Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
It wasn’t long after getting into the shower that I had to sit down. I couldn’t bear to put any weight on my legs anymore. The pain in them was so bad, the soreness in my hip was barely a blip on my metaphorical pain radar.
Colt sat with his back to the tile wall and I lay back against him, in between his legs. Cool water continued to pour on us, which had long since cooled my body down. Colt rubbed his hand up and down my arm soothingly while holding me against him with his other.
My eyes were closed. I was fighting sleep. Kind of. My thoughts wouldn’t let me drift off completely. Being held by Colt had helped calm me greatly and I had been able to pull myself from the toxic spiral I had fallen into. I knew I wasn’t being fair to myself. That girl’s death hadn’t been my fault. I was not responsible for a psychopath’s actions. But even though I tried to remind myself of that over and over again, a tiny part of me still didn’t listen.
Colt’s hand stopped rubbing my arm and his fingers brushed some stray wet hairs from my forehead before I felt his lips press against my temple.
“Is she asleep?” I heard Creed ask.
Colt sighed. “I think so. She wore herself out.”
“We should get her out and dried off,” Creed said. A gush of cold air hit my body, indicating the shower door had been opened. Next, the water was turned off. “Shi.”
I forced my eyes open. Creed was in the shower, squatting in front of us. His eyes dropped to my bare stomach. I knew what he was staring at. To the right of my belly button were two jagged, three-inch scars. Mr. X had stabbed me repeatedly. Both wounds had almost killed me and required hours of surgery to repair the internal damage.
“Think you can stand?” Creed asked, his eyes flicking up to meet mine.
I nodded tiredly.
Mustering what little energy I had left, I sat up from Colt’s chest. Creed helped me get to my feet by putting his arms under mine and practically lifting me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and smothered a pain-filled groan in the crook of Creed’s neck on the way up from the shower floor. I plastered my wet body against his, trying to hold myself up. “I’m sorry,” I said with a sniffle. More tears were already filling my eyes again. I didn’t deserve what they were doing for me.
Creed’s arms circled my back and he held me closer, if that was even possible.
“It’s okay, Shi.” Bending down slightly, his hands traveled to the backs of my thighs. He lifted me up and my legs weakly wrapped around his waist. He stepped out of the shower and he sat me down on the counter next to the sink. He pulled away and looked into my eyes. His brow furrowed. “We’re not mad, if that’s what you think.”
“I don’t want to burden?—”
“You’re not a burden,” Colt interrupted. He pulled two towels from the wall rack and tossed one to Creed. Creed did his best to dry me off. Once he seemed satisfied I was dry enough, he wrapped the towel around me and pulled me forward, hugging me tightly. Fisting the back of his shirt in my hands, I laid my head on his shoulder, absorbing the comfort he was offering, and my eyes drifted closed.
Creed’s body began shaking with silent laughter. “She’s out.”
“Shi, let’s get you in some dry clothes and then you can sleep, okay?” Colt said.
I opened my drowsy eyes, finding Colt standing next to us. “Mhmm,” was all I could get out as I lifted my head.
Colt picked up a men’s T-shirt and basketball shorts from the pile of clothes sitting on the back of the toilet. He looked at the clothes in his hands, then at me. “Can you stand long enough to change yourself?”
I supposed I was about to find out. Creed took a step back, allowing me room to slide off the counter onto my feet. I hissed when the pain ripped through my muscles. I only lasted a few seconds before I reached out for Creed, fearing my legs were going to give out on me. His arms shot out quickly and held me steady.
Colt sighed. “Babe, I know it’s not ideal, but if you let us help?—”
“I can do it!” I exclaimed, feeling irritated.
“You’re going to fall on your ass,” Creed said. “We won’t look.”
“Everyone looks,” I grumbled. I took a moment to weigh my options. I didn’t have any. I was in pain and exhausted both emotionally and physically. I just wanted to get this over with so I could get off my legs and rest. I let out an annoyed sigh. “Just don’t look.”
“We won’t,” they said at the same time.
