SIX MONTHS (A Seven Series Novel)

“Trevor, can you hear me? I’m here, okay? I’m so sorry.” My words came out broken and breathy.

 

“I need you to take a step outside and calm down,” Reno said, taking the rag from my hand.

 

I stared at him wide-eyed. “I’m not going anywhere. What are you going to do?”

 

“Help him. His arm looks broken and I might need to set it. That’s some disturbing shit for you to see, so I want you to wait outside. Right by the door,” he said, making it clear he didn’t want me wandering off.

 

Reno had some kind of command over me and I put on my shoes.

 

“April.”

 

I looked at him from the open doorway and he nodded toward the wall. “Take the umbrella. I don’t want you to get sick.”

 

Sure. A cold was at the forefront of all my problems. Like a zombie, I walked into the misty rain and sat in a lawn chair, holding an umbrella over my head. Raindrops tapped against the fabric and it felt like the life had been sucked out of me. I didn’t have a phone to call the hospital, and Trevor didn’t have insurance. I’d help him pay for it. Somehow.

 

I nodded off, probably because of the residual effects of the drugs still lingering in my body. A loud motor revved up the driveway and I jolted awake, watching a black Dodge Challenger pull up beside Reno’s motorcycle. Austin hopped out, glanced at me, and went inside the trailer.

 

I sprang to my feet and raced to the door, tossing the umbrella aside. As it opened, Reno blocked me from getting in.

 

“Need you to stay outside,” he said.

 

“Then come out here and tell me what’s going on. I’m feeling more lucid now, so don’t lie to me. Is he going to be all right? Why can’t I just sit in the back room? Did you call the police?”

 

The door closed to a crack and Reno said something to Austin. “I don’t know; he won’t do it for me. Do your thing. I need to step outside for a minute.”

 

Reno opened the door and jumped down, mud splashing from beneath his biker boots as he walked me to the chair. I didn’t feel like sitting down anymore. My arms were shaking, my teeth chattered, and the cold air sank deep into my bones. But it wasn’t the temperature making me tremble.

 

It was the fear that Trevor might die.

 

Reno’s brown eyes softened when he figured it out, and he stepped beneath the umbrella and wrapped his arms around me. “Here, I’ll keep you warm.”

 

Minutes passed as Reno held me in the rain. It was better than some meaningless dance because of how intimately close our bodies were, not to mention the emotion of it. The door finally swung open and I whirled around.

 

“Trevor!”

 

He stumbled down the steps, wearing only his jeans and shoes. Trevor’s expression was volcanic and when I ran up to him, he waved me off.

 

“Trev, are you okay? Please talk to me.”

 

He turned around and penetrated me with his gaze. “I thought you fucking left,” he spat out in slow words. “It wasn’t my idea to go to the party; that was all you,” he said, shaking his head.

 

“I didn’t make you go! Are you all right? Your bruises, your cut—”

 

I reached out to touch his head and he flinched, pivoting around and stalking toward his car. “Time for me to find a new place,” he said. “Call ya later, Showers.”

 

He put a negative emphasis on the last word, and it sank into my heart like a sharp blade.

 

Austin knifed by me and spoke to Reno in harsh words. “We’ll talk later about this. I have to get back and do some damage control at the house.”

 

I fell to my knees as Trevor sped off. He blamed me for what had happened, and maybe he had every right. He just didn’t understand. I’d had no idea Sanchez knew where I lived since he’d come to my work and not my home. Had Trevor known what was going on, he would have gone with me to the warehouse. Trevor had a temper and Sanchez carried a deadly knife. I shuddered as the horrific images of Trevor lying unconscious infiltrated my thoughts.

 

“Get up,” Reno said, cupping his hands beneath my arms.

 

When it didn’t work, he simply bent down and lifted me. Reno carried me into the trailer, kicked the door shut, and took me to the bedroom. He set me on the edge of the bed and opened a few cabinets, searching for something. I’d never had another man besides Trevor in my bedroom, and here he was, wiping the mud from my feet with a clean towel.

 

“What do you wear to sleep?” he asked, opening a small set of drawers. It didn’t take him long to find my nightwear. It should have tickled me to see Reno turn five shades of red when he lifted a pair of my pink panties with the white lace trim, but I didn’t feel human anymore.

 

He handed me silk pajamas and I tossed them on the floor. I’d be sweating by morning if I wore those, so I reached around to unzip my dress. “Can you give me some privacy?”

 

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