AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I went back into the main room. Gale had taken this thing too far. Ezra stood next to the bathroom door, forehead and a single palm pressed against its surface. “I’m sorry, Jude. Please come out. We won’t do that shit anymore, I promise.”
“Where’s Gale?” I was vibrating, I realized. Every part of me shaking with an anger I kept just under the surface of my skin. Gale’s absence was probably a good thing, because I’d never hit a friend before and didn’t want to start now.
But I was close.
“He left,” Ezra answered. “She won’t come out. Can you take care of her and I’ll go find him?”
I was already moving toward the bathroom. “Yes. You guys need to clean that shit up in there. Every last fucking spider.”
Ezra nodded. “I’ll make sure of it.”
He left and I tapped softly on the door. “Pinky, it’s me. Let me in.”
“Go away.”
“I will stand out here and knock on this door until morning. Let me in.”
“I’m fine, Baron. Thank you. Please go away, now.”
My response was to start knocking, a steady, insistent tap of my knuckles against the wood. My parents hadn’t dubbed me the most annoying child in creation for nothing. She lasted two solid minutes before she flung the door open with a snarl. “Damnit, Baron—”
I bulled my way inside, backing her against the sink. She glared up at me defiantly, her face splotched with reddened skin and the tracks of dried tears. I parked my hands on the sink counter on either side of her and leaned down into her. She had no choice but to look into my eyes, see my sincerity. “I’m sorry for what he did, Pinky.” She started to look away and without moving my hands I put my cheek against hers, so I was halting her movement and whispering into her ear. “I’m sorry I didn’t stop it sooner. I’m sorry I wasn’t more of a man for you when it came to stopping that bullshit in its tracks. But I promise you right now, that’s done.” I turned my face into hers, feeling the movement of her jaw against my lips as she swallowed.
“It wasn’t your fault,” she finally said. She was so still, stiff—as if she was trying to keep her body from brushing against mine. I wanted to feel her melt into me, surrender all that tension and let me carry it for her. “And I know my reaction was over-the-top. I have a thing about spiders.” The statement was matter-of-fact, as though someone had told her before that her behavior was an overreaction.
I shook my head a tiny bit, taking the opportunity to brush my lips against her skin, once, twice. “One, true phobias are not something you can control, generally speaking, without intervention.” She pulled back and I lifted my head to see her squinting at me. “Sorry. Psych major. Cognitive behavioral therapy. Exposure therapy. That sort of thing.” She inclined her head in acknowledgment. “And two, I may not have done it, but I didn’t help. Gale is one of my oldest and best friends and I will always be loyal to him. But I should have tried harder to shut it down.”
“Why does he hate me so much?” Jude worried the corner of her mouth with her teeth.
I lifted my shoulder in a helpless gesture. “He doesn’t hate you. I’m certain of that. It’s something more complicated. I honestly don’t think it has anything to do with you.”
She huffed. “That’s reassuring, I guess.”
She made to walk by me and I opened my frame to allow her to pass, following behind her as she walked into the main room and paused, gripping one hand with the other and twisting. “Are they still there?”
“I’ll check. Ezra went to find Galen, so… ” I poked my head in her room. “They haven’t cleaned it yet. Tell me what you need and I’ll get it for you.”
For a moment I thought she was going to refuse, but then her eyes flicked to the door and she shuddered. “I need something to sleep in, my blanket, and my pillow.”
I stopped on the threshold of her room. “On second thought...you can wear one of my tee shirts. Come with me.” I started toward my room, Jude following behind me.
“That’s...fine, I guess. I need a blanket and pillow, though. I’ll sleep on the couch tonight.”
The hell you will.Jude didn’t realize it yet, but she’d be sleeping in my bed tonight. It was time to make my interest and intentions plain.
Chapter 23: Jude
Islipped into the soft, whisper-thin tee shirt Baron had handed me and placed my uniform on the dresser. It smelled like him—laundry detergent and soap. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror as I turned away, the motion catching my eye, and I stopped, taking a second to examine my reflection nervously.
Why was I nervous?Baron was so huge his shirt covered me to my knees, the sleeves coming down past my elbows. I looked like a little girl dressed in her daddy’s clothing. Maybe it was because I knew, regardless of his gallantry, there was no way Baron was sleeping on the sofa. He’d insisted I sleep in his bed, convincing me with his warm gaze and reminders of privacy and not needing to see Galen before I was ready.
I hadn’t needed convincing, though. The thought of curling into his sheets and the dusky blue-gray comforter that covered them, inhaling his scent and folding it around myself… it was a siren’s call I couldn’t ignore.
A knock sounded on the door. “Pinky? You decent?”
“Yeah.” The word cracked as it sounded and I cleared my throat, moving toward the bed to pull the comforter back. “You can come in.”
There was a strangled sound behind me as the door opened. I glanced over my shoulder in time to see Baron avert his eyes from my backside, searching instead for a clean surface to deposit the two bottles of water he carried.
