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“I was going to tell you,” I start, a pang of guilt hitting me.
“If you wanted to call your father, all you had to do was ask. You didn’t have to sneak around behind our backs.” Oliver says, and the tone of his voice makes me shiver. I know without even looking at him that he’s disappointed in me. Hell, I’m disappointed in me too.
“What Oliver means to say is that we want to protect you, and we can’t protect you when you’re doing stuff behind our backs. We’re supposed to be a team,” Sullivan’s voice is soft and nurturing, and for some stupid reason, I want to cry. I don’t understand why, but I do. When I look up from my hands again, there are tears in my eyes, and no matter how much I try and blink them away, they continue to fall.
“Fuck,” Oliver mutters under his breath and comes to stand in front of me. He wraps his arms around me, and I breathe him in. My body lights up at his touch. This is what he does to me, what they all do to me.
“I’m… I’m sorry. I wasn’t hiding it. I just wanted to know if he knew that Shelby was the one to hurt me. I know I should’ve come to you guys, but…”
“Shhh, no. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you.” Oliver soothes, his hand moving up and down my back. It feels good, too good, and I let my eyes drift closed for a second.
“I don’t want to disappoint you guys,” I sob into his shirt.
“Shhh, baby, you’re not a disappointment. You’re as far from a disappointment as it gets.” Banks’ strong voice pierces my ears, and I feel him along my back, his hard body brushing against mine. He brushes the hair from my neck away and presses hot kisses to my shoulder and neck, sucking on the tender flesh along my collarbone. Instantly, I melt into a pile of mush, the tears stopping all at once.
“Can’t cry when my lips are on you?” He teases, and I can feel my insides turning to molten lava. That connection I have to each of them burning hotter and hotter.
“No,” I whisper hoarsely. I’m only vaguely aware of Oliver releasing me, and turning me to face Banks.
“I’m sorry my brothers are assholes. I’ll make it up to you.” Banks’ pink tongue flicks out over his bottom lip, his blue eyes blazing with unbridled need beneath the amusing glint. I want to give in to him. I want to let all three of them have a chance at me all over again… but…
Out of nowhere, a wave of dizziness hits me, and I’m overcome with nausea. Bile rises up my throat, and I know what’s going to happen next. Without even thinking, I shove against Banks and make it to the kitchen sink just in time to vomit up all my breakfast. My stomach twists and I continue to puke until there is nothing but green bile coming up.
“We need to get you to a doctor,” one of them says, but I can’t tell who it is. All I can do is focus on the stupid need to vomit. Banks takes my hair into his hands and holds it away from my face. My fingers grip on to the counter as everything pours out of me. By the time I’m done, my eyes are watering, and my throat is burning.
I know they’re right; the vomiting and exhaustion aren’t normal, and I should get checked out, but a part of me doesn’t want to know what’s wrong. A part of me hopes whatever is happening goes away. Maybe it’s just stress? I mean, what else could it be?
“I think it’s just stress, this is all too much…” I groan, taking the paper towel that Oliver offers me. Wiping at my mouth and eyes, I do my best to make sure that there isn’t any puke on my chin or lips.
“Even if it is stress, you’ve been getting sick a lot lately, and it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get checked out.”
“What if it turns out to be something more?” I ask, fear ringing my voice. “The doctors told me that I could possibly run into more problems from the accident down the road. Maybe that’s what he was talking about.”
“Then we deal with it.” Sullivan answers, his voice soft and warm, and all I want to do is go to him and let him wrap his arms around me.
Knowing there isn’t any point in trying to fight it, I agree. “Okay, I’ll make an appointment.”
“Thank you, that’s all we want. You are the most important thing to us, and if you’re sick, then we need to find a way to fix it.”
“Sometimes, things can’t be fixed.” I drop my gaze down to my hands. Shelby has been caught, life is good, and yet somehow it all seems temporary like at any minute the rug is going to be ripped out from underneath our feet.