Colt knelt in front of me, his eyes on the floor as he pulled down my underwear. He pulled the soaked, skin-fitting material down my hips, baring to the world a part of me I hadn’t let anyone else but my doctor see. Colt’s eyes stayed glued to the floor as he worked to get my feet through the holes of the basketball shorts and as he slid them up my legs. When I was covered, his eyes lifted up to meet mine. They were guarded as he pulled on the drawstrings, tightening the waistband so they wouldn’t fall, and tied the strings into a bow. Creed helped me sit back on the counter. Colt stood with the T-shirt in his hand. Without really thinking, I pulled my sports bra over my head. When I had it off, I found them both staring at my chest.
I crossed my arms over my breasts. “Don’t look!”
“There was no warning!” Creed argued as he spun around.
Colt averted his eyes to the ceiling. He cleared his throat and held out the shirt. “Sorry.”
I took it and quickly put it on. Creed spun back around after I told them I was decent. He stepped between my legs and pulled me to him.
“No peeking, babe,” Colt teased just before he shoved down his wet boxers. He obviously wasn’t shy. I got a glimpse of his butt before my wide eyes shot to the ceiling.
Creed chuckled, drawing my attention to him. “I guess you two are even.”
Heat bloomed in my cheeks, which made him laugh some more. I laid my head back on his shoulder and closed my eyes.
“Hey, Shi.” I felt a hand shake my shoulder.
I groaned and opened my eyes. At first all I saw was Keelan standing above me. What is he doing here? I thought, then my eyes drifted around the room, taking in the posters on the walls, the black comforter tucked around me, and the familiar smell. I was in Creed’s room.
“Are you hungry? Dinner is almost ready,” he said.
After my brain was finally awake enough, everything that had happened today came back to me. My sore legs were a big memory-jogger. The last thing I could remember was falling asleep in the back of Colt’s Charger on the way home. The twins must have scooped me up out of the car and carried me inside. “How long have I been asleep?”
“A few hours. How are you feeling?”
“Honestly, like an idiot,” I said. I knew better. I knew what my limits were, and I’d pushed past them anyway because the pain that had followed was better than the pain I was feeling.
“I get it. We all do,” he said. “I know you have Colt and Creed, but if you ever need to talk, I’m a good listener.”
I nodded even though I’d never be able to talk to him or the twins. Until Mr. X was caught, it’d never be safe for me to talk to anyone.
“Knox is cooking dinner. It’s going to be ready soon. If you’re hungry, you’re welcome to join us,” he offered.
“Okay, I’ll be out in a minute.”
Keelan left and I hobbled stiffly across the hall to the bathroom. Looking into the mirror, I sighed. My hair was a frightening sight. Most of it had fallen out of my hair tie, which was now on the side of my head. I pulled the elastic tie from the rest of my hair, finger-combed it the best I could, and pulled it all back up in a messy bun on the top of my head. I splashed some water on my face and pinched my cheeks to bring some color out of my pale complexion. After doing my business in the bathroom, I hobbled down the hall and made my way into the kitchen. The aroma coming from whatever was cooking smelled mouthwatering. Knox was at the stove while Keelan filled a glass with water from the fridge.
Keelan hurried over when he saw me. “Here, take this,” he said as he offered the glass of water with one hand and held out two white pills in his other.
I took the pills and water from him. “Thank you.”
At the sound of my voice, Knox turned from the stove. He watched as I put the pills Keelan had given me into my mouth and chased them with the water.
I walked my pathetic limping butt to the kitchen island and set my glass down. “Can I help with something?” I asked.
Knox didn’t say anything and continued to stare at me. I just cocked a challenging eyebrow at him. The corner of his mouth pulled into a small smirk and Keelan, who’d been watching, chuckled.
“How can you help when you can barely walk?” Knox challenged.
My eyes narrowed. “My legs are sore, not broken.”
“She’s a stubborn little thing, isn’t she?” Keelan commented with laughter in his eyes. The way he stared at me was like I was the most enticing thing he’d seen all week.
Knox crossed his arms over his chest and stared me down from across the island. He gave me an I’m not going to budge on this look. “Everything is done. We’re just waiting on the twins to return.”
Now that he mentioned it…
Keelan shook his head, snickering. “I think she just realized they weren’t here.”
