by Voss, Deja
That’s when I realize where I know him, how I know him. This can’t be Gavin’s father. He’s so… disgusting. They might look alike, but I find it hard to believe that they are similar in any other way. That being said, maybe I don’t know Gavin as well as I think I do.
Maybe that’s why Olive has been so adamant about keeping us apart. Maybe he’s actually a huge creep. It’s possible, that’s for sure. I tend to be a magnet for good-looking creeps.
Still, I take his statement as a challenge.
“I have all the time in the world, sir.” I laugh. I definitely have to stick around and see just how mean Gavin really is.
Chapter 5
Gavin
“Oh come on, you people have to be kidding me,” the short blonde nurse shouts disgustedly as soon as she spots me in the reception area.
“Excuse me?” I ask, confused. “I’m just looking for my brother, ma’am.”
“Well you’re much more polite than the old guy who just came tearing through here. Come on, I’ll take you to him.”
“Shit,” I mumble and take off. I was really wishing my father didn’t get here first, and I’m sure he’s not doing anything in terms of damage control. Hopefully whoever he’s talking to has nerves of steel, because the man is about as pleasant as a herpes outbreak.
“Seriously?” the woman says, trying to chase me down. She’s got quite a few years on me and she’s panting with every step. “You guys are going to give me a heart attack. Room 112!” she shouts as she resigns to leaning up against the wall.
I look through the blinds in the window and die a little bit inside.
There she is, just like I remember her, except she’s standing face-to-face with the last person I wanted her to ever meet, and she doesn’t exactly look thrilled. I’m completely horrified and I’m sure he’s putting her through the ringer. She seems to be holding up perfectly fine, though, hands on her hips, chest puffed out as she gets right in his face.
“Listen,” she’s shouting. “I’m not authorized to do that. I’m trying to help you, and if you would just shut up for two minutes and let me get a word in, I’ll tell you what you need to do.”
“Hey,” I say, slinking into the room, uncertain of how I should be interacting in this exact moment. I catch her eye, and instantly, her face softens and she shoots me a knowing smile. It’s like my very presence just flipped some sort of switch on her demeanor.
I’m not going to lie; the way she’s going at it with my father is kind of a turn-on. There’s something sexy about her little burst of authority. She’s swimming in her baggy scrubs, and it’s obvious she’s the type of girl who is too chronically busy to remember to eat. Even behind her cool scowl, she’s beautiful.
Nothing like a club slut.
Not even the kind of cute but uppity chick who dates you to piss off her parents and tries to turn you into a golfer.
She looks like the kind of woman that makes you want to rip yourself open and bare every dirty disgusting inch of your being to. The kind that keeps you up all night pacing around in circles, worrying that they’re going to leave you because you know you’re not good enough. The kind that you have to push far far away or you’ll suffocate them to death with your need to be intertwined with every ounce of their soul. You make them think it’s their fault. You spend the next few years dead inside, banging random strippers and pretending like you made the right choice.
I’ve seen many men fall victim to these kind of women. It’s kind of the Mountain Misfit Curse.
“Not now, Gavin.” My inner alarm bells ring. “You’re here for your brother.”
“Close the door,” they both urge simultaneously in a whispered yell, and I almost feel like an outsider in their weird argument.
“Is he ok?” I ask. Seeing his barely breathing body there, hooked up to all those machines and tubes instantly snaps me out of any sort of deluded fantasy I had of how this day was going to go. It’s not as easy as grabbing my woman, grabbing my brother, going up the mountain and never coming down.
This is serious shit.
“He’s going to be alright. He’s a lucky guy. He has a tibial fracture and a torn ACL, which we repaired. He’s going to need to be in a cast for at least six weeks, then intensive physical therapy after that,” she says calmly. “He should be awake here shortly.”
I watch his chest rise and fall, stealing glimpses of her as my father paces the room dramatically. I don’t know what he expected out of me when I got here, but I’m sure the fact that I’m not up in Sloan’s face bullying her like he was is not making him happy.
