Chapter 9
CHAPTER 9
GUS
G us had nearly lost his mind when he felt Brittany’s hand slip out of his. The fear on her face when the crowd took her away would be in his nightmares for years.
He braced himself in front of her, holding her to him. Her legs were still around his waist, but with her back firmly against the wall, he could keep her mostly blocked from the crowd. They were as safe here as they were going to get, so Gus figured they could ride it out until the space cleared enough to move around safely. And then the convention center was going to get an earful about fire codes and letting people in the Exhibition Hall when they’re already past capacity.
Gus hadn’t been able to get a good look at Brittany when he pulled her off the floor, and his heart was in his throat as he wondered if she was okay. From the way she gripped him, he knew she was terrified, and he hated it, hated that he hadn’t been able to stop any of this from happening. Her broken admission of being scared would haunt him.
Finally, he felt the pressure of the crowd ease a little. Not willing to let her go yet, Gus pushed himself more firmly against Brittany and freed one of his hands, sliding it down her thigh.
“Are you groping me right now?”
Gus could almost laugh, he was so relieved she sounded more like herself.
“I’m trying to feel your ankle to see how bad it is.”
He kept sliding his hand around her leg until he had a gentle grip on her foot at his back. He felt more than heard her hiss of pain.
“Sorry, killer, I gotta check it.”
He probed as gently as he could, not feeling anything more terrible than some swelling, and let himself relax for a moment. Gus released her foot and resettled his hand on her thigh to support her weight, enjoying the feeling of her pressed up against his chest, of her wrapped completely around him.
“Brittany, show me your face.”
She lifted her head from where she had buried it against his neck, and the vulnerability in those big blue eyes shot straight to his gut. His grip tightened on her before he made himself relax. Scanning her face, he frowned.
“You’ve got a bruise on your forehead.”
“I may have gotten stepped on a little while I was down there.”
Gus cursed, glancing around. The crowd was finally thinning.
“We need to get you to the first aid station. You need medical attention.”
Her grip tightened around his neck.
“No, Gus, I just want to leave. Can we go back to the hotel? Please?”
Something about that word made Gus’s cock jump, and he suddenly realized exactly how close they were, how soft she was against him. He needed to move before his body decided to do something about it that he’d regret.
“If you can make it to the street, I’ll order a ride share. We’re not walking anywhere after this.”
She was already nodding. “I can. I definitely can.”
Gus pulled away from the wall, slowly lowering her to the ground and watching as she tried to hide how painful her ankle was. She shot him a weak smile.
“See?”
“You’re not fooling anyone, killer.”
He turned his back to her, going to his knees.
“Climb on.”
“Are you serious right now?”
He glanced back at her, impatient and exasperated and so fucking grateful she was feeling enough like herself to argue.
“Your choices are to climb on and let me carry you or stay here while I get you a medic.”
“Fuck.”
With some awkwardness, she grabbed him and climbed on his back, once again wrapping her legs around him as he stood up, bouncing her to settle their combined weight. He had hoped this position would let his cock calm down but had underestimated the feeling of her breath in his ear, her breasts pressed against his back, and her nails digging slightly into his shoulder.
“Don’t drop me,” she told him, her voice unsteady with what he told himself was stress.
“Never.”
He slowly carried her to the exit, dodging around the remaining stragglers as the fire alarm was finally shut off, the relief of the silence echoing through the center. Once they were outside, he waved over a waiting taxi, and carefully placed her in the back seat. She gave him a wry grin.
“Gus, I got it. I’m not a toddler.”
He tapped her nose lightly. “Let me do it, it’ll make me feel better.”
Gus reached across her, clicking in the seat belt, their faces no closer than they had been before but for some reason, this was different. The energy between them was charged, heated. Almost volatile. With a shaky breath, he stood, closing her door and walking around to the other side to slide in next to her.
He gave the driver the address, and they were moving.
“Gus, that’s not the hotel address. Where are we going?”
He looked out the window, already knowing she was going to want to argue, and already over it. “My place.”
“Gus.”
“Brittany, don’t. You’re hurt, you need medical attention, and you won’t let me take you to the medic. I have a first aid kit and a quiet condo. I don’t want to hear it.”
She was quiet, so Gus dared to shoot her a look. She was shaking her head.
“You’re really overbearing. You know that?”
It was then he noticed she was shivering, her body jumping a little as the adrenaline wore off and the shakes took over. Without thinking about it, he slid an arm around her shoulders, pulling her to him, and was surprised when she let him, even sinking into his side.
“Humor me,” he told her. “My heart stopped back there. I’m still recovering.”