Just after he said that, we all heard the front door open. The twins walked into the kitchen with grocery bags in hand.
“Hey, how are you feeling?” Colt greeted as he set his bags on the island and Creed followed suit.
Eyeing the bags, I said, “Better. Where’d you guys go?”
Creed smirked and started unpacking what was in the bags. He pulled out container after container of different ice cream flavors, followed by different toppings like sprinkles, chocolate sauce, and caramel. I couldn’t hold back my huge happy grin. When Colt pulled the very last item from the last bag, I laughed. Popcorn. “We didn’t know what flavor you liked,” he said, explaining the five different flavors of ice cream. “You said you wanted ice cream.”
My smile dropped. “I’m sorry. You guys wanted to go out…”
They both shrugged at the same time. “We can go out another time. We’ll stay in and watch a movie tonight,” Creed said and started stuffing the ice cream into the freezer.
My smile returned. “Okay. What are we going to watch?”
“What about something scary?” Creed suggested as he finished putting the last of the ice cream away while the rest of the guys started carting plates and dishes of food to the table.
“No!” I blurted loudly. Everyone froze and my cheeks burned. “Nothing scary, please,” I said in a normal volume. I couldn’t handle the suspense. Especially when it came to slasher or home invasion horror movies. They triggered episodes of PTSD.
Everyone slowly recovered from my outburst and they finished setting the table for dinner. Creed walked up to me and put his hands on my shoulders. “Okay, Shi. Nothing scary.”
We debated over movie choices all through dinner and ended up going with the TV show Game of Thrones instead. None of us had seen it and we’d all heard it was awesome.
I went home to shower and change into my own clothes really quick. The pain medicine Keelan had given me and the hot shower had done wonders for my achy legs. I put on my Wonder Woman pajama set. The shorts were cobalt blue with white stars and the tank was red with a gold Wonder Woman logo. I tossed my hair back up in a messy bun and slid into flip-flops before heading back over. All the guys smiled at my pajamas, even Knox.
“Popcorn or ice cream, baby girl?” Keelan asked.
“That’s a difficult question to answer,” I replied, making them all laugh.
Keelan tossed the box of popcorn at Colt. “Both it is,” he said and started pulling out all the ice cream from the freezer. While the popcorn popped in the microwave, we all made our own sundaes.
After the sundaes were assembled, we took our ice cream and the popcorn to the living room. Colt and Creed made me sit between them on one end of the couch and Knox and Keelan lounged out on the other end. Knox started the first episode and all of us were instantly engrossed. The opening scene of the show was quiet and of men on horseback. Then ominous music started playing and my back went a little stiff.
Colt put his hand on my thigh and leaned close. “You alright?” he whispered in my ear. I nodded and put my hand onto his. Knowing what I wanted, he flipped his over and laced our fingers together. He held my hand until the suspenseful scene ended. It hadn’t been that bad, but it was nice to have the support nonetheless.
After the first episode ended, we had to watch the next one and the one after that. Six episodes later, it was one in the morning and I was tired.
“Just stay over,” Creed pleaded as he fought to keep his eyes open. Halfway through the last episode he’d stretched out on the couch and laid his head in my lap. I had run my fingers through his hair, loving the way the silky strands had felt slipping between my fingers.
“I can’t,” I said, wishing I could. They had dealt with enough of my drama today. The last thing I wanted to do was freak them all out with my nightmares.
“I’ll walk you home,” Colt said, standing from the couch.
Creed let out an exaggerated sigh and sat up. “Alright, I’m coming, too.”
“You’ll have to come over tomorrow night so we can binge some more episodes. I don’t think I can wait long to find out what happens,” Keelan said.
I smiled at him. “I’ll be here.” Before I left, I said goodnight to him and Knox.
Colt and Creed walked me to my house. They stayed with me as I unlocked my door and turned off the alarm. The house was dark. “I should have left a light on,” I mumbled, hating that I felt scared.
Colt stepped inside and disappeared into my dark living room. A few seconds later he flicked on the lamp next to the couch. Creed came inside, too. He shut and locked the front door behind him. I didn’t question why he had done that. I was happy they were willing to stay for a while.
