Chapter 12
CHAPTER
TWELVE
Ghost
Two years later, present day…
I was minding my own business when fate called and said, “Let’s make things interesting.”
That interesting part? The blond kryptonite I’d planned to never see again and a new bullet hole in my right shoulder.
Just consider me flocked in fortune.
It’s no wonder I could have really used a cigarette. Even after two years of not lighting up, I still craved that first soothing, controlled pull on a freshly lit smoke. The way that harsh biting sensation usurped everything for a brief moment, the bitterness masking everything else.
But it was a habit I’d given up, an urge I’d continue to deny.
The catalyst for such sacrifice, someone I planned to never see again, was currently breathing the same air as me. And you know, I had a bone to pick with him.
I blinked up at the ceiling in the dimly lit room, not sure what time it was but realizing it was the middle of the night because the only light came from the half-open bathroom door.
Streaking across the ceiling, the beam diffused fast and offered just enough illumination so I could make out the shapes of my bestie’s bedroom.
Wooo-heee, I’d bet he was two seconds away from a total crash out because I was in his bed. Eye had probably twitched right out of his head by now.
Just between us, Kieran was not just type A. He was type A+ with extra credit. Pretty sure chaos had taken out a restraining order against him a while ago.
But fate called him too. What did he get? A human banana peel of a man that slipped into trouble without even taking a single step.
It was entertaining as hell to watch.
And in a sense, that’s how I’d ended up here. Should have known the tiny terror tornado known as Haz would also upend my world.
Turning my head, I expected to see Pip lying on the mattress beside me, except the blankets were pulled up, the pillow untouched.
The shock of it caused me to jolt upright, pain shooting through my shoulder.
Willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, I glanced around the room for a chair. You know, that he would be keeping vigil in. There was no chair. There was no vigil.
Did I just get shot for nothing, then?
The audacity of Pip to show up in my life again, nearly get himself killed, and then not even sit beside me while I healed from the bullet I’d taken for him…
Yes, I said I never planned to see him again, but this was just rude.
Tossing back the blankets, I got out of bed, ignoring the woozy rush as I stood. Nobody had time for that. Grabbing the stupid IV pole, I started forward, only to nearly trip and die.
“What the—” The swear cut off practically as soon as it began when I saw the pale lump curled up on the floor in the fetal position. We’d spent only one night together, but I would know him anywhere.
My stomach swooped, dipping almost to my toes, while my heart started running like it decided to train for a marathon. And my instincts? Went apeshit because what in the fuck was he doing on the floor like that?
He didn’t even have a blanket. He was using his arm as a pillow. His elbows were bony. Ain’t no way that was comfortable. I didn’t literally jump in front of a bullet aimed at him so he could cripple himself by sleeping on a rug.
But there he was, curled into a protective ball in front of the bed like he was Beverly Hills’ version of a guard dog (a chihuahua, probably hairless).
It was utterly ridiculous.
How dare he look so vulnerable and protective at the same time? I flashed back to a few hours ago when I’d been bleeding around the bullet embedded in my arm but still fighting the guys that had come for Kieran and Haz. This little pip came charging out of the fish store with a pair of tweezers.
Yeah. You heard me right. Tweezers.
It didn’t matter that they were sized for a giant to pluck his eyebrows… They were tweezers. And he proceeded to stab them into the arm of a man twice his size.
If it wasn’t so unhinged, I would have been charmed by his attempt to help me. And now he was on the floor.
“You better hope someone knocked you down there because, if this was a choice, I’m not going to be able to overlook it.”
The sound of my voice jolted him awake, and he rolled to his back, staring up with shock contorting his sleepy features. “Hiro.”
I never once thought of my name like a weapon, but every time he said it, I felt attacked.
“You’re awake.” He went on, scrambling to his feet and nearly pitching to the side in his haste.
I caught him, gently pushing him upright again. “Why are you on the ground?”
“I wanted to be close in case you needed something.”
What I need is for you to stay out of my life. “It’s a king-sized bed,” I pointed out.
His eyes dropped. “The floor is fine.”
“Is it? Then you take the bed, and I’ll use the rug.”
