Chapter 10 #2
“Oh my god.” Willa bursts through the crowd of dancers and into our little circle with a look of pure disgust on her face.
She gags, sticking out her tongue as if she’s eaten rancid fruit.
“Does anyone have something I can drink? Tested the waters with a guy I met at intramural softball and he is so not MMM material. Oh, hey, Nox!” She points at him. “Forget everything you just heard.”
“I couldn’t remember if I tried.”
“Excellent.”
“You ready to head out?” Nova asks. “There’s a pint of Ben & Jerry’s in my minifridge with our names on it.”
“Perfection.” Willa sighs. They turn to me.
“Yes, please. Get me the hell out of here before Danny comes back.”
I don’t think there’s any risk of that happening, but as I say it, I meet Nox’s gaze, letting my expression soften with the thank you I’m not prepared to say. It’s the only concession I’ll give him. Having Nova and Willa so close makes me feel brave enough to lower my guard just a little.
“You want to walk with us?” Nova looks to Nox before she laughs and shakes her head, as if just realizing something. “What are you even doing here anyway? It’s way past your bedtime, old man.”
“First, I’m two minutes older.” He rolls his eyes. “And second, I needed to get Logan off my back.”
“Say no more.” She hooks her arm through his. “If he asks, just tell him I got freaked out and needed my big brother to protect me.”
He huffs out a breath, but lifts his arm around her shoulders and pulls her against him anyway.
An annoyingly affectionate warmth sparks to life in the center of my chest. I push it down as Willa and I follow them through the throng.
When we make it outside, Nox’s hug turns into a noogie.
Nova shoves him away and links back up with me and Willa.
Logan scrambles to join us. A few minutes later we run into Grant outside the football house and he comes too.
I’m not entirely sure how it happens, but Nova starts singing “We’re Off to See the Wizard” and the three of us start skipping along the sidewalks just like in the movie.
There’s the height difference with Willa, who’s in the middle.
Then there’s the fact that Nova’s wearing three-inch heels.
Plus let’s not forget that two-thirds of our trio have spent the past few hours drinking.
Someone slips, and all I know is it wasn’t sober, sneaker-wearing me.
But seeing as we’re all linked at the elbows, I go down just as hard.
One moment, we’re in a musical. The next, we’re a heap of limbs and scrapes piled over stone.
“Ow! Ow! Ow!” Willa grabs her ankle.
Grant’s there in a heartbeat, gingerly pushing against her skin with his fingertips, studying her face for any sign of pain. She hisses sharply as he hits one spot. He pulls back. “I don’t think it’s broken, just twisted.”
“How do you know?”
“I don’t.” He shrugs. “But I grew up attending just about every survival camp you can imagine, and my dad taught me some basic combat first aid.”
“Good enough for me.” She attempts to stand, but groans the second her toes touch the ground. “Crap! I don’t think—”
“Hop up.” Grant turns around, presenting his back.
Willa eagerly clambers on. “You’re a godsend, Grant Mercer.”
A soft smile curves his lips, but he shakes his head as he stands, easily bringing her with him.
Nova looks expectantly at Logan, who is still doubled over with laughter. “Ahem.”
“I wish I had that recorded,” Logan says through wheezes. “You guys just ate it so hard. That was a thing of beauty. Seriously, made my night. I can’t believe I almost didn’t walk home with you.”
“Ahem!” She tries again, louder.
He pauses to glance over at her. “What? Did you twist your ankle, too?”
“No.” She rolls her eyes and lifts up her shoe. The heel is dangling by a thread. I’m pretty sure I’ve figured out the culprit of our demise. “But I do need a ride.”
“I’m not a taxi service.”
Ire flashes in her eyes, there then gone, replaced by a wicked sheen. She shrugs, her expression just on the wrong side of innocent. “Fine. Never mind. If you don’t think you’re strong enough to carry me, you could’ve just said that.”
He offers her a frank stare. “I could carry you if I wanted to.”
