Chapter 10
Grease
She was taking a long-ass time in the shower.
I went through her shit, finding all sorts of sexy underwear that I hadn’t expected, and finally picked the least appealing ones for her to wear. She was a mess, and I didn’t want to be thinking about how badly I wanted to see her wearing a lacy pink pair of boyshorts with little half-moons of her ass hanging out the bottom—but I was twenty years old; most of the time I was thinking with my dick. I grabbed a bra, hoodie, and some jeans and set them on the bathroom counter, thinking I should probably say something, but I didn’t. I didn’t want to scare her any more than she already was by letting her know I was in the bathroom while she was showering.
F*ck, but I had no idea what I was going to do with her. I couldn’t be her bodyguard, I didn’t f*cking live anywhere near her—but I couldn’t just leave her, either. It was my shit—Aces shit—that got her into this mess and I had to find a way to get her out of it. I found a messenger bag full of school shit, reminding me how young she was, and dumped it onto her bed. Ignoring the pencils and assorted mess, I started stuffing a couple changes of clothes into the bag. I had no idea what she’d need, but she wasn’t going to be able to come back, so I figured anything would help.
Dragon and Tommy were standing by the door talking quietly, but I ignored them as I looked around her room, trying to decide if she’d need anything else. As I grabbed the charger for her phone and her iPod off the nightstand, Dragon finally raised his voice.
“Grease, man, what’s your plan? We’re f*ckin’ sittin’ ducks here.”
“Not sure. Gonna take her to her grandmother’s and figure it out from there. Just need to get her outta this f*ckin’ house first,” I answered him distractedly.
“This ain’t our problem, man. We can just f*ckin’ drop her off—”
I cut him off, turning my head in his direction as anger made my muscles tighten. “It is my f*ckin’ problem. You’re too p-ssy to have my back, then f*ckin’ kick bricks.”
He stared at me for a moment then nodded once, “Always have your back, brother.”
Tommy usually kept to himself, never getting in the middle of arguments and steering clear of drama, but for once he spoke up, ending the stare down between us. “Brother, she’s been in there a long-ass time. Need to get outta here—you better go check on her,” he advised, being the sound of reason for the first time since I’d known him.
I’d been trying to give her some time to herself, but obviously I’d waited too long, because when I opened the door and called her name she didn’t answer me. I turned and tossed the bag in my hand to Dragon and went in the bathroom, leaving the door cracked a bit as I made my way to the shower. I said her name a few times but she never answered me or made a sound, and I could feel my heart starting to beat a little harder as I got to the shower and drew open the curtain.
She was on the floor of the shower, her knees raised to her chin, giving me a glimpse of her ass and hair between her legs that I quickly averted my eyes from. Her hair was a scraggly mess around her shoulders, only half wet, and as I pulled the curtain wider to shut off the cold water pouring down on her, she raised her head to look at me.
The look on her face was like nothing I’d ever seen before.
I knew a lot of men who could keep their emotions in check. Their faces showed no indication of what they were thinking or feeling; it was impossible to read them. Shit, I was one of those men, but this was different.
Her face reminded me of that—no emotion, completely clear. But her pretty face wasn’t just completely free of emotion; it was like a blank slate.
It was … nothing, like she was completely oblivious to the world around her.
I turned the water off and crouched in front of her, waiting to see if she’d acknowledge me, but she just sat there not moving—not even shivering. Grabbing a towel off the rack, I pulled her up, swallowing hard as she stood up completely unconcerned with her nakedness. F*ck, she was built like a goddamn pinup and I was having a hard time keeping my eyes off her tits as I wrapped the towel around her.
I wasn’t turned on, I’m not that much of a dick, but she was beautiful and naked and I’m a man. It was inevitable that I’d take a good look.
I took her out of the shower and dried her off while she stood there quietly, but thankfully she moved her arms and legs to help me get her dressed. Taking a bra off was something I’d mastered at sixteen, but getting one on was a hell of a lot harder. I felt like I was squeezing the circulation out of her tits as I wrapped it around her chest, but she didn’t make one noise in complaint, so I soldiered on and finally got her shit together.
