’s probably stuffed in a box in here, if I can find it.
Garret sits her down on the countertop between the sinks. She jerks up and lets out a tiny scream before relaxing back, looking embarrassed. “Sorry, cold on my butt.” Garret grumbles but looks relieved that he didn’t accidentally hurt her. Meanwhile, I pull out the crate that I think I put Band-aids in. They’re not something I need regularly. If I get cut badly enough to need a band-aid and I’m out in the shop, I usually use superglue or duct-tape. Anything worse than that needs to go to the hospital.
Looking over at the medical student in my bathroom, he’d probably be horrified by that admission. Unfortunately, working with wood means I end up with a lot of splinters and cuts, even with the gloves on. When you’ve got a rush order to get out, you fix what you need to as fast as you can to get back to it. Thankfully, I’ve gotten pretty established, so there’s less people I need to try to impress to earn repeat business. Most of my regulars know the quality I put out, it’s why they’re regulars.
The box of assorted bandages is at the bottom of the crate I'm looking through, and I pull it free with a triumphant smile and an, “A-hah!”
Now they're both looking at me. Garret looks annoyed as he glares at me and then looks pointedly at Kelly’s bleeding knees. Apparently, my triumph isn’t amusing. So, we can mark him down as considerate with a huge stick up his ass.
Good to know.
Kelly, at least, is smiling at me. Shit, she is the sweetest girl I ever met. I watch her as she looks back over at Garret, running her hand down his arm, and intertwining their fingers. Trying to soothe his irritation. Still, he takes the crate from my hands and roots around until he finds gauze pads and tape, and some ointment. He gently wipes away the blood and dabs on the antibiotic before patching her up with a combination of gauze pads, medical tape, and adhesive strips.
I’ll concede that if he makes her happy, we can keep him. My lip curls up in an involuntary snarl at the thought of sharing my pack with anyone else. But whatever they need, they can have, as long as they’ll still have me. Watching Garret as he stares longingly at Kelly, there is one quick thought that makes me smile. Now she has two alphas to keep her safe and protected, and to help her if she wants to try to take a knot.
My cock stirs at the thought of that, and I need to stop now before I make a damned fool of myself.
Time for a change of subject!
“So, breakfast? Anybody have any requests?” I might sound a tad too chipper considering how little sleep I’m running on and the situation at hand.
Kelly blushes, that sweet pink covering her cheeks before she stammers out, “Sorry, I started getting stuff out for pancakes. I wanted to surprise you…and I got sidetracked.” She gestures towards her legs, and then at Garret’s hands.
I completely forgot he got yanked out of the truck earlier. I don’t even realize I’m doing it until I’m dabbing ointment on his scraped up palms, putting the gauze pads on, and taping them down. My work looks shoddy in comparison to what he did for her knees. Fuck it, I’m used to only patching up myself. He’ll live regardless.
He looks up at me, his face a bit flushed and embarrassed. “Look, Sam…I, um. I appreciate the help. And, don’t get me wrong, you’re very attractive. You’ve got that whole silver fox thing going for you. But. Uh…I’m here for Kelly. I don’t like guys…like… like guys.”
I must be getting slow in my old age, because it takes about thirty seconds, and Kelly giggling beside me on the counter before I realize what he’s trying to tell me, and I snort laughter—which is not attractive. I slap him none too gently on the arm, not enough to hurt but he needs to understand a few things. “Not a problem, man. I think you’re kind of an asshole anyway. But if Kelly likes you and wants you, that’s up to her. Everything that happens is up to her. You get me? And if she wants you, that makes you pack. It’s on me to make sure the pack’s taken care of.”
He nods dumbly, rubbing his arm with the back of his bandaged hand. I didn’t hit him that hard. That’s ok, if she wants him to stick around, I’m sure he’ll find his place. Plus, if I still have a spot at the fire station, I think he might make a good addition.
I offer Kelly my hand to hop down off the counter and usher her into the bedroom. “Well, now that the awkward bullshit’s out of the way, let’s go make some pancakes. Unless you need pants first?”