Chapter 16
My watch tells me it’s been exactly fourteen minutes since the last time I checked it.
The other guys went to sleep about an hour ago, and I tried.
I really did. I have a test coming up that I attempted to study for, but something about knowing Annika is out there alone isn’t sitting right with me.
Sure, Cedar Vale is a safe town, and the residents look out for one another, but the fact that the prick is still here has me on edge where she’s concerned.
There’s a notification on my phone, and when I check it, I see a name I wouldn’t have expected even if pigs could fly.
Dre: Just got word my sister is stumbling drunk down Main Street. Any chance you’re awake and could go get her? I’m in Flagstaff with the team for a scrimmage.
Me: I’m on it. Any idea where?
Dre: Bea said they just left End Zone and should be headed your way. Lane’s roommate showed up to help her get home which will leave Nik all by herself.
Me: Don’t worry. I’ll find her.
Dre: Thanks, bro. Owe ya one.
Me: We’ll shore up later.
Throwing on my slides, I’m out the door and jogging down the steps in record time. My heart is racing, and even though I’m sure she’s fine, I can’t help it when my mind starts to fill with all of the awful things that could happen to her.
Walking through the small alleyway that leads to the front of the shops that sit right on Main, I scan both directions. It’s dark and quiet. At least until I hear loud cursing coming from the corner.
“Motherfucker! When did they put that bench there?”
I find her sitting on the arm of one of the iron benches outside the tavern, holding her toe and muttering to herself.
“Don’t they know people can get hurt? Metal is hard, and toe bones are fragile. Mine’s probably broken. That’s gonna suck tomorrow.”
“Hey, baby girl. You need some help?”
Heavy-lidded eyes slowly rise to meet mine. “Hey, Roz. Your turn to be my shiny armor knight?”
I fight back my grin. “Think you mean your knight in shining armor.”
“That’s it.” She claps, then points a finger at me…or at least tries to. She ends up pointing at the tree. “You’re so smart.”
Chuckling, I offer her my hand. “C’mon, let me help you get home.”
“Home,” she murmurs, her fingers tangling in mine.
The contact has my stomach flipping wildly. A touch so simple, yet my system is going into overdrive, making it hard to think straight. It’s like I’m an inexperienced teen again.
“Yeah. Home.” I pull her up, but her unsteady legs send her crashing into my chest with a giggle.
“Who would’ve thunk it?”
“What’s that?” My breath catches as she snuggles into my shirt.
“They say home is where the heart is.”
“They do.”
“Do you think that’s where mine is?” She sighs, then pushes herself back and tries to continue walking.
As I gently guide her over to the crosswalk, my mind is hit with an image of her trying to cross this treacherous thing in the condition she’s in.
Almost makes me want to pick her up and put her in a damn bubble.
“Did y’all steal it and hold it hostage? ”
She starts to stumble in the wrong direction, but I grab her hand and tug lightly, forcing her to a stop. She latches onto my bicep, and that’s when I decide this is going to get us nowhere. I turn around and pull her hand over my shoulder.
“C’mon. Hop on.”
“Oh! A piggyback ride. Yay!”
After a few unsuccessful tries, she’s clinging to my back while I walk us toward the apartment.
With her scent and warmth surrounding me, her words are on replay in my brain.
Is it wrong of me to want to poke her for information when she’s too drunk to hold back?
Maybe. Do I care? Not one single bit. Does that make me an asshole? Probably.
“Would it be such a bad thing if we stole your heart?”
“Hmmm…” She leans her head against the back of mine. “Maybe.”
“Why?”
“I don’t wanna be like her.”
Everything inside me seizes up, and my heart damn near breaks for this beautifully imperfect woman. I don’t even have to ask who she’s talking about. I already know. “I don’t think you need to worry about that, baby girl. We’re not your dads and you’re not her.”
As I start to climb the stairs, her voice drops to barely a whisper. “Sometimes I wonder… If it had just been Dre, would they have stayed around. Is it my fault they left?”
Setting her down in front of the door, I turn so I can face her.
With the moonlight peeking through the trees, her hair takes on a shimmer, making her look like an enchanted fairy.
Hell, maybe she is because I’m so completely under her spell, it’s insane.
“Your parents' decision to leave had nothing to do with you and everything to do with their selfishness. Personally, I’m thankful you were raised by Dorothea because she helped you become the spectacular woman you are today.”
