- FOUR
Cece
"Well, isn't this cozy?" an unfamiliar voice startled me awake.
My eyes flew open, and I immediately tried to jerk upward but found myself trapped by Jasper's arms.
"Hey Doyle," Jasper said, sounding wide-awake and I was left to wonder how long I had been passed out on him while he just lay there and stared at the sky peeking through the trees.
But also... Doyle.
It wasn't exactly a common name.
So, really, it had to be the one and only cheating bastard.
"Okay, let me up," I demanded, pulling against Jasper's hold until he let me go. I got into a seated position, readjusting the straps of my dress as Jasper sat up as well and the man in question, Doyle, squatted down near us.
"You're welcome by the way," Jasper said, and Doyle snickered, making my face heat slightly. There had been a definite sexual innuendo in his words, and Doyle believed it.
Men.
"Jasp," Doyle said, nodding his head at him. "New girl," he said to me.
"Cece," I answered immediately.
His head tilted and his face lit with a genuine smile that made his devilishly handsome face light up.
His eyes and hair were dark, and where Jasper was a thin kind of strong, Doyle was just a strong kind of strong with wide shoulders, tree trunks for legs, and giant arms. True, he was really good looking, but I couldn't picture him and delicate, warm Jade together at all.
"Celestine," he surprised me by saying, making it painfully obvious that he and Jade had been in contact recently. Even though I knew Jade wasn't the bitter kind of angry I was about being cheated on, I didn't think she would still talk to the jackass.
At the sound of my name, Jasper started, his gaze finding mine, and his brows drawing together. "What?" I asked.
"Celestine?"
"I know. Awful, right?" I said with a self-deprecating laugh.
He ignored me completely, looking over at Doyle. "What time is it?"
"Just after seven. Did you guys eat?" he asked, and my belly chose that moment to chime in and grumble, drawing out a warm laugh from Doyle.
He reached up and pulled the straps of his backpack off his shoulders.
"You guys didn't prepare at all, huh?" he asked, opening the pack and spreading an assortment of fruits, vegetables, and a bag of mixed nuts on the ground.
He handed me a pocket knife and, too hungry to be demure, I reached for it and desperately started slicing up the food.
Then Jasper jerked his chin at Doyle, and the two men stood, moving a foot or so away, towering over me as I ate. "Have you heard anything?" Doyle asked.
"No. We haven't come across anyone but a faun."
Doyle's gaze cut to mine and he gave me a smile. "That must have been interesting."
"It was close," Jasper supplied. "I think the best bet is to look for her at our parents'. So we have about another day before we get an idea."
"I'm coming with," Doyle said easily as he moved back toward me and sat down, reaching for a handful of nuts. "How are you holding up? Those feet look painful."
He wasn't wrong. I had kicked out of the Godforsaken moccasins before I went to sleep, my feet throbbing and I hoped they would feel better after some rest. They didn't. If anything, they almost felt worse.
And I was trying like hell to not think about that fact since we apparently had another full day of walking ahead of us.
"What?" Jasper asked suddenly. "What's wrong with your feet?" he asked, striding over, squatting down, and pulling my ankle out and up hard and fast, making me squeal as I planted my arms behind me to stop myself from falling backward.
"He's got a great bedside manner," Doyle said sympathetically as Jasper inspected the bottom of my foot.
"Why didn't you tell me about this yesterday?" he asked, his thumb stroking over the inside of my arch and making me shiver slightly.
"We didn't really have any time to waste," I said with a shrug.
His eyes found mine and they at once looked regretful and grateful. He released my foot gently and stood. "I'll get something to put on them," he said, looking pointedly down at Doyle.
"I'll keep an eye on her. No randy fauns will be getting his hooves on her today," he said with a wink that made me let out a quick laugh.
"Right," Jasper said, his jaw suddenly tight as he moved away.
Alone, I focused my attention on eating, finding myself conflicted. On one hand, I wanted to hate Doyle for Jade since she didn't seem capable herself, but on the other, he seemed like someone who was genuinely likable.
"He's in a mood," Doyle said, drawing my attention.
"Jasper?"
"Yeah. He's not always such a dick. He's actually a good guy. He just hides it well. I mean, he saved you from a faun yesterday and I'm assuming you were sleeping with him because you have nightmares."
