“Looking good, Kas,” Biff says, taking in my face full of makeup.
“I got dragged out of the flat before I had a chance this morning.”
“Men,” she says with a roll of her eyes. “Seriously though,” she says, her smile faltering. “How’s it going after…” She trails off. I assume she means since I admitted to fucking Spike.
“Oh it’s… going,” I say with a sigh.
“Zach said you refused to let him look after you last night, that you only wanted Spike.” The slight wince as she said it tells me all I need to know about how Zach feels about that.
“I wasn’t in any kind of frame of mind to make sensible decisions.”
“Kas,” she warns. “They might buy your hard-arse bullshit, but I don’t.”
As I stare at her I feel some of my walls start to crumble. I like Biff, I have since that first day I walked in for my first appointment with Zach. I know I can trust her. She didn’t go running back to Zach with details about me and Spike, despite the fact that I know it’s killing her, but I really don’t want to put any more of this on her shoulders.
“Spike just…” I blow out a breath. “He makes me feel safe in a way I’ve never experienced before. I know it’s fucked-up, but it is what it is.” I shrug. My movement pulls at the bandage I redid after my shower this morning, and I drop my hand to it.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, just a scratch from last night.”
“Let me see.” I lift my shirt, intending on showing her that it’s wrapped and nothing to worry about, but the second her eyes widen, I know I made a mistake.
“Fuck, Kas. Let me look.” She drops to her knees and, much gentler than Spike last night, pulls the tape from my skin. “This needs stitches. I’m taking you to the hospital.”
“No, it’ll be fine. It’s just where it is. I keep moving and opening it back up.”
“Exactly. It needs stitches. We’re going now, or I’ll get Zach involved,” she warns.
“Ugh, fine. But it better be quick, I don’t want to skip out on my first day.”
“The boss won’t care. Come on.” She takes my hand and drags me out of there like a woman on a mission. She sticks her head into Spike’s room and tells him what we’re doing before doing the same with Zach, and before I know it we’re on the pavement and climbing into an Uber.
22
Spike
I should have been relieved that Biff was taking control and dragging Kas to the hospital to get that wound stitched up, but I wasn’t. From the second the words fell from her lips, I was pissed off. I wanted to be the one to be looking after her.
I finished up my sketch for my afternoon client, although my head wasn’t really in it. I was too worried about what Biff and Kas were going to say as an excuse for her having a random knife wound on her hip. It’s not exactly an everyday kind of accident.
I get through two clients and three cups of coffee that I’ve got to make myself, seeing as the guys are also fully booked, before I hear the familiar sound of their voices out in reception.
Putting my pen down, I make my way out.
“Is everything okay?” I ask, looking between the two of them as they laugh together.
Seeing her genuine smile makes my chest constrict, but my joy doesn’t override my concern.
“Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?” Kas asks, her voice turning cooler the moment she shifts her attention onto me.
“No reason. I was just worried about what you’d say—”
“Oh, no need to worry about that. We got lucky,” Biff says, winking at Kas.
“Lucky? Lucky how?”
“The nurse that stitched her up was a hottie. I think he’d have done just about anything she asked of him without batting an eyelid.” As Biff smiles knowingly at me, jealousy and anger begin to swirl within me.
“He even gave me his number. Can you believe that?”
“Uh…” I start but soon find I have no other words. The thought of some guy having his hands on her is bad enough, but hitting on her? Oh, fuck no.
“Let’s go.” Wrapping my hand around her wrist, I pull her down toward my room.
“Watch out, we’ve woken the caveman,” Biff calls from behind us, making Kas snort.
The second we’re in my room, I back her up against the wall, pinning her hands above her head and staring down into her amused blue eyes.
“I hope you weren’t planning on calling him.”
“What if I already have?” My teeth grind at her words.
“Then you need to call him back and cancel.”
“And why would I want to do that?” She tilts her head to the side, trying to look all innocent.
“You know why.”
“Nope. Don’t think I do. As far as I’m aware, I’m single and can hook up with hot nurses any day of the week.”
A growl rumbles up my throat.
“Are you doing this on purpose?”
“What?”
I suck in a calming breath, forcing myself to reign it in and stay cool despite the fact that she drives me fucking crazy.
Dropping my lips to her ear, I try to stop myself from saying the words that are on the tip of my tongue, but I know it’s futile.
“You’re not going out with him.”
“Give me one good reason why not, and I’ll think about it.”
I pull back so I can look into her eyes. They’re already significantly darker than they were only moments ago, proving to me that she’s as affected by our closeness as I am.
Tension crackles between us as she waits for my answer. Her eyes bounce between mine for a beat before dropping to my lips. It’s then that I know I’ve lost any kind of restraint I should have when it comes to her.
I take her mouth, forcing my tongue past her lips in search of hers. My body