They sat like that for the duration of the ride, neither of them acknowledging how close they were sitting, how well they fit together. And when the taxi pulled up in front of Gus’s building, he was out and at Brittany’s door before she could touch the handle, scooping her out of the vehicle, hauling her up in his arms before striding inside.
“This feels excessive,” she managed to say as they rode the elevator.
“Getting really tired of you complaining that I’m taking care of you, killer.”
“I’m just saying. This is feeling like some real movie cinema shit. Also, how often do you work out to be able to carry me around all day?”
“As much as I need to in order to be certain I can carry you around all day.”
He saw she didn’t know what to do with that statement, which was good because he wasn’t really certain how he would explain it. Instead, he carried her down the hall and managed to open his door without putting her down.
Once inside, he strode straight to his sofa, gently placing her down. He grabbed her ankle and worked on untying her shoe.
“Gus, I can do it.”
Ignoring her, he placed her sneaker on the floor and then maneuvered her leg so she could stretch it out, putting a pillow underneath her foot to elevate it. When he was done, he stood, towering over her. She looked so small on his sofa, delicate in a way that was easy to miss when she was upright and yelling at you, stomping around in her heels and demanding her way.
Gus shook off the weird feeling of tenderness that was invading and went to the kitchen to get her an ice pack and grab the first aid kit. He took advantage of the moment alone to get a hold of himself. Brittany was Robbie’s ex-girlfriend. Gus couldn’t get involved with her. He couldn’t betray Robbie that way. Which meant he had to get all these damn thoughts out of his head now.
After that quick pep talk, he went back into the living room, sitting at the end of the sofa with her ankle. He took a better look at it, poking and prodding gently, her ankle warm in his hands and her big blue eyes on him in a way that he knew she could see right through him.
“My guess is it’s a bad sprain. Some ice, rest, and anti-inflammatories and you should be good in a few days.”
Her mouth gaped open. “Days? Gus, I have a full schedule this weekend.”
He shrugged. “We’ll get you some crutches.”
“Crutches?!” Her look was comical enough to make him laugh, but he bit down the urge, knowing she’d bite his head off and spit it back out at him if he tried.
“Luckily, you’re not going anywhere tonight, so you can rest here on the couch, keep it elevated, and focus on healing.”
“Gus, I can’t stay here.”
“Of course you can.”
“Robbie would kill you if he knew I was here.”
Gus paused. She was right, of course. Robbie wasn’t known for measured and mature responses, and he would shit a brick if he knew Brittany was on his couch, lounging, after a harrowing experience. Hell, now that he knew what it felt like to have her wrapped around him, he understood Robbie’s position even more. Brittany was soft and strong and smelled like the promise of sex and Gus really needed space before he caved to any of these thoughts.
Standing up quickly, he brushed her concerns aside as he placed the ice pack on her now-wrapped ankle.
“My condo, my rules. Besides, you’re a client. Robbie has no say in how I do my job.”
Brittany was silent at that, and he glanced up, seeing her chew her lip, her eyes wary.
“Right. Your job.”
Gus nodded, turning away before she saw what a fucking liar he was. “For now, you just need to relax and stay off that ankle. Pick a movie if you want.”
He went to the kitchen, putting away the first aid kit and setting about making them a couple sandwiches, aware that she hadn’t eaten in the rush of panel to panel. He had shoved a protein bar at her at some point, but she needed some real sustenance.
Sandwiches in hand, he headed back out to the living room, placing her plate within reach. She took it silently, staring at it.
“What?” he asked, annoyed for reasons he didn’t understand.
“You made me food.”
“It’s a sandwich. You’ve barely eaten.”
“Still.”
He didn’t know what to say, and she clearly wasn’t going to follow that comment up with anything, diving into her sandwich as she picked some asinine dating show to watch.
“This okay? I’m behind.”
“Whatever you want, killer.” He sat on the other end of the couch, gently pulling her feet into his lap and propping them on the pillow, making sure the ice pack was stable and not touching her skin directly. He settled in for the mindless show, knowing he was going to hate it but also knowing few things would keep Brittany still once she decided that she needed to move.
The show started, just as dumb as Gus was expecting.
“Gus?”
Her voice was quiet.
“Yeah?”
“Thank you. For today.”
He looked at her then, and something in his look must have told her a little of what he was thinking because she was turning a delicious pink.
“You’re welcome.”
He said it with more gravity than he expected, but he meant it. After a weird, tense moment, she deliberately turned her attention back to the show, and Gus followed her lead, reminding himself of the list of reasons he needed to chill around her. The reasons that were getting harder and harder to remember.