AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We’ll take it out,” he assures me. “A doctor will do it. Okay?”
“Not good enough. It needs to come out now.”
Knox frowns at us from the kitchen doorway. “Who knows how to stitch wounds?”
I shake my head. I don’t know, I don’tcare.
“Get it out,” I demand.
Jacob catches my hands. “Okay. Okay, songbird, we’ll get it out. Just breathe for me.”
Breathing is hard. I go back to the table and gulp down mouthfuls of the coffee Knox made, ignoring that it tastesawful. His cup sits untouched, and it’s no wonder. I get grounds in my teeth, coating my tongue.
Yuck.
“Got anything stronger?”
Jacob cracks a smile. Knox goes to the freezer and unearths a chilled bottle of vodka. I grimace but accept it, taking a swig. It burns on the way down, and the smell fills my nose. I take another sip.
“I’ll get the first-aid kit,” Knox murmurs. He slips past us, leaving me and Jacob alone.
We stare at each other for a long moment.
“You framed her,” I finally say.
He smirks.
Knox and Miles return together with the first-aid kit. The latter pulls a knife out of his shorts pocket and flips it open. Knox takes it and disinfects it with rubbing alcohol over the sink.
Jacob comes up and slips his hand around the back of my neck, through my hair. He tips my head back and kisses me softly.
“Sit down,” he says, barely pulling back enough for space between our lips.
My knees bend, and I guess I’m lucky the chair is there to catch me.
He takes a moment to lay out supplies. A thread and needle in a plastic sleeve for sutures—in case of emergency, maybe, but definitely not the average first-aid kit item—plus gauze and bandages.
I swallow. Then lift the bottle back to my lips and close my eyes as I drink one gulp, then two. I’m getting warmer, which is a good sign.
Suddenly Jacob is behind me, raking his fingers through my hair. His nails on my scalp feel too good, and I lean back into him. I hum.
“I’m putting your hair up,” he says, ducking to kiss just behind my ear. “To keep it out of the way.”
I offer a hair tie from my pocket.
He loops my hair through it, doing an okay job at a messy bun. Then something wet touches the back of my neck.
“Just cleaning the area,” he says. “Keep drinking.”
Is it me, or is he anxious?
Knox comes over and sits in front of me. He raises his eyebrows and offers his hand.
“You want a drink, too?” I’m on the fast track to getting blasted.
“I want you to take one more sip,” he says.
I shrug and do it, and he reaches out and touches the bottom of the bottle. Lifting it just a bit higher, until I’m almost choking on the vodka pouring into my mouth. He whisks the bottle away and takes my hand.
