Chapter 20
LEAH
I didn't know what time it was. Didn't care. All I knew was the ache in my legs burned like fire. From my toes all the way up my thighs was pure agony. I tried to roll over and whimpered from the pain.
"Leah?" A sleepy voice came from beside me. Riley. He lay on one side of me, Connor on the other. "Are you okay?"
"Yes. No." My eyes were full of hot tears, which leaked down my cheeks, even as I brushed them away.
"Why, what?" The bed moved and the lamp beside it turned on with a click. Riley was looking at me, concern in his blue eyes. "Shit. Flare-up?"
Mutely, I managed to nod.
"What's going on?" Connor rolled over and rubbed his face. He blinked a couple of times and frowned. "Did you say flare-up? You have something for the pain?"
"On my…" I flapped a hand roughly in the direction of my dresser before drawing back in on myself.
"I'll get it." Riley rolled off the bed, walking naked to the dresser to pick up a bottle of painkillers. He tossed them to Connor and disappeared out the door, coming back a moment later with a glass of water.
"Can you sit up?" Connor tipped a couple of pills onto his palm and closed the bottle again.
I couldn't respond. If I moved, it would hurt. If I lay still, it would hurt. Lying still was the easier of the two.
"Come on, be a good girl and sit up. You need to take these.
" He placed his hands on my shoulders and gently guided me so I was barely sitting up against the back pillows.
Taking the glass from Riley, he lifted it to my lips and waited until I parted them before tipping a little bit of water inside. The pills were next.
"Be a good girl and swallow." He smirked at the innuendo.
I swivelled my gaze toward him, but this was not the time to be a brat. I swallowed down the pills and lay back down.
"What's wrong?" Brooks appeared in the doorway, Josiah right behind him. There wasn't enough room in the bed for five, so they slept in the spare room. Or at least, they were sleeping. Now, they were both wide awake.
"Flare-up," Riley said, keeping his voice low like he didn't want to disturb me too much. As if he might make the pain worse.
"What can we do?" Josiah hurried in and sat on the side of the bed, careful not to put any weight on me.
"Heat packs," Brooks said. "Where are they?" He glanced around before spotting them on the dresser. He grabbed them up and disappeared out the door. The microwave beeped and started to hum, suggesting he'd put them inside to warm them.
Connor eased the covers off me and moved down to start slowly massaging my feet.
"You don't have to do that," I whispered hoarsely. I felt bad for waking them all up. If they were sleeping in their own houses, this wouldn't have happened. I would have managed to get my painkillers and heat pack. Somehow.
"Yes, we do," Connor said simply. "That's what we're here for." His hands were magic, soothing my skin and taking some of the edge off the pain.
"Here." Brooks handed the heat packs to Josiah, who placed one to either side of my legs.
"Tell me if that gets too hot," Josiah said. "Or cold. Or…" Out of options, he shrugged.
"It's perfect," I said. Of course Brooks would know exactly how long to put them on for. He'd seen me do it. I hadn't know he'd paid that much attention. Clearly he was attentive in ways I hadn't even noticed. I appreciated it now.
"That's helping?" Riley hovered behind Connor, his cock swinging between his thighs every time he moved.
"It is," I said firmly. "Thank you."
"Ri, go and run a bubble bath," Connor said without glancing over his shoulder.
I opened my mouth to say they didn't have to do that either, but Connor gave me a sharp look until I closed it again.
Riley nodded and hurried out again to the bathroom. The sound of running water filtering through the house a few moments later.
"Hey." Brooks sat down beside my upper body. "I'm sorry I made fun of you with this. It was a bullshit thing to do. That looks painful."
"It is, but this is making it better," I said softly. As painful as it was, being taken care of by four incredible men was easing the agony. And reminding me I was cared about.
"You must be cold." He pulled the covers around me, wrapping me up as best he could without getting in the way of Connor and his massaging hands.
"Do you want some tea?" Josiah asked.
"I don't want to be a bother, but I'd love some," I said tentatively. "Thank you."
He nodded, rose and went into the kitchen. As the water started to boil, the sound of water passing through the pipes stopped.
"Bath is ready." Riley appeared in the doorway again.
"Help me get her up," he said.
While Brooks and Riley peeled off the covers again, Connor scooped me up in his arms and carried me all the way to the bath before lowering me under the water.
From the smirk on his face, he was remembering the time he made me beg for his help.
He must have realised how much pain I was in, because he didn't do it this time.
He lifted his arms away and let me sink under the delicious warmth.
"Thank you," I said on a sigh. "This feels good." As good as I could feel with the ache still persisting. It wasn't as bad as it had been. The pain was almost bearable now.
