Chapter 19
CHAPTER
NINETEEN
Haz
“I’m not an invalid,” I told Kieran as he carried me back to the freshly made king-size bed. Seriously, I think he needed to be told. He clearly didn’t know.
“Need I remind you that you were unconscious most of the night?” His voice was cool.
“It was good rest,” I countered.
I guess he didn’t agree because he placed me in the bed without a word as if my statement didn’t even need a reply.
Rude.
These sheets, though. I wasn’t sure what they were made of, but it might have been unicorn magic and that fluffy stuff that makes up the clouds.
I wasn’t sure where he got something like that, but I knew if anyone could find it, it would be Kieran.
“These are even nicer than the ones from before,” I said, brushing my palm over the all-white sheets that were striped.
The stripes were only visible because they had a sheen to them.
“Yeah, ‘cause they aren’t covered in your mess.”
“You helped make that mess too,” I pointed out.
Grunting—his favorite pastime—he covered my lower half.
Even the down comforter had a fresh duvet on it.
The blankets were cool and smooth against my legs and smelled like they’d just came out of the dryer.
But not the kind of dryer at the laundromat.
Sometimes my clothes came out of those with rust stains.
Nah, these were from the dryer of a rich person.
The T-shirt Kieran handed me after my bath was well-worn and soft too. The length went to just above my knee and covered my pizza boxers completely.
“I can’t just keep lying around. I need to find my car. And I have work tonight.” I was beyond lucky today was my off day from the Neon Reef or I definitely would have gotten fired.
“You aren’t going to work. Call in sick.”
“I can’t!”
“Why not?”
“Because my shift starts in like three hours. It’s too late to call off. Besides, if I call off, it will look bad and they’ll start giving me the cheap orders with bad tippers and the routes in the worst part of the city.”
“You mean your neighborhood?” Kieran muttered darkly.
“It was fine until yesterday.” Well, the neighborhood wasn’t, but me living there hadn’t been a problem. “Can I borrow your phone?”
“So you can call in sick to work?”
“No. So I can call Rett and see if he’s okay.”
“Your neighbor?”
“Yeah. I’m worried about him. I knocked on his door yesterday, and he didn’t answer.
But he’s usually always home. Maybe whoever broke into my place tried to get into his too.
He could be hurt.” The more I thought about it, the more anxious I became.
Nibbling at my nails, I tried to remember the last time I’d actually seen Rett.
Kieran tugged my hand from my mouth. “Stop that.”
“He’s like me. He doesn’t have anyone. I should have checked in sooner.”
“You were unconscious,” he reiterated.
“That’s no excuse,” I said, pushing back the blankets. I’d just go over there. I needed some pants anyway. I couldn’t wear Kieran’s. They were death traps.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Going home.”
“Like hell you are.” Grabbing me under the arms, he lifted me back on the bed.
“I admit sometimes your bossy behavior is a total turn-on, but right now, it’s the opposite.” Scowling, I glanced around. I was small and squirrelly. I could wiggle under his arm before he knew it.
“I saw him yesterday.”
I gasped, completely abandoning my plan of attack. “You did say that.” I’d completely forgotten he mentioned it. I gasped again.
“Do you have asthma?” he inquired.
“You said you threatened him!”
“Did I?”
“Put your eyebrow away and tell me what happened. What did you do to him?”
“Why do you assume I did something to him?” he asked.
“Because you’re you,” I said, scrambling forward.
Kieran stopped me with a hand to my shoulder. “Calm down, baby doll. Your friend is fine.”
“I don’t know if I’d call him my friend.”
“Then why are you insulting my eyebrow and accusing me of doing nefarious things to him?”
Nefarious. “Did you eat a thesaurus?” I wondered. “Probably why I’ve never actually seen you eat anything.”
He barked a laugh.
“I’m worried about him, Kieran. If you don’t tell me how he was, at least move out of my way.”
Kieran’s face softened. “He called you his friend.”
“What?”
Nodding, he went on. “He said you are his only friend, but he wasn’t sure if you considered him yours.”
“I do!” I exclaimed, heart beating a little harder.
All this time, I had a friend just across the hall and didn’t even know it.
Rett was really nice, but he kept to himself a lot, so I wasn’t sure if he wanted me coming around.
My old counselor probably would remind me of my fear of rejection.
You know, because not even my own mother wanted me.
But I guess looking at it from the other side, I could see how Rett might have thought the same thing about me. I groaned, thinking of all the times I could have gone across the hall and knocked, asked him to hang out when I was lonely.
“I really need to go,” I said, getting my squirrel on and slipping around him easy-peasy.
“Hazard,” he growled from behind as I raced toward the bedroom door. I didn’t make it very far before colliding with a warm body and stumbling back.