“You mean that?” Her hands reach up and wrap around my wrists.
Funny. I hadn’t even realized I was gently cradling both sides of her face.
“With my whole soul.”
A tear leaks free as her face takes on a pinched expression. For a second, I’m worried she’s about to break into sobs, and I panic. I suck at emotions and all that girlie shit. I’ll be forced to grab Carson, and there goes my hero moment.
“Roz?”
“Yeah, baby girl?”
“I think I’m going to be sick.”
So that pale tint to her skin wasn’t the moonlight after all.
“C’mon.” Lifting her into my arms, I rush through the door and down the hall into the guest bathroom. I no sooner set her on her feet than she turns, lifts the toilet seat, and drops to her knees just in time to lose everything in her stomach.
Giving her a little bit of privacy, I run out to the kitchen and fill a glass with water, then grab a washrag out of the hall closet.
Returning to the bathroom, I get the rag damp before settling in behind her.
Her head is leaning on her arm that’s perched on the edge of the bowl, her eyes closed.
The urge to touch her is so overwhelming, I give in to the urge to brush the hair off her cheek.
Her skin is so incredibly soft. Her hair like silk.
This isn’t the time or place to be getting turned on, but seeing her vulnerable and in need of someone to help her does weird shit to my brain.
Reaching over, I flush the toilet and gently use the rag to wipe what I can of her mouth.
“You okay?” I ask, my voice low.
“Pretty sure I’m dying.”
My smile is involuntary. “Just don’t haunt me, okay? Carson is fair game though.”
“Are you kidding? I’m haunting all of you.” She sighs. “You know, since you all have haunted me.”
“How did we haunt you if we’re still very much alive?
“In my dreams, silly.”
My heart skips a beat. “You dream about us, huh?”
“Mmmhmm,” she hums sleepily. “And all the things you do to me that make me wake up all wet and bothered.”
My eyebrows shoot up to my hairline. “What are we doing in these dreams of yours?”
“Different things, but my favorite was the one where you all transformed the apartment into one big blanket fort full of twinkle lights and candles. There were soft bedding and pillows that you laid me down on like I was a precious treasure. Your hands and mouths were all over my body, each of you fucking me over and over… Hmmm… It was the single most romantic erotic experience I’ve ever had.
Or sorta had. God, dream me is a lucky bitch. ”
My dick strains against the fabric of my shorts as the full image of what she said comes to life in my mind.
We’ve never taken a girl at the same time.
It never felt right. But I can guaran-fucking-tee the guys would have no issues sharing Nik.
Now, I want nothing more than to make that dream a full-fledged reality.
“You think the three of us taking you at the same time is hot?”
A small smile quirks her lips, making my cock throb. “Mmhmm. The hottest.”
“Jesus. You’re killing me here.”
“Well, the alcohol is killing me. I kinda forgot the basics of liquor consumption.”
“Oh?”
“One should not shoot tequila shots when they’re already drunk on sangria.”
I chuckle softly. “That’ll do it.”
Her eyes are still closed when she softly murmurs, “You know… I don’t think it was ever the polyamory that scared me.”
“No?” My breath catches.
“It was having that much more to lose if things didn’t work out.”
Considering my words carefully, I whisper, “You’ll never lose us again, baby girl.”
“I’m sure that’s what they all say.” Her drunken rant would almost be cute if it wasn’t hitting a little too close to home. “You win a championship, have scouts shoving offers and money in your face, and you’d be like that show me the money guy. Then buh-bye Cedar Vale. So long Nickle…”
By the end, her words are slurred and barely audible. There are so many things I could say in return, but I doubt she’d hear them right now.
“You don’t have to stay, ya know. This has been embarrassing enough.”
“I want to, though.” Once the words are out, I’m a little shocked to realize I mean them with the entirety of my soul. I’ve never been the kind of man to coddle or cuddle, but for her, I’d happily do both.
She peeks through her tired lids. “What’s wrong with you?”
Playfully, I narrow my eyes. “That’s not very nice.”
Her head comes up, but before she can respond, she turns back to the bowl and gets sick again. I gather up her hair with one hand, run the other soothingly down her back, and prepare for a really uncomfortable night.
Oddly enough, I’m not all that upset about it.