Chapter 8 #3
“Oh, you know, keep Bones safe. Report any chatter about Bones. Make sure Bones has her special broth every day. Have eyes on Bones at all times.” Her eyes cut to Griz, who glared at her.
“Watch it, Raven,” Griz warned.
“What?” She widened her eyes innocently. “I’m trying to do my job, Griz.”
“You know Madame’s orders,” Sam said, and from his expression, this wasn’t the first time they’d had this conversation.
“All I know is we used to be the top pick for missions and now we sit around watchin’ her.” Her lip curled. “I’m fucking sick of Hawk’s crew getting all the good jobs. We haven’t left this shithole in weeks.”
“You want to complain, go take it up with Mac,” Griz said. “Or better yet, go tell Madame how you feel.”
She smirked. “Yeah, you’d like that, wouldn’t you, Griz?”
The door opened and Trey walked in. He scanned everyone. “We havin’ a party?”
“If only,” Raven said.
“We’re all leavin’,” Sam said.
Raven rolled her eyes but strode out the door without another word. Sam and Griz exchanged a look with Trey and followed.
“Night, Bones!” Griz called over his shoulder.
Trey gave me a wary look. “What was that about?”
I shrugged and went back to sipping my broth. I actually appreciated Raven’s tirade. I didn’t want to be involved in their hold politics, but if my presence caused drama in the crew, I wanted to know about it. I didn’t want to get caught unaware again.
“Did Raven say something?” Trey asked.
“Raven said a lot of things.”
“Like what?”
“Like your people have better things to do than watch me and the clinic.”
“Oh.” He looked relieved, and I narrowed my eyes at him, wondering what he’d been nervous about. “Well, she can take that up with Madame.”
I finished my broth and moved on to my bread. I hated this nauseating mental back-and-forth where one moment I thought maybe they cared and the next I thought they were only following orders.
“Oh, I brought you something,” Trey said, pulling out a slightly crushed handful of dandelion flowers from his jacket pocket.
My breath caught. He laid them on the exam table, and I knew he’d continued talking, but I wasn’t listening.
I stared at the small, cheerful yellow flowers, overwhelmed with the emotion sweeping over me.
“Bones, you alright?”
I glanced up at Trey, startled when I realized he’d moved closer. He looked at me with concern.
I nodded, gazing back at the flowers. My heart ached, and I didn’t think before I whispered, “My brother used to bring me these.”
He stayed quiet for longer than I expected, and I then remembered with a lurch of terror that I’d told Madame and everyone else that I didn’t have any siblings. My mind raced with how to fix it. Maybe he didn’t remember that.
“Sounds like a good brother,” Trey said.
I looked up at him warily, but he smiled. I couldn’t tell if he remembered or not, so I left it. His eyes warmed, and something in my chest cracked like a seed breaking open to take root.
“They’re my favorite,” I confessed before I could think better of it, and his smile widened.
“I’ll keep an eye out for them, then.”
“You don’t have to do that,” I said, fidgeting with the leaves.
He nudged my shoulder with his. “I want to.”
I gave him an exasperated look. “Why?”
“ ’Cause you like ’em.”
I scoffed and picked up the little flowers. The fuzzy yellow petals flooded me with memories: Wolf’s teasing smile as he held out the flowers, trying to coax me into forgiving him; Wolf promising he’d be back soon from his hunting trip and that he’d bring me a dandelion.
“You want to go for a walk?” Trey asked, startling me back to the present.
We stood close together, but it didn’t make me panic.
His eyes held mine, so open that it seemed like everything he felt was right there, laid bare like windows to his soul.
I couldn’t hold his gaze for long, terrified of what I might see.
My rationale that his kindness had to be some sort of act was wearing thin.
He waited, and I remembered he’d asked me a question. A walk? This seemed like a question where the answer meant a lot more than simply taking a stroll. Panic surged through me like a splash of cold water on my face. I withdrew a few steps, pretending to straighten the drying tools on the counter.
“I think I’ll just go to bed,” I said without looking at him.
“Okay.” He sounded disappointed, and it bothered me more than I liked to admit. “You need any help closing up?”
I shook my head.
“Alright, then. I’ll step out so you can change.”
I slipped out of my pants and shirt, pulling on the oversized ragged T-shirt and thin shorts I slept in. I climbed into bed and he knocked and called, “You good?”
“Yep.”
He retreated to his own mattress, kicking off his boots and taking off his shirt.
I tried to pretend I didn’t notice his strong arms, the golden brown of his skin from the sun, or the way the lean muscles in his stomach formed a V that disappeared into his pants.
My heart beat faster, ignoring my attempts to calm it down.
Trey turned toward me, and I barely remembered to stop staring before he caught me.
“Night, Bones,” he said as he flicked off the light.
It took me a long time to fall asleep.