“You’ll need help,” she said, gently.
“Naw, fuck that, I’ve got it,” I argued.
“Fine. Bath, not shower. I don’t want you to fall,” she countered, and she looked like she wasn’t about to take any shit.
I snorted.
“Bro, I’d listen to the lady,” Sauley said.
I gave him a dirty look. What I wanted to say was shut the fuck up, prospect. I want your advice; I’ll give it to you.
What I didn’t want was Raven to take it wrong. She didn’t know our world and the general hazing that went along with signing onto the club charter. Plus, Sauley wasn’t trying to be a dick, unlike me. He was just genuinely trying to help. He was a good kid.
“What’d you bring me?” I asked.
He sighed and said, “What the doc ordered. Sweats, loose-fitting clothing. Comfortable.” He shrugged. “Sorry it took so long, I had… uh…” he eyed Raven. “Club business,” he muttered finally.
I nodded. It probably wasn’t too deep of club business, but I caught his drift. Business enough that the citizen between us didn’t need to know about it.
“You did good,” I told him.
“I’ll draw you that bath,” Raven said, arching a brow. She went into the bathroom and turned on the tub. I pinched the prospect’s cheek and gave it a tight shake between forefinger and thumb when he helped himself to an eyeful of her ass as she bent over the tub.
“Don’t get cute,” I told him, and he grinned, rubbing out his cheek.
“Sorry, bro. Didn’t realize she was off the menu,” he said quietly, letting the tub drown him out to her ears.
“Not trying to disturb her life any more than I have, that’s all,” I said when she looked back our way.
“I told you before, it’s no trouble,” she said, straightening.
Ha. That’s a straight-up lie.
In the end, I had Sauley leave what he brought and told him to fuck off – as polite as could be, but he got the picture. When Raven shut the front door, I gasped, reaching over the back of my head was a lesson in agony. I got the shirt halfway up my back and over my head, groaning when light hands touched my arms and Raven’s voice insisted, “Stop! You’re only going to hurt yourself and tire yourself out. Let me help you.”
I relented, and let her take my dirty, bloodstained, and torn tee the rest of the way off me. I stopped her hands when she went for my belt.
“Whoa, hey!” She immediately backed off, turning scarlet.
“I’m sorry,” she rushed out. “I didn’t mean—”
“It’s okay,” I said quick to cut her off. “Just took me by surprise is all.”
She wouldn’t look at me and looked like she was close to tears with, if I had to guess, embarrassment.
“It’s okay,” I soothed. Wincing, I raised my arms and asked, “These wraps need to stay on?”
“No, of course not.”
She went for them and gentler than I could have imagined anyone could be, unclipped the Ace bandages and unwound them carefully from around my ribcage. I grunted and winced.
“Didn’t realize how much that was doing for me,” I confessed with a restrained laugh, and she nodded.
“I know, it’s like that,” she said.
“Sounds like you speak from experience,” I said carefully.
“I do,” she confessed, and her sorrow was as palpable as my rage was instantaneous.
“How bad?” I asked carefully.
“Bad enough,” she said. “I’d… I’d rather not say more than that.”
“No, I get it,” I said, and she glanced up at me with steely blue eyes, the outer iris wreathed in an iron gray. Her eyes were stunning. Reminding me of an overcast, storm clouded sky over the churning of Elliot Bay.
“You have really pretty eyes,” I said, her gaze apparently taking out my brain-to-mouth filter.
She quickly looked away and said, “Thank you. Can you get up?”
That was a fuckin’ misery, but I made it.
“You can get your pants,” she said and actually turned around, giving me her back. I chuckled.
“Ain’t ashamed of what I got, you don’t have to do that,” I said.
“It’s okay,” she said, and her posture was stiff.
I got everything undone, but…
“Fuck.” She twitched and I sighed. “I need help getting things off all the way,” I said with a sigh.
She nodded and turned around, keeping her eyes resolutely on my face while she did what needed doing. I don’t know if it was better or worse, her looking at me like that as she took my pants.
Worse, definitely worse, I thought to myself as my cock stirred.
She turned and preceded me into the bathroom and bent to shut off the water. Fuck if that view of her ass didn’t send me from a twitch in my manhood to half-mast and growing taller by the second.
I covered myself with my hands when she glanced behind herself in my direction and I sniffed.
“I thought you weren’t shy…” she said with an almost sly slow-spreading grin.
“It’s not that,” I confessed and wondered if she could see the creeping blush through the bruising.
The smile evaporated and she looked almost timid when she said, “Oh.”
“Sorry. Really, I am, it’s just…” I stopped myself before I could embarrass myself further.
“What?” she asked, straightening.
“You’re my kind of beautiful,” I said, and rushed out, “Shit, that sounded corny, fuck.”
She hugged herself across the middle and bit her bottom lip. She didn’t smile, but she didn’t look displeased, either.
“No, it was nice… thank you,” she murmured and turned sideways so I could get past her.
It was some interesting jockeying to get me into the fuckin’ tub and it was a little too full for the displacement created by my ass. Still, as old and shabby as the fuckin’ thing was, it was clean. She kept her space neat. A real minimalist or whatever.
“You okay?” she asked as I tried to breathe around the pain. The only good thing about it was with as much hurt as I was in? Total boner killer.
“Yeah, yeah I’m good,”
