Page 42 of Fearless
Someone had already thrown Larkan’s arm around their shoulder and dragged him toward me, Noelle right on their heels.
“Sit him down. Noelle, support his head,” I snapped in my bossiest nurse voice.
“Aye-aye,Mariposita,” Jandro winked at me before removing Larkan’s arm from around his shoulders.
Noelle sat next to me on the retaining wall, then Jandro gently lowered Larkan to sit on the ground against her legs. She cradled his head in her lap as she smoothed his hair out of his face.
“Make sure he stays conscious,” I told her, handing her a cold pack. “Press this against any swelling you see.”
“Reaper’s gonna want you on his arm,” Jandro said, his tone almost a warning. “Since he won the fight.”
“Well, he’s gonna have to wait.” I wet a clean gauze pad with rubbing alcohol. “The only reason I’m here is to help those who need it.”
I began wiping at the cut on Larkan’s cheek. He hissed at the sting and tried to squirm away, but Noelle held him still.
“Shh, it’s just Mari, baby. She’s helping.” Her red hair fell over both of their faces for a moment as she bent to kiss his forehead. “You fucking fool. I told you not to show up.”
“He would’ve known,” Larkan groaned. “And then he’d be able to call me a coward.”
“Are you staying with Reaper tonight?” Jandro asked me.
“I guess. I told him I would.” I didn’t bother to hide the annoyance in my tone. He was pulling my focus away from my job. As I dabbed healing ointment onto a cut made by the first man I was sleeping with, while the second hovered over me for attention, I wasn’t too thrilled with either of them in that moment.
“Don’t be mad at Reaper for this,” Jandro went on. “It’s an expectation of him to smack around the new guy. The fact that he’s with Noelle just makes it a more convenient reason.”
“Okay, not really interested in club politics right now. I need to check his ribs.”
Jandro finally seemed to get the hint, but he leaned in and snuck a kiss on my neck before walking away. I sighed the moment his presence left, feeling regret over lashing out at him.
“Fucking men, right?” Noelle grumbled. She held the cold pack tenderly to Larkan’s jaw, all the while stroking his hair with the other hand.
I bit back a smile as I knelt next to her man. She could grumble all she liked. It was plain as day how much she cared about him.
“Can you take a deep breath for me, Lark?” I asked. He followed my instructions as I felt along both sides. “Nothing’s broken,” I reported. “You’re going to be sore as hell for a couple of weeks, so just take it easy. Any pain reliever will do.”
“Think I can manage that.” He gazed straight up at Noelle like she was the only person that existed. “I got my pain relief right here.”
“Oh my God, stop. He obviously didn’t hit you hard enough to quit with the cheesy lines,” Noelle laughed as she leaned over him again.
I gathered up my stuff to give them privacy just as the crowd’s volume went up again. Another fight was about to start.
“Can you see who it is?” Noelle craned her neck.
“No, don’t really care.”
The sound of glass crashing made us both jump and silenced the spectators.
“Big G! Get your ass out here and fight me!” The words slurred and carried a dark animosity I'd never heard before.
“Oh God…”
The crowd thinned just enough for me to see Gunner, swaying drunkenly in the middle of the circle as he searched for his opponent.
Sixteen
MARIPOSA
“That man is toasted.” Noelle astutely noticed.
