Page 10 of Ravage
Her dry lips part before she croaks out, “Everything was good; I don’t know what happened, Kole. One minute I was sleeping, and the next I felt like I was dying. Everything hurts.” She looks up at me with tearful eyes, her lips trembling as she speaks. She truly looks pitiful in her destroyed state.
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you. Everything will be okay.” I give her a gentle kiss on the forehead, brushing her clammy cheeks with my thumbs. “Let’s get you cleaned up now, yeah?” A soft smile mars my face to assure her that everything will be okay, but inside I know exactly how this is going to end, and only one of us will come out victorious.
Once again I’m feeling like complete dog shit and have no idea how it happened. My suspicion is that Kole is behind this once again, but then again, I’m not too sure. He’s been oddly sweet the last few hours, and a man who willingly holds your hair back while you puke has to be a good guy after all, right? We’ve been laid out in the bathroom for hours since I have had zero energy to move and insisted that the cold tile floor felt amazing against my skin. My head has been lying in Kole’s lap while one hand holds a cold washcloth to myforehead and the other one runs through my hair. The quietness in the room is starting to feel awkward the longer we sit here, and the butterflies in my stomach have been swarming with each touch of his fingers.
“Want to play a game?” My voice comes out scratchy and raw in the silent room.
“Depends, what kind of game?” His words vibrate through his body as he speaks, and his fingers stop their travels through my hair.
“Twenty questions. Might as well get to know each other a little better. I mean, you know what color my puke is and I don’t even know what your middle name is.” My chuckle comes out dry and scratchy, the humor that laces it lacking luster with my lack of energy.
Kole thinks a moment before he shrugs his shoulders and finally answers, “Fine, you go first.” The questions I want to ask him are endless, but I settle with a simple one to start out.
“What’s your middle name?” I say with a smile on my face.
“Owen.” His answer throws me off guard because I was expecting something far different for the type of man that he is. “Where did you live before you took up my offer to stay here?” I balk at his question while I try to think of how to answer that.
“Looks like we are pulling out the big guns right out of the gate then.” My words are mumbled under my breath. “Nowhere important.” I chose the simplest answer, as I’m not ready to open this can of worms.
“Did you live with your parents?”
“My parents died a month ago.”
“So, you were living in their home by yourself?”
“Not exactly.”
“What do you mean? Elaborate.”
“It’s really not important, okay? Not sure why it matters now.” I push off his lap to lean against the bathtub across from him.
“It’s important to me.”
“Good grief. I lived in my car, okay? What did you do before you became a nurse?”
“I worked in a nursing home in the maintenance section. What’s your favorite flower?”
“Peruvian lilies. How was your childhood? Are your parents still alive?”
He studies me with visible gears moving in his head.
“They’re dead to me, and that’s all that matters. How did your parents die?”
“Car crash. Why are your parents dead to you?” His gaze zones out as if he’s reliving some kind of flashback.
“We should really get you up off of this floor right now and into bed.” He pushes to his feet before offering me his hand, pulling me to my own feet. I sway as all the blood rushes to my head, a wave of nausea hitting me hard. His hands wrap around my biceps to keep me from falling over. Kole directs me back into the bedroom and ushers me into my bed. He turns to leave without another thought, but I stop him with a hand on his arm, tugging him to a stop.
“Wait. Stay with me, please?” His brows furrow at my words, and I don’t blame him because just a few hours ago I hated his guts.
“I thought you didn’t like me?” Insecure words echo around the room while he shuffles back and forth on his feet, making him almost seem human with his nervousness.
“I didn’t.” He shakes his head and starts to pull away before I continue on, “But you might be changing my mind. Stay with me, please?” I ask again, giving him my best puppy dog face along with it.
“Put that fucking lip away.” He says with a chuckle before pushing the blankets back and sliding into bed next to me. “What do you like to do in your spare time? I feel like you don’t leave your room much.” His question is quiet in the darkness of the bedroom.
“I pick up a lot of shifts at the coffee shop so I can afford to live. My parents really fucked me when they died, but anyways, I like to read or go hiking.” I give him a shrug, because I’ve truly not done anything else but work, eat, and sleep since my parents passed.
“I can definitely relate to shitty parents.” He chuckles at his statement, “Maybe we can go on a hike when you get to feeling better?” Kole brushes his fingers through my hair, and I lean over and lay my head against his chest, inhaling his warm amber scent. His heartbeat is steady beneath my head, which is the complete opposite of my erratic one. I haven’t lain with a man like this in years. Kole’s arm wraps around my upper back, pulling me closer into his side. I know I should hate Kole, but for the life of me I can’t remember why I should. His tenderness is something I’ve always wanted and needed. Someone to just lay around in bed and talk to for hours, but I'm leery of when the other shoe is about to drop. I turn my face up towards his, his lips only centimeters from my own. My brain and heart war within me, one making much more sense than the other one. But then Cassie's voice appears in my head, telling me to live a little. “Your eyes look like molten chocolate, and I would have no qualms about drowning inside of them.” His words are just a whisper, crawling against my skin with each breath he takes.
