Page 52 of A Little Crush
I cling my hurt arm to my chest and squeeze my eyes shut.
Yup.
Yup, yup, yup.
This does not feel good. This does not feel good. At. All.
“Squeaks?” Jaxon calls from outside the door. Concern laces his raspy voice.
I squeeze my eyes shut even tighter, caught between shame and pain as I lie on the wet tile, naked as the day I was born. “Yeah?”
“You okay?”
My bottom lip wobbles as I keep my arm to my chest while trying to ignore the way it feels like it’s literally been ripped from its socket. Add in needing to shove a worried Hades from licking the side of my face, and I’m seconds from having a full-blown panic attack. What am I supposed to do? I can’t freaking move! I try to piece together a game plan or something, but the agonizing pain is too much. I can’t think straight, let alone piece together a course of action.
I look down at my naked body and zero in on where the pain is sharpest. My shoulder. “Ouch, ouch, ouch,” I whimper.
“Rory?” Jaxon calls. He sounds even more anxious than before. “Answer me. I heard a crash. Are you okay?”
Tears well in my eyes, and I shove Hades’ muzzle from my face again. “I mean, I’ve been better.”
“What happened? Can I come in?”
I reach for one of the towels as a pathetic laugh slips out of me, but it turns into a whimper when another sharp pain shoots up my collarbone. Okay, no towel. I didn’t need it anyway. It’s fine. I’m fine. Everything’s fine. Shit this hurts.
“Squeaks, I’m coming in?—”
“I’m naked.” I let out a slow breath, trying to rein in the excruciating pain. “I’m naked, and I’m pretty sure I broke my arm or my shoulder or my collarbone or…something.” A tear slides down my cheek. “It hurts really bad, Jax.”
“I won’t look,” he promises.
Another pathetic laugh escapes me as I remember our conversation at the bar. How I could be laid out naked in front of him and he still wouldn’t look. The reminder makes my heart pang and my head roll forward in defeat. “Of course, you won’t.”
“What was that?” Jaxon calls.
I bite my tongue to keep from repeating myself, well aware my emotions are all over the place, and there’s no need to add fuel to the fire.
Praying he didn’t hear me, I choke out, “Okay.”Breathe.“You can…you can come in.”
19
JAXON
The hinges squeak as I push the bathroom door open, unsure what’s waiting for me on the other side. As soon as I see her, my cock swells in my joggers. Wet skin. Crossed legs. Her breasts pushed up as she holds one arm in front of her. The sight hits like a wrecking ball. I know I said I wouldn’t look, and I hadn’t planned to, but…fuck. I tilt my head up at the ceiling, willing my erection to calm the hell down for more reasons than one. This is not the time. Not that there would ever be a time with Rory Buchanan when my hard cock is needed, but when she’s in pain and sprawled on the tile floor? What the fuck is wrong with me?
Blindly, I reach for a folded towel I know is tucked beneath the sink. Terry cloth in hand, I sweep it over her bare body.
Keeping my eyes glued on the textured ceiling, I ask, “You covered?”
“Y-yes.”
Satisfied, I take her in again, but the added towel does shit to erase what I now know is underneath.
Still as gorgeous as ever.
Not. The. Time.
“Put Hades in my room,” Rory begs. “He’s worried about me and won’t stop licking my face.”
