Chapter Sixty-Three
Tera
The next morning is rough.
Trevor overdid it and is in a lot of pain. I flounder, trying to keep to myself as he grinds his teeth and tries to hide it. I feel helpless the entire time.
Max doesn’t show him any mercy either. It’s like he takes control and Trevor hates it as much as he needs it.
I read up on what to do from the couch as Max and Trevor snarl at each other in the bedroom. I’m starting to freak out and I don’t want to add that to the pressure already building in there.
I do my breathing exercises and study up. Unfortunately the only things I can find is ibuprofen, elevating, and heating pads as relief. That’s the same thing I want to do for my sore nether regions. Last night was amazing but the effects this morning are giving me a little pause.
“Ok, I can do this.” I mutter, trying to shore myself up.
I find a bottle of medicine in the bathroom. Trevor is refusing to take the stronger medication which is part of Max’s problem. I find a heating pad in the bathroom under the sink and steal a pillow off the spare bed. I pile it all together with a glass of water and knock at the door before I leave it all and run into the spare room, slamming the door shut. I wince at the loud sound.
“Tera?” Max calls, sounding worried.
“I’m good!” I call back while I pace. I don’t know what happens after that. I can hear them talking, not yelling anymore. That’s a step in the right direction. I use that time to text Asher, missing his easy morning care already.
It’s a little dumb because I just told both of them I loved them last night and now I’m hiding.
My thumbs hover over the tiny letters on my phone. I want to text Asher that I love him too but I don’t at the same time. It feels like cheating just typing it out and hoping for it to go through. Plus I don’t want him to see it and say no thanks. He’d finally run for his life.
“Ugh,” I drop the phone onto the side table and start pacing again. Everything seems messed up this morning.
A light drumming of fingers comes from the door before Max pokes his head in with a smile.
“Good morning,” he says as if he hasn’t been through an epic battle since five thirty. It’s been an hour of nonstop arguments. It woke me up and I slid out of bed like it was oiled so I could escape without anyone noticing. All my clothes are still in there. I made a toga out of a bed sheet so that I’d have some sort of covering between my skin and harsh words.
“Hi,” I whisper faintly and try to give him a smile.
“He’s asking for you.”
“No,” I shake my head adamantly as my hand goes to my throat.
Max blinks in surprise and steps inside to close the door softly behind him.
“Get out of here,” I protest with wide eyes. “He needs you.”
“He’s being a pussy. He definitely doesn’t need me.”
I gape at his amused attitude.
“Max!”
“Tera,” he mocks me. “I’m used to this. You aren’t. I’m not risking a repeat of last time but he’s in there pouting because you aren’t with him.”
I can’t picture that at all.
“You’re such a liar,” I hiss, trying to keep my voice down.
“If you don’t go in there he’s going to come in here, just saying,” he raises his hands as if he’s done his duty and is leaving it to me.
I scoff. He’s been growling and snapping about everything under the sun. His complaints about the pain makes me think he’s never getting out of bed again.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he sings out as he makes his way to the door with a smile.
“He’s going to yell at me.”
Max’s happy saunter stops in its tracks. His expression when he turns back is so solemn it startles me.
“That motherfucker is going to lie in bed and let you paint his fucking toenails if you want to.”
I gape at the abrupt turnaround, my hand dropping away from my throat in shock. This doesn’t sound like any version of Max I’ve ever known.
“I swear to God if he puts me through that hell again I’ll smother him in his sleep.”
If my eyes get any wider my eyeballs will fall out.
“Let’s go together,” he holds his hand out to me and I’m a little too scared of this version to say no.
He intertwines our fingers and marches to the bedroom, breathing heavily in anger.
“Max?” I ask worriedly. I don’t know what I stepped into this time but I want Asher. Right now.
He pulls me right to the side of the bed while Trevor watches us with a confused frown.
“What the fuck is going on?”
“I brought your sweet nurse in, just like you asked,” Max gives him a smile that’s mostly teeth. “Now you are going to behave so she doesn’t run for her god damn life, understand?”
Trevor’s brows shoot up to his hairline as he stares. I stand like a useless lump without a single thought running through me.
“Tera,” Max’s expression gentles as he turns to me and clasps my shoulders to draw me into a hug. “I love you. Good morning on your first fucking morning in this house of horrors. Please don’t leave me alone with him.”
I sputter, completely at a loss on how to respond.
“You fucking dick, get out of here,” Trevor says in exasperation.
Max leans back to give me a lingering kiss that I’m too tense to really enjoy and then leaves, closing the door quietly behind him.
I stand awkwardly while Trevor stares at the ceiling angrily. Then he lets out a big sigh and glances at me.
“I’m sorry for being a dick,” he mutters.
“I’m sorry you hurt,” is my first response before I frown. “Wait. I don’t know if I should be nice yet.”
He lets out a soft laugh and pats the bed next to him. “Come back to bed babygirl. I took the ibuprofen and put the heating pad on. Let’s try to get some more sleep.”
I go around the other side and crawl on top of the covers to rest on my side awkwardly.
“What are you thinking?” He asks me in a groggy tone.
“Can I use the heating pad when you’re done?”
What is wrong with me?
I sigh in resignation. I have to accept that my mouth does what it wants. I give up.
His head tilts until he can see me. “Are you sore, babygirl? Why didn’t you say something?”
My expression goes flat as I stare back.
His eyes narrow. “I get it, I’m being a pussy.”
“That’s not what I said,” I protest, ready to get out of here right now. I don’t want a fight. I want a dang relaxing morning.
“Hey, hey, I’m teasing,” He props himself up on an elbow to grab my hip and keep me from moving.
“Here,” he reaches back to the nightstand and shakes out two pills and hands me the glass of water. When I’m done taking them he scoots closer, offering me his chest to rest my head on. I settle there warily and he kisses my forehead as his arm curls around me to keep me close.
“We can share the heating pad until I buy another one,” he mumbles, already drifting back to sleep. “Give me five more minutes.”
He can have eternity with it if he doesn’t yell. It’s my last thought before I drift off again.