“No!” he burst out, the whites of his eyes bulging in the dark. “You got shot! You need to rest comfortably.”
“Do I?” I countered as he shifted from foot to foot while bobbing his head.
I swept him off his feet and into my arms, bridal style.
His entire body went rigid as if he were trying to hold his own weight. “What are you doing? Put me down!”
I did no such thing. “You said you wanted me to be comfortable.”
“You have stitches and an IV. You can’t just carry me around.”
“Says who?” I countered.
“Me!”
Fuck, I’ve missed him.
It seemed unlikely, after such a brief encounter, but here I was, aching like I’d lost something I never even had.
Frankly, it pissed me off.
What the hell was he even doing here anyway? Shouldn’t he be tanning himself on a beach somewhere?
“I told you to stay out of trouble,” I groused, carrying him around the bed to the untouched side, ripping the covers back, and lowering him onto the sheets. “If I ever catch you sleeping on the floor again, there will be hell to pay.”
“Well, I’m not sleeping with you!” he said, sitting up almost immediately.
An impatient growl ripped out of my chest, and I ignored the twinge of pain to lean in, using my body to force him back and my arms to cage him in.
“You don’t want to sleep? Fine. Lie here awake.
But if you get out of this bed before I say you can, I will drag you back and tie you to the headboard. ”
He scoffed.
Narrowing my eyes, I grabbed his chin, forcing his face up so I could shackle him with my gaze. The pills the doc had given me earlier tilted the room, but I kept my gaze steady. “Do not try me, Pip.”
“Does it hurt?” he asked, eyes looking at me like I was suddenly transparent.
I pulled away. “I’ll survive.” But more importantly, so will you.
“That’s not what I asked.”
I was hit with a strong sense of déjà vu, and I stumbled a bit on my way back around the bed. Stupid IV.
Pip made a sound and scrambled to the foot of the bed where he rose to his knees and reached out. His skin was cold compared to mine, and it infuriated me all over again that he’d been on the floor.
Did he have no sense of self-preservation at all?
“I’ll help you,” he said, slipping an arm around my waist.
“I’m not the one who needs help.”
“I’m still in the bed,” he pointed out, rising to his feet to walk along the edge of the mattress while holding on to me.
I snorted, the action sending another burst of pain through me. Because his arm was around me, I knew he felt my indrawn breath.
“Do you want me to get you some more pain meds? Doc left them.”
“No. I want to sleep the rest of them off.” I didn’t like the feeling of being doped up. I wanted to always be in control.
“Lie down.” He tried to persuade me, which was really just a waste of breath.
After positioning the IV close by, I sank into the bed with a heavy sigh.
Rett pulled the covers up to my waist and rolled toward his side of the bed.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?”
“I won’t leave the bed, okay?”
“I know you won’t, because I’m going to make sure of it,” I said, holding out my left arm and curling my finger toward him.
He hesitated, teeth sinking into his lower lip.
“Come here, Pip.”
He crawled forward, the sheets making a barely audible whisking sound. When he was close enough, I pulled him right up against my side, and his cheek pillowed on my chest. Something inside me unclenched.
“This isn’t cuddling.” I informed him.
“I know.”
He knows? “Who have you been cuddling?” I burst out. Let me find out he’d been lounging around on some guy’s naked chest. I’d become the itch he couldn’t scratch.
“W-what?”
“Don’t ask. Answer.”
He was silent a moment, and I was thinking I really was gonna have to become the Itchy and Scratchy show because some asshole had put his arms where they did not belong.
“I haven’t,” he finally answered.
I glanced down, catching a glimpse of the top of his blond head. Why did I have the urge to pet him? “What was that?”
“I haven’t cuddled with anyone since that night…” His voice quieted. “With you.”
Oh. Well then. I carded my fingers through his hair, feeling satisfaction rumbling like a V-8 engine inside me.
“If you try and get up, I’ll know,” I said, tightening my hold, those stupid pain meds already trying to drag me back under.
He wiggled closer and slid one leg between mine. I tightened around it just so he knew who was boss.
Just before I succumbed, I heard him whisper, “I’m not the one who didn’t stay.”