Chapter 26
He really couldn’t seem to stop fucking this up, Garrett thought as he watched Kristen roll over onto her side, winced, wiggled, and shimmied her way back to the edge of the couch.
Once she was there, the grumbling began again as she twisted a bit here and there, rolled again and-
“My soul.”
-hit the floor.
“Owie,” came the sad mumble as he stood there, rubbing his hands roughly down his face, wondering why he didn’t take that sledgehammer away from her as soon as he saw that look in her eye, the same one that she had when he agreed to walk that plank.
It was the look that told him just how fucking bad things were about to get, but for some reason that he still couldn’t explain, he ignored it and just...
“I can’t move my arms or legs,” came the sadly mumbled words that had him biting back a sigh as he leaned down and picked up the small woman, who’d refused to give up her hold on the sledgehammer until he’d been forced to pry it from her hands, and threw her over his shoulder.
“Owie,” Kristen mumbled sadly against his back as he carried her into the hallway and debated his options, put her in the bathtub and hope for the best, put her in the shower and try to hose her off, or carry her outside and hose her off out there.
The hose would probably be his best option, but something, mostly the fact that she seemed to take her glaring really fucking seriously, told him that she probably wouldn’t appreciate that.
That, and it was only fifty degrees outside right now.
That left him with the tub or the shower, and since the tub really wasn’t an option right now, not with her being completely covered in a mixture of dust, dirt, and a bag of flour ten years past its expiration date that he didn’t see until it was too late, he was going to have to settle for the shower.
“Everything itches,” she mumbled as he made his way down the small hallway and into what was left of the kitchen and carefully navigated the debris covering the old linoleum floor and made his way to the back stairs.
“Probably because you’re covered in expired flour,” Garrett drawled as he carried her upstairs.
“That probably has something to do with it,” Kristen mumbled only to follow that up with a pained groan, a grumble, and a muttered, “I can’t feel my ass.”
“That probably has something to do with the fact that your muscles are in agony right now, making it difficult to focus on anything that doesn’t hurt,” Garrett drawled as he carried her into his room.
“Probably,” she mumbled against his back as he headed towards the bathroom.
“With or without clothes?” Garrett asked as he moved to place her down on the bathroom counter only to decide against it since it would only delay the inevitable and brought her to the shower instead.
“Why is that even an option?” Kristen asked, groaning against his back as he carefully placed her down on the shower floor and decided that he should probably move his ass when he saw the first hive peeking through the thick layer of gray flour coating her skin.
“Give me one second,” Garrett murmured, going for a reassuring smile only to end up biting back a wince when she sent him a hopeful look.
Clearing his throat, Garrett quickly made his way to the bathroom and grabbed the bottle of Advil, one of the bottles of water he kept on the counter, a stack of facecloths, and dug through all the shit under the sink until he found a trash bag.
Once he had everything that he needed, Garrett quickly made his way back to Kristen only to find her sprawled out on her stomach and-
“It hurt too much to get in the fetal position,” she mumbled sadly against the shower floor.
“This will make it better,” he said, quickly opening the bottle of Advil, dumped two pills in his hand and gently placed them against her lips.
With a pained groan, Kristen managed to open her mouth just enough to pull the pills inside as he placed the water bottle at her lips. She managed to take a few sips and swallow before she closed her eyes, released a shuddering sigh and mumbled, “Kill. Me.”
“As fun as that sounds, I’m afraid I’m going to have to pass,” Garrett said, placing the bottle back on the floor and grabbed the trash bag and got it ready.
“You would if you really loved me,” Kristen mumbled sadly only to add a sniffle when he reached for her shoes and-
“Owie,” she mumbled against the shower floor as he carefully removed her shoes and socks and placed them in the trash bag.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” Garrett said, remembering his first day working for his Uncle Jared at Bradford Construction. He was fifteen years old, trying to save up for a car, and thinking that it was going to be like helping his father fix things around the house.
He’d been wrong.
So very fucking wrong.
For the first hour, his uncle had him working as a gofer, running back to the trucks to grab tools.
The second hour, he had him sweeping floors and dragging a trash can around.
The third hour, he had him moving cinderblocks and the fifth hour, he showed him the walls that needed to be brought down and handed him a sledgehammer.
By the time he clocked out for the day, every muscle ached and by the time he went home, he was in fucking agony and just the thought of breathing hurt.