"Yeah," I grumbled, seeing his point.
"He's worried about Jade. Their parents are real pieces of work. That's why they ran away as kids."
"They ran away?"
"Oops," Doyle said, fake-grimacing at his slip. "Guess they aren't big on sharing that information. But yeah. If they have Jade..." he trailed off, his happy face going tight.
"I know you two... dated," I said carefully, drawing his attention again. "When I tried to cuss you out, she defended you."
"That sounds like her," he allowed, then jumped up like he was uncomfortable. "Come on, let's wash those puppies off before Jasp gets back."
When I went to stand, he actually tisk-tisked me and swept me off my feet, making me gasp and cling to him as he led me over to the stream and settled me down on a smooth rock so I could soak my feet.
He sat down a few feet from me, and I could feel his gaze on me, intense enough for me to flick my hair to hide from it slightly.
"Why do that?" he asked. "You're hot. There's no reason to hide that. Leave it out all front and center like me," he declared, making me snort and smile. He really was charming. No wonder Jade fell for him.
"You're so modest."
"Among my long list of positive attributes, modesty is not one of them. I mean, I know I'm beautiful and you know I'm beautiful..." he trailed off, leaving me with a huge smile.
A few minutes later, there was rustling, drawing our attention.
"Ah, speak of the devil," he said, standing and moving out of the way as Jasper sidled in beside me, laying out a pile of leaves and dandelions.
He reached for my foot, surprisingly gently, and lifted it from the water to place it on his thigh.
"This is yarrow," he told me, holding up one of the frilly leaves. "It heals wounds. You have some pretty deep gashes here."
"It's those flat feet," Doyle commented.
"This has been a lot of walking... for me anyway...
ouch," I yelped as he placed one of the leaves.
He winced as he kept pressing it against one of the worst of the cuts.
He worked with deft fingers, confident, like he had dressed wounds countless times before and I found myself wondering if that was the case.
"What is the dandelion for?" I asked to ease some of the awkwardness.
He reached for one, breaking open the stem and rubbing some of the sticky insides onto a leaf. "Glue."
I watched for another embarrassingly long couple of minutes, being able to do so without him noticing with his head ducked. Then, forcing my eyes up, I noticed Doyle had disappeared.
"Alright," Jasper said, looking up at me. "All done. How do they feel?"
I flexed my feet and felt nothing but a small sting, nothing compared to the unyielding throbbing pain that had been there moments before.
"That's a lot better actually," I said, looking up at him with a smile.
It must have been the first I had sent in his direction because he actually looked taken aback for a moment.
"Good," he said, rubbing his hands on his pant legs then standing and moving to collect a few things.
"Thank you," I added when he didn't say anything else.
"Don't mention it," he said, not bothering to look my way.
"Yo, wait up," Doyle's voice called from far off, and I looked around but saw him nowhere. Then he stepped out from behind a tree a moment later, winded, a little sweaty, with what looked like a couple pieces of well-worn leather in his hand.
"Do I want to know where you got that?" Jasper asked, shoulders tight as if he might have been concerned.
"No," Doyle confirmed Jasper's worry. "But we needed them.
" He knelt down in front of me and reached for my foot.
He put a strip of leather under my sole and reached for the moccasins that Jasper dropped off beside us.
"The leather will protect you a little bit more.
But we will try to take it easier today," he said, completely ignoring the dark look Jasper gave him.
--
Jasper
I took the lead, Doyle and Cece following several yards behind me, Cece needing to nurse her feet and Doyle being the kind of guy to keep her company through it.
I felt like shit about her feet. I'd sensed pain in her the day before and early in the morning, but I hadn't got the specifics of it.
I thought she was sore from all the walking.
If I had known her feet were all broken open and raw, I wouldn't have kept such a ridiculous pace.
I would have stopped and taken care of them sooner.
I might have been on a mission, but I wasn't a complete dick.
I was worried about Jade. It was making me short and surly.
Cece might not have been the easiest of company, but she didn't deserve me being an ass either. I needed to pay closer attention to her. She was obviously completely in the dark about The Green and all the shit that could happen in it, so I was in charge of protecting her, taking care of her.
I was doing a pretty shit job if fucking Doyle noticed her feet and I hadn't.
At least I had managed to let her get a good nights' sleep.