Riley crouched down behind the bath and started to wet my hair before grabbing the shampoo and squeezing some of it onto his hand. Gently and carefully, he started to massage it into my scalp, his hands like a different kind of magic on my skin.
I closed my eyes and let him work while the warmth of the water seeped into my bones.
"Can you lower your head so I can rinse it off?" he asked softly.
I murmured my agreement and tilted my head back so my hair was under the water. He worked his fingers through until all of the shampoo was gone, then grabbed a washcloth to wash my back and my upper body.
After a moment, Brooks picked up another washcloth and started on my feet and legs.
"I feel very spoilt,” I said without opening my eyes.
"You could never be spoiled," Riley said.
"Don't bet on it," Brooks teased.
I opened one eye to glare at him playfully. He just grinned back at me and went on washing.
"Such a brat." I closed my eye.
"It's part of my charm.” He laughed.
"Are you okay?" Josiah crouched between the other guys. I opened my eyes as he offered me a cup of tea.
"Better than I was, thank you," I said. I accepted the cup and took a sip. "The only thing that's missing are peeled grapes."
"Fuck," Connor swore. "We're out of grapes. If I knew we'd need them, I would have ordered some." For a moment I thought he was serious, but then he gave the slightest hint of a smile.
"They're not exactly in season," I said. "I prefer them in liquid form anyway."
"I can get you some ice cream if you want?" Riley asked. "There's some left over from dinner."
"That's sweet of you, but I'm still digesting," I said. "What's the time?"
"About two o'clock in the morning." It was Connor who answered.
"You have to be at work in a few hours," I said. I really had disrupted everything, hadn't I?
"We'll be fine," he said. "You're what's important right now."
"That's sweet of you," I said.
Josiah smirked.
Connor caught the expression on his face and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Put it on the calendar. Connor Ferguson was sweet. First and last time ever."
"You've been sweet before," Riley said. "I bet you anything you'll be sweet again."
"If you keep pointing it out, I'll make it my life's work never to be sweet," Connor said.
We all laughed at that, none of us believing a word of it. Like it or not, he was who he was.
I closed my eyes again and listened to the guys go on about this and, only hearing half of it. I sipped my tea until it was done and Josiah took the cup out of my hand.
"Are you ready to get out of the bath yet?" he asked.
"I probably should, before I start to get wrinkly," I said with some reluctance. It was comfortable in there, but the water has started to cool and I was getting sleepy again. I needed to get back to sleep and so did they.
"We don't mind if you get wrinkles," Riley said. But he kissed the top of my wet head and stood to get a towel to wrap around me after the others helped me out.
"Can you stand okay?" Connor asked, his brow wrinkled adorably with worry.
"I'm fine," I said. "If I'm not, I have four of you to catch me."
"Yes, you do," Riley said, towelling me dry quickly before wrapping the towel around my hair. He barely finished doing that before he was scooping me up in his arms and carrying me back to bed. "You smell amazing. Like lavender and vanilla. Ironic, since you're anything but vanilla."
I stifled a yawn with my fist. "I feel nice and clean and… Relaxed." The ache was a lot duller now, tolerable. Just.
"We should have fucked you gentler," Josiah said with regret.
"It was perfect," I assured him. "If it wasn't, I would have said so."
Okay, riding their laps the way I had was probably not the best idea. At the time, I was enjoying myself. Living in the moment. Now I was paying for it.
Still, I couldn't bring myself to feel too badly about it. If I did, it might stop me from living life, and fucking, the way I wanted to. No, I wasn't going to let this set me back.
"You fucking better," Connor said. "I'm not having you in pain because you're too stubborn to speak up. When you feel better, I'm going to smack your ass as a reminder."
Yes, please.
He narrowed his eyes, but he'd love it as much as I would.
I knew from experience, the next couple of days were going to be uncomfortable, but hopefully I was passed the worst of it. This time. Next time, I might be alone. Sure, Brooks was living here now, but he'd be working a lot of late nights at the pub.
As if he read my mind, Connor said, "You should move in with us. Make sure someone is always around if you need anything."
"What he said," Riley agreed.
Josiah looked as though he was thinking along the same lines, but up at his cottage, rather than here in town.
He might always feel out of place here compared to up there.
Not surprising, given everything that happened in the last twenty years.
I didn't expect him to give up everything for me. That whole conversation was for later.
One way or another, we'd figure things out.
"She wasn't alone," Brooks said, giving them all the side eye. "I would have taken care of her."
"What if you weren't here?" Connor asked. "This needs to happen." At least for tonight, no one else had any more argument against the idea. Including me.
"I'll think about it," I said sleepily as Riley lay me down in the centre of the bed. That was a problem for future me. Something I’d think about in the morning. Or should I say, when the sun was up.
I was vaguely aware of one of them lying to either side of me before I was asleep again.