Colt walked ahead of us to my bedroom and turned on my bedroom light. I sat on my bed with a tired sigh. Looking equally as tired, Creed walked around to the opposite side of the bed, pulled the covers back, and climbed into my bed. Colt and I watched as he adjusted a pillow before lying down and closing his eyes.
I chuckled. “What are you doing?”
Creed opened one eye, then shot up, grabbed me, and pulled me down to lie next to him. “We’re having a sleepover,” he mumbled.
“You don’t want to sleep with me,” I said.
Both he and Colt snorted.
I frowned. “What?”
“Nothing,” Colt said.
“Let’s just go to sleep,” Creed whined as he snuggled me with his arm around my waist.
“I have night?—”
“Nightmares?” Creed finished for me. “We know. Stop worrying. You’re not going to scare us away, Shi.”
“Unless you’re uncomfortable with us staying over?” Colt asked.
I looked from Creed to Colt, feeling equal parts happy and sad. “If you keep being amazing, I don’t know how I’m going to be okay sharing you.”
They gave me confused looks. “What do you mean?” Creed asked.
I scratched one of my blushing cheeks. “I doubt you two are going to be single much longer,” I said. “A couple of girls are going to snag your attention one of these days and I don’t know how I’m going to handle it. I guess that makes me selfish.”
Colt sat on the edge of my bed. “You’re not selfish.”
Creed chuckled next to me. “I think what you’re really feeling is jeal?—”
Colt punched him in the shoulder before Creed could finish. “Shut up,” Colt snapped.
Maybe I was jealous. Jealous of the time and attention I’d have to give up to other girls. Just imagining it made me sad.
I climbed under the blankets and took off my bra from under my shirt. I didn’t care if my friends were guys. I refused to sleep in a bra. They watched as I tossed it across the room toward my laundry basket.
“You matched your underwear to your pajamas?” Creed mumbled tiredly.
“I was feeling Wonder Woman vibes this evening and wanted to represent with every layer,” I said as I lay on my side facing Colt. “Will you get the lights?” I asked him.
Colt nodded and left to turn off the living room light. Creed scooted closer, spooning me. He let out a big yawn before burrowing his nose against the back of my neck.
Colt returned, flicked off the bedroom light, and slid into bed. He lay down on his side facing me. The only light we had was moonlight shining in from the window. After my eyes adjusted to the dark, I could see his outline. He scooted closer, until his body brushed up against mine.
“Thank you for today,” I whispered. I had a feeling Creed was already asleep.
I felt Colt’s fingers lightly run up my arm to my shoulder, leaving goosebumps in their wake. His fingers didn’t stop at my shoulder. They followed my collarbone to the hollow at the base of my throat. His touch did something to me. It made my heart pound in my chest. The butterflies in my stomach were going crazy and flying south, causing an ache—a needy pressure between my legs.
He leaned his face closer. “You’re welcome,” he whispered, and I could feel his breath on my lips. His fingers moved down from my throat. They paused at the top of my breast as if to give me the chance to stop him from going further. I didn’t want to stop him.
When I didn’t say a word, his fingers continued their descent. I gasped as they grazed over my nipple at the same time his lips pressed against mine. His lips were soft, and the kiss was gentle but restrained, as if he was holding back for me to respond. Colt had always gone out of his way to make sure that everything was my choice. Even now. Which was why I felt comfortable and confident enough to kiss him back.
That seemed to be all Colt needed. He went from gentle to passionate as he deepened the kiss. His tongue slid past my lips and stroked mine. My hand fisted the front of his shirt, pulling him closer, wanting more. His wandering fingers were replaced with his whole hand, cupping my breast, then squeezing.
Creed’s arm that was still around my waist tightened and he shifted behind me. The movement had the same effect on me as being splashed with a bucket of ice water.
What am I doing?
I broke away from our kiss, breathing heavily. How could I be so stupid? I was kissing my friend while my other friend was sleeping behind me.
Colt let go of my breast to cup my cheek. “You alright?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
He brushed his thumb across my cheek. “Okay. Let’s get some sleep.”
I took his hand in mine and forced my eyes closed.