“I don’t know.” She wrinkles her nose. “I’m not so sure. It doesn’t matter anyway. Nox can help—”
“I know what you’re doing,” Logan interrupts, pointing his finger at her accusingly.
She grins. “Is it working?”
“No.”
“Okay.” She shrugs and extends a hand toward her brother. “Nox, will you—”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” Logan laughs and steps in front of Nox to take Nova’s hand before tugging her to her feet. He drops to his knees.
“I love it when you kneel for me,” Nova purrs.
Logan snorts and grabs her behind the knees as she climbs on. “You owe me a pack of sour straws for this, and don’t even try to tell me you don’t have any.”
She sighs but hugs him across the chest, dropping her chin to his shoulder. “Deal.”
They all glance at me and Nox expectantly.
“I’m fine,” I try to say as heat floods my cheeks. Five pairs of eyes drop to the cut on my knee. “It’s just a scratch.”
The blood pooling around the wound chooses that exact moment to drip down the side of my leg in a gory display.
Nox rips off his shirt and drops to one knee beside me, a scowl across his face as he ties the softest gray cotton I’ve ever felt around the gash.
A guilty feeling swirls deep in my belly.
“You don’t—”
He jerks the knot tight and presents me with his back. “Just get on.”
“You really don’t—”
“Get on my fucking back, Clara.”
My heart leaps into my throat and I swallow down my next protest. We don’t speak as I turn myself over and stare at the wide expanse of muscles on display before me.
Is there a way to get a piggyback ride from someone without touching them?
Because I’d really like to know. What do I do with my hands?
Every inch of his skin feels as though it’s wired with explosives. One wrong touch and I’ll combust.
They’re all staring.
All waiting.
I gulp and force my arms around his shoulders, ignoring the prickles breaking out along every point of contact I make with his skin.
If Nox has any reservations, he doesn’t show them.
The second I clasp my fingers in front of his sternum, he hooks his incredibly large hands under my thighs and stands.
I almost fall backward. With a yelp, I cling to him.
Any semblance of personal space flies out the window, replaced by survival instincts as he extends to his full height—and let me tell you, the boy is tall.
Is the air thinner up here? It feels thinner, as if I can’t quite breathe.
Of course, that may be due to the fact that I’m squeezing him so tightly my breasts are practically drilled into his back. Nox starts to cough.
“Is she trying to strangle him?” Logan murmurs.
“I think she’s just scared,” Nova whispers back, the two of them speaking like scientists on a safari studying wildlife.
“Clara,” Nox rasps.
“Oh god.”
I unclench my fingers, realizing they’re digging into his throat.
Without thinking, I press my open palms to his chest instead, forgetting his shirt is currently wrapped around my knee.
His muscles flex under my skin. Oh god, I internally groan again.
This is going to be the longest five-minute walk of my entire life.
A feeling which only ratchets as Nox adjusts my weight and ends up sliding his hands five inches closer to my very exposed ass in this fucking skirt that I’m going to murder Nova for making me wear.
His splayed fingers are so large they wrap across the entire underside of my thigh.
Goose bumps erupt across my skin—from the cold air, obviously.
When I sneak a peek at Logan and Grant, I can’t help but notice their hands are platonically hooked under my friends’ knees, not so close to their underwear, it’s impossible to stop a dirty thought or two from creeping in. I’m only human.
“Sorry,” I whisper, suddenly hoarse. “You’re just really tall. I’m not used to the view from all the way up here.”
That’s my story and I’m sticking with it.
Nox snorts.
“On Dasher!” Nova teasingly calls out. “On Dancer! On Prancer! On—”
Logan takes off at a run and Nova’s words disappear into a squeal.
Nox shakes his head with a laugh and starts walking after them, Grant and Willa by our sides. “She never learns.”
“Learns what?” I ask.
“Don’t poke the bear.” For some reason, that statement feels personally directed toward me, too.
“Have they ever hooked up?” Willa asks.
“Fuck, I hope not.”
“It feels inevitable,” she continues.
He sighs. “I know.”
“And you have a problem with that because…?”