“Hold on there, half-pint. You don’t have much to spill,” Ghost said, grabbing me by the arms and hauling me up.
The IV line in my arm tugged, causing shooting pain.
“Watch yourself,” he cautioned, lifting me off my feet and walking farther into the room so there was less tension on the tube.
Kieran’s large, looming presence appeared and silently pulled me out of Ghost’s grip to lift me into a bridal-style hold.
“Where are you running off to in such a rush?” Ghost asked.
“To see my friend. Kieran threatened him, and I need to make sure he’s okay.”
Ghost glanced at Kieran and widened his eyes. “Now this I gotta hear.”
“I didn’t threaten anyone,” Kieran announced.
Ghost cackled. “Yeah, and I came here on a unicorn.”
“I knew it!” I exclaimed. Poking Kieran in the chest, I said, “What happened?”
“I knocked on his door and asked him if he knew where you were.”
“And he answered?” He hadn’t when I knocked.
“After a few minutes,” Kieran hedged.
“How was he?”
“Said he was asleep.” Kieran looked down at me. “I think he’s an addict.”
I gasped. “How dare you accuse my friend of being an addict?”
“He wasn’t even your friend until five minutes ago.”
I pinched his nipple and twisted.
“Oww!” Kieran howled, trying to shift away from my fingers. But he couldn’t get away without dropping me, and it seemed that was something he didn’t plan on doing.
“Ooooh-hooo,” Ghost squealed. “This is better than reality TV.”
“Put me down,” I muttered.
“I like you where you are.”
“Rett is not an addict,” I declared. “Why would you even say that?”
“Because he started crying about—”
“You made him cry!” I demanded.
“Can we pause this?” Ghost asked. “I need a snack for the shitshow.”
“I needed to know where you were. He was acting suspicious and not telling me anything, so I pulled out my gun.”
“Oh, no, he didn’t,” Ghost mused.
“You pulled a gun on Rett,” I repeated. “Why do you even have a gun? Aren’t you in real estate?”
Kieran looked like he’d swallowed a lemon. A rotten one. “It’s for protection.”
“Just tell me what happened,” I said, wanting to know about Rett.
“He started crying, saying he didn’t know anything or hear anything because he was asleep.”
“Sus,” Ghost put in.
I shot him a bad look.
He shrugged, completely unbothered. “Sorry, half-pint, it’s the truth.”
“Stop calling me that,” I snapped.
“That’s what I thought too. So I pulled out my gun for some extra motivation. That’s when he went on about taking some pill.”
“Ooop, there it is,” Ghost sang.
He was like a walking TV commercial. Always making noise.
“Something about pain,” Kieran added.
I sagged into his arms. “I knew he wasn’t feeling well,” I said, remembering the last time I’d seen him. “I asked if he was okay, and he said he was fine, just tired. I should have pushed. Maybe taken him to a clinic.”
“Sad shows aren’t for me. Y’all need to switch it back.”
I ignored Ghost, dropping my head against Kieran’s arm and gazing up. “I’m really worried.”
Sighing, Kieran sat on the side of the bed, keeping me in his lap. “He was fine when I left. I made sure he went back into his apartment and the doors were locked.”
“You swear?” I implored.
He shifted to push back the hair tumbling across my forehead, then met my stare, unblinking. “On my life.”
I exhaled, some of the tension in my stomach releasing. Turning my face in, I pressed it against his chest. “Okay.”
My weight shifted when Kieran reached over to slide his cell into my lap. “Go ahead and call him, baby doll.”
I did, and the line rang so long I started to chew my nails again. Just before it cut off, there was a cautious, “Hello?”
“Rett? It’s Haz.”
“Haz!” he exclaimed, cautious no more. “Holy shit, are you okay? Where are you? Have you seen your apartment?” The questions ran over each other, and it made me smile.
“I’m okay. I’m, ah, with someone.”
“Who?” Rett wondered, then gasped. “Is it that scary guy who tried to shoot my face off?”
My mouth dropped open.
Kieran groaned loudly. “I did not try and shoot his face off.”
First of all, he was eavesdropping.
“You are with him!” Rett said, obviously hearing his voice. “Listen, Haz, he’s hot and all, but are you sure you want to get involved in all that?”
Second of all, just look at the kind of impression he left on my only friend.
Kieran’s arms tightened around me. One of those low grumbling sounds moved through his chest. “You’re mine.” He reminded me as if I might have forgotten the eleventy-million other times he’d said it.
Funny thing, it didn’t matter how many times he declared it because, every single time, my insides turned into goo. Even after he said he’d pulled a gun on my bestie and made him cry.