AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Twenty-Eight:
Sport Mode
“—ling, Zeppelin wakeup.” A hand touched my shoulder lightly as I jerked awake. Oliver’s hazel eyes bore into mine as I blinked away my exhaustion, but I was so groggy I was sure I was cross-eyed. “Ollie, hey.”
“Hey to you, too. You guys look comfortable.”
I realized then that Sterling and I were on the ground; him sitting up against the wall and me shielded in his strong arms from the hospital’s chill. I could feel Sterling stirring under me, and I wished I could teleport him to his bed so he wouldn’t have to wake. “Your big bro is comfy, what can I say?” I checked the time, sighing deeply when a giant 4:35 am on my lock screen stared right back.
“Yeah, my flight was delayed a little bit. Which is exactly why I always try to use my jet.” Ollie sat down, looking every bit as exhausted as we were. “Reception lady said my brother and sister-in-law were in this waiting room. Either of you know why she’d assume you two were married?”
I smiled, rolling my eyes at him and glancing at Sterling. I knew I wasn’t actually his wife, but something about the thought gave me butterflies. “We eloped. Carl was the best man. Sorry, Ollie.”
“You picked that derpy fucking dog over me, Led?” He held a hand to his chest and frowned teasingly. “Again, you wound me. I’m beginning to see a pattern here. Glad you two finally worked your shit out, though. Guess that king hunt was successful?”
Successful, yes. But had we worked out our shit? I wasn’t so sure we had, but that wasn’t the time to go into our shit so I changed the subject. “Where were you fucking off this time? Cancun again?” I asked.
“Nah, Puerto Rico, actually. One of my favorite spots.” He sat next to us, speaking low as Sterling finally opened his eyes. “You should go home. I got this for a few hours.”
Home sounded amazing, but I wasn’t sure Sterling would agree, even if his back was probably angry with our positions. I sat up to stretch mine then touched his face softly. “We should go shower and take a nap, Silver. We’ll come right back after some rest.”
“He smells worse than I do,” Sterling argued halfheartedly, but his eyes were unfocused and he seemed to belatedly realize he had drool running down his chin and his suit was a mess. “Yeah, that’s fair. We’ll be back soon. You know which room he’s in and everything?”
Ollie nodded. “Yep. I got it, big bro. You need me to call you a ride, or are you good?”
“I’ll drive us. I got this.” I stood, looking around for my bag before remembering that it was still at home. All I had with me was my phone. I slipped into my Crocs again, this time flipping the backs of them into position so I could drive without them slipping off. “See? These have sport mode.”
“Change of plans, Ollie,” Sterling deadpanned. “Say goodbye to Miss Bryce, I’ll be dropping her off somewhere in the desert.”
I chuckled, bumping him with my hip to knock his sleepy-self off balance. “Cute he thinks he can still get rid of me, huh? Not going anywhere, grumpy. I’ll just walk right back and then kick your ass with them. They can also be used as weapons.”
“Not kidding,” he said, staring straight at his brother. “The desert. A big one. She’ll never find her way out, so say goodbye.”
Ollie simply grinned, leaning down to kiss my temple and whisper in my ear, “You’ve got him, Led. Nicely done.”
It made me smile so widely it felt out of place for a hospital, so I covered it up with a fake cough as the brothers said their goodbyes and then I took his hand as we left. I could feel how hard walking away was, and my heart ached not being able to comfort him. I’d bear the weight of it for him if I could.
Neither of us said much at all until we were inside and staring around at the empty house. It seemed duller, older despite the modern fixtures and layout. Quieter. “Go ahead,” Sterling mumbled. “You can shower first, I’ll make us some food.”
“We can—” I stopped my attempt at inviting him to shower together “—never mind, good idea.” The poor guy probably needed a few moments alone and I wasn’t the type of person to take that from him. Because of that, I didn’t hurry. I washed my hair and shaved my prickly legs before making my way back down to him, and although my stomach was growling, the first thing I did was walk over to Sterling and pull him into a hug.
“You smell good,” he mumbled into my hair. “Will you nap with me after you eat? I’ll shower now.”
“Of course.” I kissed his chin and stepped back. I was wearing the pajama shorts he loved, but they weren’t to tease, they were to help distract him and make him feel home. “I’ll be in your bed by the time you finish. Eating won’t take long.”
It didn’t, I inhaled that food like it was my last meal and had the kitchen clean in minutes, then I made myself at home in Sterling Bishop’s bed. I felt surrounded by his scent as I rolled around and cuddled into his pillow, feeling like it had been so long since I was there. It had only been a day, yet it felt like weeks since we laid in his bed together, and I still had butterflies fluttering around in my stomach when he exited the bathroom in nothing but a towel even though sex wasn’t on the table. Fuck, I want him ... what is wrong with me? The man is terrified for his father and I just want to fall on my knees in front of him and — shut up, brain. Not tonight. “Hi.”
“Hi. Sorry, I didn’t think about taking clothes in there with me. I’ll just be a sec.” He turned his back to me, dropping that towel so I could see his gorgeous ass, his muscular thighs, the smooth, chiseled muscles in his back. All the things I shouldn’t have been thinking about. The dark grey briefs he pulled up didn’t help at all, nor did the way he slid under the covers and pulled me to him like a body pillow. “Is this okay?”
“More than okay.” I nuzzled in and kissed his delicious chest. “I have a boner now but it’s all good in the hood ... please forget that just came out of my mouth.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that. Is your boner bigger than mine?” he whispered, lips grazing my forehead.
“Fuck,” I whispered. “No, no, it definitely isn’t.” I closed my eyes, every kiss and touch he left on my skin felt like handprints in wet cement, and no matter what happened between us they’d live there forever.
“Then we’ll both just have to suffer for now. I’m too tired to move.” His fingers threaded in my hair at the base of my neck and tugged just enough to tilt my head back, and the kiss that followed nearly undid me. “Sleep, Miss Bryce. We can’t leave Ollie stranded for very long.”
I didn’t attempt to say anything back. It took everything in me not to just ride him to sleep, so instead, I closed my eyes and took a breath. There would be time for that later.