“We need him outta here before the cops show, son. He’s not safe here. They don’t know his condition.”
I don’t want to fight with him in front of her, and I’m sure his ‘condition’ is obvious. He’s a straight-up junkie, and we’re his enablers.
“This bitch here, she’s basically useless. Won’t get me discharge papers, won’t suck my dick, I don’t even know what she’s doing here.”
My blood is boiling. Sloan’s not just some random hole. She shouldn’t have to take his verbal abuse.
“Knock it off, Moses,” I hiss. “If it wasn’t for her, you wouldn’t even know Goob was missing to begin with.”
His lips turn to an evil sneer as he runs his hand through his beard.
“You fucking her? What’sa matter boy? You getting bored with all that mountain pussy?”
I’m speechless. If I had any chance with her, this asshole is doing everything in his power to ruin it, and I don’t even have words to make it right. I could punch him, but I don’t think that would do anything to help the situation.
“Listen,” she says sternly, “I can’t get you discharge papers. Nobody here is going to give you fucking discharge papers. It’s a liability case waiting to happen. What I can tell you is that there’s no law against leaving on your own accord. You get him out that door, he’s not our problem anymore. I obviously think it’s a terrible idea, but you gotta do what you gotta do.”
She pulls out a bag from her pocket and tosses it to me.
“This fell out of his pants when I was digging through the pockets once Olive tipped me off. I didn’t find anything else, and I don’t know if it will help in the case with the cops, but you probably want to get rid of it.”
I know what the waxy little bag is without looking. I slip it into my jeans and nod in appreciation.
She gets right in my father’s face, standing on her tiptoes so she can stare him right in the eyes. “Before you call me ‘basically useless’ I want you to remember I set his fucking bones, I stitched him back up, I made sure you guys knew he was here, and I tampered with evidence. So you can suck your own dick.”
The look on my father’s face is frightening. He’s grinning from ear to ear, just shaking his head at her. You know he’s about to attack when the smile is all teeth.
Instead, his phone rings. He looks down at it and heads for the door.
“If ya’ll will excuse me,” he says.
She puts her head in her hands and lets out a long sigh.
“Sloan,” I say, approaching her, wrapping my arms around her shoulders, hugging her into me. “I’m so sorry. He’s really fucking terrible. You shouldn’t have had to deal with that.”
She’s cold, stiff as a board, and she looks up at me, her face spattered with tears, red and puffy.
“I gotta go,” she says softly, but she doesn’t move, just stands there while I hold her, studying my face. It’s becoming painfully obvious why Olive has been so protective of her. She’s been back in my life for less than fifteen minutes and she’s already crying.
And it’s all my fault.
Not because of what I said or did, but because of who I am—a Mountain Misfit, just like my father.
“I understand,” I say, holding her shoulders in my hands, looking her up and down. I never want to let her go. I want to bring her closer, have her, keep her, protect her from anyone who would ever hurt
her like this, but obviously I can’t.
I’m the one responsible for the hurting.
And then everything changes.
She puts her hands on my face, putting her lips on mine.
It’s a hard, powerful kiss; something so far beyond sexual, it’s bizarrely comforting, like everything is fixed. It’s a bond that seals a deal. I’ve been waiting for this moment for so fucking long, and as convoluted as it is, it’s exactly how I imagined it.
She put everything on the line for me without me even asking. And now it’s my job to get her as far away from all of this as possible.
I just can’t, though. If I let her go again, it’s going to be on her own accord.
* * *
Sloan
In this moment, I am so conflicted. I am acting out of body, I’m doing things that don’t even make sense to me.
