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“Don’t tell me what to do!” Brandon growled.
“Raven!” I cried out, forcing myself to sit up against the tile wall. Raven snapped his attention to me. “Get Brandon off of Blake. Stop this.”
Raven lunged at Brandon, grabbing his arms and pulling Brandon back with him toward the door.
Brandon resisted at first, but he couldn’t hold on to Blake and push back against Raven. He eventually let go of Blake.
Blake slid down and backed off to the opposite door, staying in the door frame. He looked at me. “You okay?”
Brandon made another lunge at Blake, but Raven held onto his shoulders this time, and Brandon couldn’t move beyond a short step. “Don’t talk to her!”
“Just go, Blake,” I said, waving him off. I had to admire his guts. Brandon was about to murder him and he was making sure I wasn’t really dying before leaving.
He nodded shortly, and without looking at the others, walked through the adjoining bedroom and was gone.
The nausea was bad now, but at least I wasn’t puking. I swallowed and rested my head against the tile. This was the worst disaster ever.
Brandon fell to his knees next to me, looking over my body. “What did he do to you?”
“Nothing!” I cried, and then felt another wave washing over me. The cramping was gone, but it had left a really dull soreness in my gut. I just needed to get over the desire to puke. “I was seasick or something.”
“So you’re half naked on the floor and he’s all over you? How’d he get in here anyway?”
“God, Brandon!” I said, picking up the washcloth and throwing it at him. “You’re such an ass.”
The washcloth landed on his chest, on the same red shirt he’d been wearing the night before. He grabbed it and pulled it from his body. “What did I do?”
“Why did you tell him to stay away from me?” I asked. “You forgot to mention that part.”
“He’s dangerous, Kayli,” he said, his voice growing stronger. “He shouldn’t even be here.”
“No,” I said, pointing at his face. “He’s the one who was here first. When you and the others wouldn’t talk to Ethan about his issues, guess who was available and willing?”
Brandon growled. “You didn’t tell us that.”
“I had a feeling after I learned that you all were blocking my phone calls that...” I groaned, swallowed and stopped talking altogether. The yelling and tension was making it worse.
Raven came forward again and tugged Brandon’s shoulder. “Get away from her,” he said in a low voice.
Brandon’s face contorted and he slapped at Raven’s arm. “I’m not hurting her. I want to know what’s going on.”
“Not while she’s dying.”
“She’s not dying!” Brandon barked at him. “She’s just seasick.”
“I’m not arguing with you right now,” I said, glaring at the toilet. I fought back angry tears. The tension, being sick, and embarrassed beyond belief, was finally getting to me. “Raven, can you get him out of the bathroom?”
“You’re sick,” he said.
“I’m fine,” I said. “I’ve taken some medicine. Just get him out of here. I need a few minutes for it to work. And don’t talk to Axel. I was going to tell him this morning myself.”
“You should have done it before,” Brandon said.
I glared at Brandon. “I will talk to him, and if you dare go to him right now while I’m down and unable to say anything, I swear to god I’ll never talk to you again. Go talk to Corey. I told him when he boarded what was going on.”
“You mean he knew? Why didn’t he say anything?”
“Go ask him,” I said. “I can’t argue with you right now. It’s unfair if you make me try.”
Raven tugged at Brandon’s arm. He was unusually calm at this point. I’d expected him to be the first to get angry, and instead, while he seemed tense, he wasn’t exploding. I’d be forever grateful for that. “Get out.”
“We can’t leave her alone,” Brandon said.
“Go back,” Raven said. “I’ll stay with her.”
I could tolerate him, especially how calm he was. “Raven can stay,” I said.
Slowly, Brandon pulled himself away. He paced the bathroom for a moment and then pointed to me down on the ground. “Fine,” he said. “I’m going to go find Corey, but when you’re done talking to Axel, I need to know what’s going on.” He stormed out, slamming the bedroom door as he left.
I let out a long breath, grateful to have a moment. The tension dropped immediately.
Raven stood by the sink. He started toward me and then seemed to reconsider and backed up against the sink again. “How do I fix you?”
“Just let the medicine work.”
He grunted. “My fault,” he said. “Axel warned us not to get you too excited so you overdo things. I...shouldn’t have...this morning.”
“That’s not what made me sick,” I said. “The first time I got up, I thought I was going to be sick and it seemed to go away when I laid back down again. I thought it was gone and then when I got up again...”
Raven frowned but nodded. “Sorry.”
“Not your fault.”
He crossed his arms over his bare chest, causing the muscles in his biceps to bulk up. I wasn’t sure he believed me but I didn’t think he was going to argue with me on it.
I rocked my head against the tile. “I’m...sorry I didn’t tell you about Blake. I did tell Corey. He said I should talk to Axel before anyone else. I didn’t want a fight.”
Raven breathed in deeply and then let it out between his lips, causing the muscles in his stomach to flex. He didn’t sport a six pack, he simply wasn’t built for it. But there were some amazing lines to his chest and at his waist above his jeans. “I don’t want to fight with my little thief.”
I smiled at this, and patted the spot on the floor next to me. “Thanks for handling Brandon.”
He crossed the room, lowering himself down carefully next to me. He knelt there, his brown eyes softening. “I don’t like him,” he said. “Coaltar.”
“He’s not that bad. Corey likes him.”
He became quiet, considering this. “I should talk to him, too.”
“Stay here until I can get up?” I asked. “And then I’ll go talk to Axel and you can go find Corey. Make sure those two don’t get into a fight.”
He nodded. “I should...I should find clothes. And then your clothes. For when you’re ready. Do you want a shower? Do you want me to help?”
If he coddled me any more, I was going to melt right there. I lightly punched him in the arm. “I think I should just stick with getting dressed. I need to get to Axel before Brandon does anything stupid.”
He smirked, reached out and very, very gently, punched at my shoulder. “Ja shozhu po tebe s uma. Ja ne mogu zhit' bez tebja.”
“What’s that mean?”
“You’re crazy, crazy girl,” he said. He leaned in, kissed my forehead and then got up, getting ready for the day.
PROMISES FOR AXEL
It only took another twenty minutes before the nausea subsided and I was able to move. The medicine did leave me sleepy and light-headed, though. Not good. Not something I wanted when I had so much work to do. I needed to get familiar with the ship. I needed to go over the rosters. With the delays the boys had caused by not allowing me to talk to Ethan before now, we were really short on time. Like it or not, we’d have to rely on Blake a lot, or we’d be lost.
Corey did remember to pack a little something for me: a pair of jeans, two of my tank tops, and the pair of capri pants Kevin once bought me but that I didn’t particularly like. No underwear. One ratty bra in desperate need of replacing. Did I not have any clean underwear that he could have grabbed? I hadn’t done laundry in a while.
So I went without underwear or a bra, put on the jeans and a tank top that was snug and would hold up my breasts enough to work as well as a bra, and then plucked one of Corey’s T-shirts from the bag to wear o
