Chapter 21 #2
“I’ll move. You’re right, I shouldn’t have overstayed my welcome.
And look at what I brought to your doorstep.
Shit, I’m sorry, Asher,” I apologize quickly, using my good hand to try and push myself to sitting, but it feels like agony.
Tears prick my eyes as I force my body into a seated position and Asher nearly yells at me.
“What the hell are you talking about? Lay back down!”
“No, I need to get up, get my shit, and get out.” I grit my teeth and sit all the way up, only for the sheet to fall.
Asher’s eyes dip down before his jaw drops, and it’s like time stands still.
I don’t know what’s going on, but he’s trying to tell me something without any real words coming out, just as Ty walks in with a glass of water and his eyes widen.
“Turn around!” Ty yell-growls at Asher, who follows the order immediately, and I’m confused. “Baby,” Ty walks closer, pulling the sheet up over me.
“Am I FUCKING NAKED UNDER HERE?!” I screech, then immediately regret it because my head throbs.
“The shirt you were wearing was ripped and covered in blood. I took it off and tucked you in under the blanket. But now, Asher’s seen what’s mine. I should gouge his eyes out.”
“I vote that you don’t do that,” Asher says, still turned to face the wall. “It wasn’t my fault and now I’m in trouble?”
“Shut up, Lee. I should kill you,” Ty growls in Asher’s direction.
“You wouldn’t kill me. I’m your only friend.”
“You’re a dick,” Ty snaps.
“So he saw my tits.” I roll my eyes, unbothered. “I’ve got good tits.”
“Not the point, and you know it.” Ty tucks the sheet around up under my armpits and then tells Asher he can turn back around. I’m not about to tell him that I like this possessive side of him…but I’m sure the devouring look I’m giving him clues him in enough.
“Okay so, I’m going to need to wrap your ribs. How are we going to do this without me seeing anything? Because let me tell you, I like my eyesight.”
Ty reaches back behind his head and pulls his shirt off, giving me a glorious view of his toned abdomen that flexes with each movement he makes.
I’m staring, I know I am, but his naturally tanned skin looks so delicious I’m about to start drooling.
A finger goes under my chin and tilts my head up just enough that I’m not in pain.
That’s when I can see his smirking, smug smile.
Before he says anything, he puts the shirt–still warm from his body–over my head, having the hem cover my boobs completely before looping it around the collar so it’s an impromptu bikini top.
“You can look now,” Ty tells Asher.
“It’s going to suck, okay? But it’ll help.
” Asher scrunches his nose as he speaks and hands Ty one end of the wide strip of cloth, and I try my best to hold my arms out while they wrap my torso.
It’s so painful, my breaths come out in harsh pants before Ty steps closer to me, putting my hands on his shoulders.
It’s a slight reprieve from the pain, but I know it’s about to get worse.
“Oh fuck,” I hiss through clenched teeth as they pull it tight.
“I’m sorry, baby,” Ty whispers, “You’re doing so good. Just a little longer.”
“You’re going to have to wear this through the night,” Asher says, but when I open my mouth, he cuts me off. “And now tell me why exactly you were telling me you were leaving?”
Shit.
Ty’s muscles tense under my hands, but he shifts so I can see exactly how he feels about what Asher said.
“What?” Ty asks, shaking his head like he doesn’t believe the words he just heard and shaking his head will somehow make them form together in a way he understands. “Leaving?”
“No, I…” Am I supposed to say that Asher was kicking me out? But then why is he asking this? “Asher said it was time for me to move.”
“What?” Asher asks, confusion coloring his tone as Ty turns towards his best friend with dark eyes and a clenched jaw.
“Yeah, Asher, what?” He snarls.
“It’s okay, it’s okay!” I say quickly, trying to defuse the situation and keep the relationship between these guys intact.
“I shouldn’t have stayed. You know that, I know that.
All I did was put you guys in the middle of bullshit you didn’t need to be a part of.
I’m going to grab my stuff and be out of your way.
I still have a job at Ashes though, right?
” I ask, trying to move as fast as I can,-newsflash, I’m not fast at all,-out of the bed.
I don’t get far at all before Ty pushes me back into the middle of the mattress, gently helping me lay back down onto the sheets.
“No, you’re staying right the fuck here.” Ty’s tone is commanding, his jaw set to the side as he pulls the shirt down so I’m covered and brings the sheet up. “And you,” he says darkly, turning to Asher. “What were you thinking?”
“Roxie,” Asher turns to me, and I wish I could apologize. He looks like he’s trapped in a thought somehow, and I hate knowing that I’m causing any issues between these two. They’ve done nothing but help and care for me.
“Roxie, that is not what I meant,” Asher says, ignoring Ty’s near constant growling as it rumbles through his chest by my ear. “I was meaning we need to move. It’s time for us to find a better place anyway, and we’ve talked about moving. I, in no way, meant you needed to move out.”
My eyebrows raise in surprise and I look from him to Ty, who seems to have calmed down at Asher’s explanation.
“But why, why, after everything, did you just accept that and start to leave?” Asher’s eyebrows knit together in confusion, but his voice softens.
“I just,” I bite my lip, but fuck, that hurts. “I just figured that I had finally made you guys want to get rid of me. It always happens. I mess up and people get rid of me.”
Asher drops his head, his eyes full with a mix of pity and sadness, but he runs a hand through his hair while Ty’s eyes burn as he looks at me.
“Don’t talk about my girl like that,” Ty says, his frustration leaking through his tone, his nostrils flaring in anger.
I can’t tell if he’s mad at me or for me.
“You, Roxie, are the single best thing I know in this life.” He bends to gently cradle my face in his hands.
“I… I can’t promise that I’ll be perfect, but I can promise that every single fucking thing I will do in this life, will be for you. ”
My breath catches in my throat. Tears prick at my eyes and I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from crying, but a tear rolls down the side of my face.
“Ty,” I say, the tears making my voice shake. “I can’t stay here and fuck up your life more. How long until Mickey goes after you? After Asher? We got lucky, it was just me this time.”
I immediately know that’s the wrong thing to say because he grinds his teeth and leans over me.
Goddamn, he smells good.
I’m enveloped in his scent as he crowds my space. One hand presses to the side of my head as he hovers over me.
“Don’t you ever, ever say that again. I’d put myself in front of you every goddamn time if it meant you were safe. I know you’ve been hurt before, but I’ll prove it to you. That I’m yours. That you’re mine. And that I will always make sure you’re safe. Do you understand?”
“Ty…”
“Asher, can you give us a minute?” Ty turns his head to the side, asking–without really asking–for a moment. Asher just nods, and walks out, leaving me with my brooding, angry, protective man.
“I love you,” he says the moment Asher’s out of the door.
“I love you so fucking much and you thinking that what happened was the best case scenario, it kills me. It physically makes me hurt, Roxie. You deserve to be protected. To be cherished. To be safe. I know you haven’t had that, baby.
But you’re going to. For now on, you will.
I’ll make it so. If you don’t want to live here, then after we figure the whole Mickey thing out, we’ll find you your own place.
But don’t you dare think for a second that I want you gone or that Asher does. Your place is here, with me.”