AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The guy cradling his dick with one hand while trying to pull on a pair of jeans with the other, however, didn’t get the same pass. If he even looked at either sibling in a way Bas found offensive, he had no problem tossing the punk out on his ear.
“Daniel, you don’t have to leave.” Kai’s sister squared her shoulders, clearly trying to appear dignified. Not an easy accomplishment with nothing but a small cashmere blanket covering her. “This is my apartment, too.”
“Daniel?” Tilting his head to the side, Kai eyed the guy and snorted in a way that said they’d met before, and he hadn’t been impressed. “No, Melissa, this isn’t your apartment. It’s mine.”
“So, what? You can bring a guy home, but I can’t?” She glared at Bas as she spoke.
“Yes,” Kai answered, and he suddenly sounded exhausted. “I can’t do this. Not tonight.” He cast a fleeting glance toward Daniel, then back to his sister. “Don’t forget to put the dog out before you go to bed.”
three
No one on the planet could piss Kai off quite like his sister.
Melissa was charming, beautiful, and intelligent. She could captivate an entire room by doing nothing more than breathing. Unfortunately, she was also selfish, reckless, and completely convinced of her own self-importance. Worse, in the last couple of years, she’d developed the deplorable habit of measuring her self-worth based on her relationship status.
It hadn’t always been that way. Once upon a time, she’d been a sweet, quiet little girl who thought boys were gross and dreamed of being a veterinarian. Where the hell had that girl gone?
Simmering just beneath Kai’s anger, however, humiliation burned like a white-hot poker. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”
Bas held him around the waist, supporting the majority of his weight as he led the way down the hallway to his bedroom. “Believe it or not, I’ve seen naked people before.”
“You know what I meant.”
Pushing open the door, Bas held tighter, practically carrying him to the bed, where he lowered him gently to the edge of the mattress. “You need to elevate your ankle and get some ice on it.” He threaded his fingers through his hair, pushing the strands back from his face. “That knee also needs some attention. Do you have a first aid kit?”
There were purple shadows beneath his eyes Kai hadn’t noticed before, and he moved slowly, sluggishly. “Thank you for everything, but go home, Bas. You look dead on your feet.” He’d already done more than he had any right to expect from him. “Melissa will help me…once she’s dressed.”
“Well, no offense, but Melissa seems to be indisposed at present. So, it looks like you’re stuck with me.” He shrugged. “You get changed. I’ll get the ice and find some aspirin.”
Kai didn’t want to appear ungracious, and under different circumstances, he might not have been so eager to see the back of him. As it stood, his entire leg hurt like the ten shades of hell, and he was mortified over his sister’s behavior. More than anything, he just wanted to be alone.
“Look, buddy, I appreciate your help, but I don’t know you.”
“I don’t know you, either, pal.” Bas rolled his eyes and placed a hand on his shoulder when he tried to stand. “You’re not going to be happy until you break that ankle, are you? If it makes you feel better, you can consider this part of the superhero package. There’s free Wi-Fi and a continental breakfast, too.”
“Bas…”
But he just shook his head and slipped out of the room, disappearing down the hallway before Kai could devise a convincing argument.
The lounge clothes he’d worn for most of the day still sat in a pile at the foot of the bed. The tattered, faded T-shirt he’d had since high school, and the red checkered pajama bottoms were at least one size too big. He liked his ratty old clothes, and since he worked from home, he saw no reason to be uncomfortable.
Except for Melissa or the UPS guy, no one ever saw him in those clothes. Normally, he didn’t care what people thought of him, but he couldn’t deny there was something different about Bas. He never let anyone tell him what to do in his own home, not even his sister, but there he sat, waiting for a guy he’d just met to bring him an ice pack and tuck him into bed.
Groaning at his own ridiculousness, he swiveled on his butt and leaned across the mattress to grab his pajamas. Bas had already seen him in torn pants with a swollen ankle and a bloody knee. It didn’t get much worse than that.
After a lot of undignified grunting and contorting, he finally managed to remove his blazer and dress shirt without needing to stand again. After pulling on his T-shirt, he stopped to rest and catch his breath while he worked out the logistics of changing into the bottoms.
“Okay, if I just…”
Falling back on the bed, he planted his good foot on the mattress and undid his slacks. He lifted his butt and shimmied a little as he worked the tight material over his hips. He had almost succeeded when his socked foot slipped off the comforter, sending him crashing to the bed and jarring his injured ankle.
“Ice pack and aspirin,” Bas announced as he strolled through the doorway. “I’m guessing your first aid stuff is in the—” Coming to a stop in the middle of the room, he pressed his lips together and tilted his head. “What are you doing?”
“I’m trying to get these damn pants off,” Kai snapped. “What does it look like I’m doing?”
Bas placed the pain reliever on the nightstand and tossed the bag of ice onto the mattress. “Do you mind if I help?”
Kai closed his eyes as blood rushed to his cheeks. “Sure.”