Deep breaths, Sloan, I try reminding myself for fear that I’m going to pass out. I look over my shoulder, intense paranoia setting in. I let my emotions get the best of me. My fear, my overwhelming anger, my raging attraction to this gorgeous piece of man standing in front of me.My heart is pounding. I don’t know what happens from here. The walls are closing in tighter and tighter around me, around us. Those troubled dark eyes staring a hole right through my clothes, his dark beard, inked arms even more muscular than I remembered. He’s so tall, he could break me in two…
Snap out of it, Sloan.
“I’m sorry, Gavin,” I barely squeak out. The heaviness of the moment is squeezing all the air out of my chest, squeezing my brains out of my ears. I look around the room, trying to center myself, trying to bring myself back to this hospital, back to the patient, back to my reality. “I really have to go.”
“Come here,” he says, grabbing my arm, pulling me away from the view of the window, and I don’t even put up a fight. Tucked away in the corner, he wraps me in his strong arms, our bodies pressed against each other, hugging me close, his breath in my ear setting my panties on fire. “I let you run away once,” he growls. “That’s not going to happen again.”
I want him in the worst way, and the longer I stand there in his arms, soaking in his leathery deliciousness, the more my ability to be rational and logical starts melting away. I’m instantly wet, needy, melting in his arms. Visions of him tossing me to the floor, unzipping his pants, and letting me take him in my mouth right here are running through my mind. Something about him just makes me want to be the dirtiest version of myself that I can be.
Instead, he kisses me on my forehead, brushing my hair out of my face, tracing his fingers across my tear spattered cheeks.
“We can’t do this here,” he says. “I don’t want you to get in trouble.”
It’s probably the sexiest thing anyone’s ever said to me. He’s right. None of this can leave this room. I need to disappear, pretend like this entire day was just a dream. I don’t want to let go, but for right now, I just need to walk away.
“God, Gavin, I know, but right this second I feel like it would be worth it.” I run my hands down the waistband of his jeans, thumbing at his belt, looking into his eyes with my best fuck me face.
“Sloan, you better watch what you’re doing there, girl. The way I want to fuck you, there’s not going to be anything quiet or discreet about it.” He’s biting his lip as he grabs my face in his hands, gently kissing me on the lips as my body starts to quiver. “You’ll get yours, don’t you worry. Gimme your phone,” he says. He punches his number into my contacts and I hear his vibrate in his pocket. “You better get back to work. I need to figure out what I’m going to do with this idiot and my asshole father.”
All I can do is sigh and pretend like I didn’t just throw myself at him like a crazed maniac. “Are you gonna stay with him overnight? I have to get you some paperwork, but I think I can make it happen.” I say. Hank’s breathing is getting deeper. I can see his eyelids are fluttering. Even if he wakes up right this second, he’s still going to be pretty tired.
There’s a soft knock on the door, and Nurse Carol peeks her head in. I fly across the room like I just got stung by a bee, trying to put as much space between the two of us as possible. Gavin just shakes his head and laughs.
“How’s everything going in here?” she asks.
“I’m gonna go track down Dr. Peterman. Hank looks like he’s going to come around soon. We should probably keep an eye out.” I head for the door. “It was nice meeting you, Gavin.” I boldly lie, shooting him a wink. “You don’t worry about a thing. Hank’s in good hands.”
“Thanks, Dr. Sullivan,” he says, smiling.
I close the door behind him softly, trying to hide the goofy grin I know is marked all over my face.
I want to squeal like a schoolgirl, but I hold it in to the best of my ability.
“Holy shit, Sloan.” Carol giggles. “The things I would do to that man.”
I just shake my head. “Trust me, I’m already making a list,” I think.
“I would pay good money just to take a bite out of that ass.”
“You’re twisted, Carol. His brother was just in an accident.”
And yet I can’t disagree with her. I was fully ready to take a bite out of that ass before he decided to be a rational adult.
“He could probably use consoling. I wonder if he has mommy issues?” She laughs.
“Oh don’t be so hard on yourself. You could pass as his much older sister.”
She punches me in the shoulder, cackling.