“Make it quick,” Kristen mumbled when he reached for her pants.
“Take a deep breath,” Garrett said, watching as she squeezed her eyes shut and pulled her pants down, revealing a pair of black panties.
He carefully worked them down her legs, wincing every time she muttered, “Owie,” until finally, he managed to pull them off and shoved them in the trash bag.
Once he was done, he said, “This is going to hurt,” as he turned her over onto her back so that he could work the Bradford Construction tee-shirt that she’d already decided was hers off, leaving her in a matching bra and-
Aw, fuck...
-realized the flour somehow managed to seep through her clothes.
For a moment, Garrett knelt there, debating how he wanted to do this only to decide to treat this like a Band-Aid. Praying that she didn’t go for his balls after this, he stood up.
“Do you remember what happens to gluten when heat’s applied?” he asked as he watched the adorable woman, who was definitely going for his balls after this, frown as she opened her eyes.
“No?” Kristen said, watching as he reached for the cold water knob. “Wait. What are you doing?”
“It creates a paste,” Garrett said, turning the knob to full blast and-
“You sick bastard!”
“I’m no longer speaking with you,” Kristen said as she finally managed to open the bathroom door.
That was followed by biting back a wince, grabbing onto the door frame, and willing the muscles in her legs that were screaming in agony to cooperate as she shot the sick bastard the glare that she’d spent the past ten minutes practicing in the mirror.
“You want some help there, pookie?” Garrett Bradford, her one-time best friend, the only man that she’d ever loved, and the man that should be on his hands and knees begging for mercy after what he just put her through, asked, not bothering to look back at her as he searched through his nightstand, leaving her clutching onto the doorframe, willing the evil bastard to look back so that he could see just how pissed she really was.
“Oh, you mean like the way you helped me in the shower by spraying me with cold water for thirty minutes while you scrubbed my skin raw, ignoring my pleas for mercy, and giving me patronizing pats on the head anytime I whimpered? Is that the kind of help you meant?” Kristen demanded, only to wince and tighten her hold as much as her trembling hands would allow.
“More or less,” Garrett murmured absently while she held on for dear life as she moved her glare over him, refusing to relax her glare until he looked back, and found herself running her eyes over him, watching the way that the golden muscles in his back and arms moved before her gaze dropped to the gray sweatpants that he was wearing and nearly groaned.
He truly was evil, Kristen decided even as she stood there, taking her time running her eyes over him, deciding that she’d more than earned it.
Oh, had she earned it...
After he’d scrubbed the disturbing combination of expired flour, dust, and dirt off her body, he followed that up by grabbing the bottle of shampoo and conditioner and set to work on her hair while she’d been forced to lay there, squeezing her eyes shut and willing the bastard to move faster.
Once he was done, he rinsed her off, set the water to lukewarm, tossed her a clean facecloth before he left her lying there, freezing her ass off.
It took her ten minutes and the prospect of smothering him with that facecloth before she was able to get on her knees and reach for the hot water knob.
Five minutes after that, she finally managed to stop shivering and spent another ten minutes struggling to take off her bra and panties, two minutes to wrestle with the bottle of body wash, and another five minutes to finish washing herself before she was finally able to lay back down, close her eyes, and curl up into the fetal position.
That’s where she would have stayed, too, if she hadn’t run out of hot water sometime later and was forced to drag herself off the floor again. She didn’t even want to think about how long it took her to crawl out of the shower, dry herself off, and wrestle herself into another one of his shirts.
She-
“Oh, God...”
-may have overestimated her ability to hold onto the doorframe and glare at the same time.
Before she managed to fall on her ass, Garrett was there, sweeping her off her feet and carrying her to the bed. With a sniffle, Kristen said, “Bless you,” as he moved to place her on the bed and-
“I really do hate you,” Kristen found herself muttering against the comforter when the large bastard placed her on the bed only to immediately manhandle her and roll her onto her stomach.
“I bet I can change your mind,” Garrett said as she felt him join her on the bed seconds before she caught the scent of lemongrass and mint filling the air.
“You know what? I’m killing Tristan off the first chance I get,” Kristen bit out as she willed her trembling arms to cooperate and moved to push herself up only to immediately forgive him for everything he ever did to her with the first caress of his fingertips across her skin.