Page 102 of Stick It
I collapse against him, heaving and exhausted. His arms casually wrap around me, fingers drawing light circles on my damp skin. The pull of bruised muscles that I’d managed to block out comes racing back with a vengeance, and I groan as I drag myself upright.
“You okay?” Jax asks, pushing hair back from my face and looking me over with concern.
“Worth it.” I give him a crooked smile.
Shaking his head, he chastises, “I didn’t invite you in here to get into your pants. This was supposed to be relaxing.”
“I dunno about you,” I say, sliding off him and curling into his side. “But I’m feeling pretty damn relaxed.”
With a sigh, he gives up, draping his arm around me and pulling me in against him while we catch our breaths. In no hurry to leave, we curl up in the warm water. Every so often, hislips brush my hairline, and I relax into him with a soft smile on my lips, thinking it’s been a long time since I’ve felt this content.
“Oh shit,” Jax curses when we finally make it back to the locker room. He shows me his phone screen, or more specifically, the thirteen missed calls from Ethan.
“Someone’s in trouble,” I tease, grabbing my own phone from where I left it. I cringe when I see I have a similar number of missed calls.
Glancing over my shoulder, Jax scoffs, “At least I won’t be alone in the doghouse.” He presses a quick kiss to my shoulder before dialing Ethan.
“Hey, man.” He doesn’t get a chance to say anything more before I hear Ethan’s voice on the other end, most likely chewing Jax out for not answering his phone. “Yeah, yeah, she’s fine. She was…we were working on some easy stretches.”
Glancing at him over my shoulder, I arch a brow, and he smirks in return.
“It was on silent. As soon as I realized, I called you back.” He rolls his eyes before turning away. “Ethan, man. She’s fine. I wouldn’t let anything happen to her.”
I grimace. Ethan has become a tad overbearing, checking in constantly. He was probably on the verge of an aneurysm before Jax called him back.
Leaving him to his telling off, I grab my clothes and duck into the shower to rinse off. When I return, Jax is off the phone and has a towel wrapped around his waist.
“Get your ass chewed out?”
He grins, stepping forward and kissing my lips before parroting my words from earlier. “Worth it.”
30
ETHAN
I wake with a start.The hard wood of the doorframe digs into my spine, the stiffness in my neck a sharp reminder that I haven’t slept in a bed for too many nights in a row. But how could I sleep peacefully knowing I’ve left Dylan unprotected?
I groan as I roll my shoulders, stretching out the aches and pains that are becoming a familiar part of my morning routine. I’m scrubbing a hand over my face when the door creaks open. Dylan steps out, her eyes widening when she sees me slumped there.
“Ethan?” She glances around in search of some explanation. “Uh, what are you doing out here?”
I shift, getting to my feet and wiping the last remnants of sleep from my eyes. “I was waiting for Kyle to get home last night,” I mutter by way of explanation. She doesn’t need to know that I’ve slept outside her door like a puppy begging for scraps since the night of her attack, even when I know Kyle is tucked up in his own bed down the hall. “Must’ve dozed off.”
Crossing her arms, she scowls at me in displeasure. “You shouldn’t be sleeping out here. You’ve got a game on Friday; you need your rest.”
“It was one night, Thorn. Won’t kill me.” I look away, swiping a hand through my mussed-up hair so she won’t see the lie on my face.
Her lips flatten, and she holds my gaze for a moment. It affords me the opportunity to analyze the bruising on her face. While it’s healing, it still looks painful, and it’s an effort not to wince. I wish I could take away her pain, the reminder she must experience every time she looks in the mirror.
Before I can do something stupid like apologize—again—something that only serves to rile her up every time I do, she shakes her head before moving past me and heading down the stairs. Breathing out a sigh, I head into the bathroom to shower off the stiff ache in my muscles before getting dressed for the day.
Guilt gnaws on my bones the entire time. It’s become a constant companion, a shadow that follows me everywhere. I should have seen it coming. I should have known what Reed, Fletcher, and Monroe were doing wasn’t just regular locker room shit.
I should have stopped it before it got this far.
Making my way downstairs, I hear voices in the kitchen. Dylan’s and?—
Shit.