“Here’s my stop,” I say to her.
I wrap softly on the office door. “Hi, Doctor Peterman.”
“Hi, Sloan,” Dr. Peterman says, smiling. “I reviewed your rehab plan and it looks perfect. Nicely done.”
“Thanks,” I mutter, tying to hide my face behind my hands. I’m sure I look like a hot mess between my streaked mascara and my wild hair. Twelve-hour shifts capped with excessive drama tend to do that.
“Are you ok? You’re all red. It looks like you’ve been running or something.”
“No, no. I think I’m just tired. I don’t know. If we’re being honest, I want off this case,” I explain. “Those people are nuts. There’s no way he’s going to follow rehab protocol. That plan was a waste of my time.”
I’ve done enough already, and if anyone knew what went on between those four walls, I would be in serious shit. Better to just distance myself from it as a whole.
“I understand where you’re coming from completely,” he says. “You did great work today. I’ll drop by and see what I can do. I’m sure Mr. Boden will be well taken care of. Seems like there’s something about that room that has all the nurses tripping over each other to get in there.”
We both laugh. That something in that room has me tripping all over my own feet, tripping over my words, making bad career choices, just like Olive warned me.
It’s just a fling I remind myself over and over again. Like a nasty virus that shows up out of the blue, I just need to let it run its course. There’s only one way to get it out of my system, and hopefully sooner than later, because the heat in my panties is spreading to my whole body and a fever like this can cause long-term damage if left untreated.
I scurry down the hallway and out into the parking lot, eager to shut myself in my car and scream my head off. I look in my rearview mirror and something strange is happening. My face. I look happy. Holy shit, I’m smiling on my own volition.
I debate calling up Olive and telling her everything that happened today, but it’s late, she’s going to be pissed, and I’m sure she’ll find out soon enough. For now, I just need to focus and make it home in one piece without getting distracted by any thoughts of the things I’m going to do with that sexy man as soon as I can get him alone.
Chapter 6
Gavin
I wake up with my head in my hands, hunched over in the stiff hospital chair. She’s gone, as she promised, and I am glad. She’s done enough. As much as I want nothing more than to have her with me, it’s not fai
r to her to ask her to compromise her career. It has to be her choice, and I kept a promise to Olive that I would not be responsible for her undoing.
I would hope she would choose her career over me a million times over. This life, it’s not good for girls like her.
Something tells me there’s more to her than that.
I’m confused as why she’d ever even consider a guy like me, even in a moment of weakness.
Let alone a moment of darkness and insanity like yesterday.
She is so beautiful, even hidden under a frumpy set of scrubs. She doesn’t play by the rules, not the ones created by the hospital, or the ones my dad seems to think every woman needs to play by. She’s light, she’s healing, she’s smart, but the way she kissed me, the way she teased me, she has no idea what kind of beast she’s stirring up inside me.
The fact that I’ve been holding off so many months for her makes it even harder not to just take her wherever I can, making her scream as I show her exactly what happens to girls who toy with guys like me. Use her. Mark her. Own her. But first, I have to prove to her that I’m a good man.
Plus, there’s more pressing matters at hand right now than my dick trying to escape from my jeans.
Sitting next to me in the hospital room is Heat. He punches me in the shoulder as I stir from my slumber state.
“Good morning, sunshine,” he laughs.
Not the beautiful face I wanted to wake up next to, but I’m glad to see him. Knowing my brothers are here to keep an eye on Goob is a perfect example of the true meaning of the club, the loyalty and the fellowship that follows.
Clutch, our treasurer, is posted up next to Goob’s bed. Former Marine, he’s a total lady-killer. In the moments that I’ve been awake, the gaggle of nurses peeking in the window, taking turns coming in and out of the room, is amusing to say the least. Dirty birdie wannabes and they don’t even know it.
I notice Goob is awake, scowling at the TV hanging from the wall above his head.