It only took about ten minutes from beginning to end, but by the time I was finished I could feel sweat soaking the armpits of my t-shirt. Jesus Christ. I was not cut out to be nursemaid to some comatose girl—but I couldn’t stop myself. I needed to take care of her.
She was mine—and goddamn if I could change that.
I needed to get my f*cking head checked.
Dragon called through the opening of the door, and my chest expanded as if I could block Callie from view if I could just make myself big enough. I didn’t want that f*cker to see her like this, even if she was dressed. It was the most raw I’d ever seen a person, and I was sure as shit going to protect that. Even from a brother.
“Grease, we gotta go. Been here for half an hour already—you’re f*ckin’ pushin’ it,” he grumbled.
Callie gave a start when Dragon spoke, and when my gaze snapped to hers, she was back. She didn’t say anything, but she was finally seeing me.
“Gimme a second, man,” I called back to him, never looking away from her face. “Gotta put up her hair and we’ll be out. Close the f*ckin’ door.”
The door slammed shut and Callie flinched, so I leaned down and kissed between her eyebrows. I wasn’t sure how to comfort someone—it’d been a long time since my mom died—but I knew that whatever I was doing helped, because as soon as my lips met her head she sagged into me.
I grabbed a brush and ran it through her snarled hair, but I didn’t have time to get the tangles out, so I just pulled it back into a ponytail as it was. It looked like shit, but it’d keep it out of her face on the bike and that was all that mattered. I moved to walk toward the door, but she wrapped her arms around me like she was afraid to let me go, so instead, I grabbed the back of her thighs and lifted her up. F*ck, I was going to be carrying her to the john when I had to take a piss.
I nodded at the boys and headed to the hallway when she whispered in my ear that she needed something from her mom’s room. It was the first time she’d really spoken to me since I’d gotten there, so I wasn’t about to remind her we needed to get the hell out of dodge. I probably would’ve strapped a f*cking futon to the back of my bike if that’s what she’d asked for.
When we got to her parents’ room, she stopped breathing, and I had to rub my hand up and down her back for a few moments before she dropped her legs and started toward the dresser. Sitting on top was a generic jewelry box, and when she reached it, she almost knocked it to the floor because her hands were shaking so badly. She reached in and grabbed something I couldn’t see before racing back to me. She was jumpy as shit—not that I could blame her. She gave me whatever she was holding and turned around so her back was facing me. It took a minute for me to figure out what the hell she was doing.
She’d dropped a thin gold chain with two pendants on it into my hand. One was a St. Christopher medal, and the other a tiny gold cross. She stood there quietly as I wrapped it around her neck and fumbled with the tiny-ass clasp. That shit was not made for my bear paw hands, but I eventually got it on her.
She spun around as soon as I was finished and climbed back up into my arms—was she f*cking joking? But f*ck if I cared. I couldn’t lie and say that I didn’t want her there. She was a tiny little thing, and the way she molded to my body with her face in my neck was not anything I’d ever get tired of.
We made our way through the house, passing the bloodstains in the upstairs hallway and the entryway as I held her face against my neck, ensuring she wouldn’t look. She wasn’t moving, just quietly breathing into my throat, but I didn’t want to take any chances that she’d see the f*cking huge puddles of blood that covered the floor. I didn’t want her to go blank again.
When we got to my bike, I tried to figure out a way to make her get down, but I shouldn’t have worried. The minute I told her I was taking her to see her Gram, she completely let go of me, the weight shift almost making me drop her before I could set her on her feet. I was in the process of changing out my smelly t-shirt for a clean one in my saddlebags when she spoke up.
“She’s not dead?” she asked, looking at me like I’d just invented the f*cking moon.
I reached up and put my hands on both sides of her face. I knew it was f*cked up, but I loved the way she was looking at me. Like I’d give her anything. I was sure I was going to hell, and the whole situation was total shit, but I was soaking up the fact that she needed me. Shit, no one had ever needed me like she did right then—and I knew it wouldn’t last long, but for just a few more minutes she was completely mine. I put my face close and ran my nose up the side of hers, wanting to kiss her but knowing it sure as f*ck wasn’t the right time.
“No, baby. She’s waiting for you.”