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“Besides everything?” I asked with a chuckle. “Everything.”
Elena didn’t smile, but she also didn’t glare at me anymore. I took that as a win.
“Her leg got crushed,” Calax said gruffly. “And I think some glass got stuck in her arm.”
“And her back!” Tam added.
Elena nodded slowly, gaze piercing.She immediately began unwrapping the flimsy shirt-bandage Declan had constructed.
“I need something to brace her leg on. Two pieces of wood maybe? A hard cover children’s book? Whatever you can find.”
When nobody made any effort to move, Elena snapped her fingers impatiently in front of Ryder’s face. “Now!”
He glared at her, but got up and stomped down a hallway. Asher, after a wistful glance in my direction, moved towards another.
“What about alcohol? Something to clean these wounds with?”
“The room we just came from used to be a bar,” I supplied, nodding towards the general vicinity with my head.
“I’ll go,” Ronan offered. Before he left, he pressed a chaste kiss to my forehead. I was too stunned to do anything but gape after him like an idiot.
What. The. Hell?
It was because I licked him, right? The whole licking incident opened up a large can of worms.
Calax, muscles bunched together as he crossed his arms, glared down at us from above. He really was an impressive man, all muscles and chiseled bones.
“I’m not going to be able to work if you’re glaring down at me,” Elena snapped. Her hands were tentative as they assessed my injuries. “Go wait over there.”
When Calax didn’t budge, Elena removed her hands from me with a sour expression.
“If you don’t move, I won’t fucking help her.”
If looks could kill, Elena would’ve been dead a thousand times over. After one more ineffectual glare in her direction, Calax stormed to the corner. He leaned against the wall, eyes trained on me as if he couldn’t bear to look away. The attention felt...strange. I didn’t know how else to describe it. I couldn’t decide if I enjoyed it or feared it. He disarmed me with his gentleness.
From the corner of my eye, I watched Declan sign to Tamson. I couldn’t see the movements, but I saw Tam nod and get to his feet. Before I could inquire, Tam turned back towards me with a smile.
“I’m going to see if there’s any water or something to eat. I’ll be back.”
It was one of the longest sentences he had ever spoken to me. Though a delicate flush still dusted across his cheek bones, and his eyes wavered from mine, I felt as if we had reached a turning point. I didn’t want to be someone Tam feared, whether that fear was irrational or not. To be a friend, you had to rely on one another with an innate loyalty formed from trust and compassion. I hoped I could have that type of relationship with the guys. I wanted this friendship to work, more than I was willing to admit.
“You know,” Elena said softly, “I’m not trying to be a bitch.”
I snorted. “Could’ve fooled me.”
From the angle she positioned herself, she effectively blocked Declan from the conversation. I knew he would be furious that Elena was purposefully excluding him, but there was nothing I could do. It hurt like a bitch to move.
“I loved them...at least I believed I loved them. It was nice to have their collective attention, you know? To feel like I was the only girl in the world, even though there were other girls.” Elena’s eyes turned watery with tears.
I realized, then, that she really wasn’t trying to be malicious. This was a girl driven by jealousy and her concept of love. In a sense, she had her heart broken. I didn’t know her history with the guys, and I didn’t know the guys as well she probably did, but I could see from her sorrowful expression that she once thought the world of them. I could also see that this feeling, this love, was one-sided.
“They made me feel beautiful, special. Protected. Hell, they even gave me cheesy nicknames, but you know what I’m talking about, don’t you?”
My tongue felt like sandpaper in my mouth. I swallowed, but no noise escaped me. It had never occurred to me that the guys may have only seen me as a fuck buddy. I recalled the crude way Ronan had talked about Elena and the rest of the girls. Was that what was expected of me? Was this friendship a ploy for something else? Doubts niggled my mind. I didn’t want to believe that I was nothing more than a toy to them, but Elena’s words planted those pesky seeds of doubt.
Theyhadbeen using cheesy nicknames, and theyhadmade me feel protected.
From what I gathered, these were boys who didn’t want to fall in love - didn’t want to have anything real - out of fear that they’ll be hurt. Why else would they go through women so quickly?
