by VR Baucke
“She’s right,” Kimmie added. “Mace normally does things when he’s ready, not when told.”
We tittered and Jess blushed ever so slightly, which surprised me too. She isn’t the kind of girl to get ‘guy shy’.
“Yeah you’ve talked about him, but never has it passed your lips that he’s smokin’-”
She abruptly cut off when I cleared my throat, indicating that they were back. Kimmie promptly succumbed to a fit of giggles, which left the guys shuffling awkwardly as Jess and I furiously concentrated on my damaged arms.
Mace set the towels and cloths within reach for Jess, while Gage manoeuvred around her to put the large bowl of steaming water on the bedside table. He leaned over and kissed my forehead before pointing a suspicious finger at each of us.
“You girls are weirding me out right now, so we’ll be in the lounge doing guy stuff.”
They departed the room again, but not before I caught the final glance that Mace seared over Jess. We waited a few beats to make sure they were fully gone before resuming our conversation.
“He isn’t really a ‘serious about dating’ kind of guy, Jess, so I figured there was no point in giving you crumbs when the cake wasn’t on offer.”
She let out a wistful sigh as she gently sponged my cuts. “Yeah, that wouldn’t do. What’s he do?”
“Like job wise?” I asked then elaborated at her nod. “He’s in construction, works for his Dad’s business, the one Gage came up here to work for. And he also casually moonlights as a bouncer at Totem.”
“I’ve never been there, though I’ve heard it’s the place to party.”
“It totally is, and the best part is that when you know the bouncer, you don’t have to queue,” Kimmie piped up. “Plus, there’s always heaps of bar staff so you don’t have to wait forever for drinks.”
Our jovial chat soon turned serious. Jess clicked her tongue and told me to brace myself because flushing the wounds with antiseptic was going to hurt like a bitch. I wished she’d have used stronger words, because ‘hurting like a bitch’ didn’t cut it—even with the whisky and low-level pain relief onboard my system. I managed to clamp off some of the screams as she worked quickly and as best as she could, but once she started on my left arm, the pain became unbearable. Kimmie swiftly left the room and was almost immediately replaced with Gage. He held my arm still in an iron grip with one hand while clapping the other across my chest.
Jess’ demeanour was professional as always, but her eyes told me that she was finding this task almost as excruciating as I was.
“Sorry, hon, we’re almost done. You’re doing awesome.”
I could only get out pants of breath but nodded shortly in acknowledgment.
Gage’s low voice spoke softly in my ear. “Lil, look at me and listen, I’ll tell you a story.” Instantly, the agitation within my head subsided a little. “When I was about nine, my family went on holiday to Cooks Beach one Christmas. My three asshole sisters dug a hole, held me down and buried me up to my neck. The worst part wasn’t not being able to breathe or the sand in my togs, it was the fucking sand hopper bites that flared up hours later over my entire body—like everywhere. Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is for a nine-year-old to have his mother inspect bites in places no kid wants his mum to look? Let me tell you, it’s embarrassing as fuck. I gave Immi the beat down when I was able to move without ending up itchy as shit. It was her idea to begin with.”
He finished with a growl which sustained our amusement long enough for the worst of wound cleansing to be completed.
“I need to meet these sisters of yours,” I slurred through the pain.
Gage chuckled then put on a solemn pout. “All in good time, Sunshine. I’m going to put that off for as long as possible because I have a feeling my sisters will embrace you too quickly, and it will turn into four against one. The odds are already heavily stacked against me!”
“Aww, someone sounds scared of his big, bad sisters,” I mocked, which won me a cheeky thigh squeeze from Gage and a snort from Jess.
She finished reapplying clean dressings while idly chatting with Gage about her job. I tuned out, relaxed back against the pillows, and let the buzz of the whisky take over.
THIRTY-NINE
LIL
THE EDGE OF the bed depressed and my weight shifted when someone sat beside me. I opened my eyes to see Mace’s chin hovering at eye level, then felt a tender kiss be pressed to my forehead.
“Oh, hey, I didn’t mean to wake you. How are you holding up?” he asked softly.
I managed a small smile, but truth be told, I was sore. My face throbbed and my arms stung. My smile must have looked more like a wince because he patted my leg then disappeared for a moment, returning with a glass of water and a sheet of decent painkillers. Perching beside me again, he handed me a dose and relayed instructions. It didn’t escape my notice that he kept his face carefully composed as he spoke a certain person’s name.
“Jess left these for you, two now, then another two in six hours.”
I gratefully accepted them. “Has she left?”
Mace nodded. “Yeah, she has work later. She said that she’ll get the roster reworked so you’ve got time off to recover, so you don’t need to rush back. She also left a script for antibiotics for you. Ev’s nipped out to pick them up before you go home.”
“Oh, you all are just too good to me. Thank you, Mace, for everything,” I said sincerely and gave his hand a squeeze. Tears threatened to spring up, and I blinked hard to keep them from welling.
“Hey, that’s what friends and family are for, right? And I know you’d do the same for me, Lil Bean.”
I smiled and handed him back the empty glass, but Mace’s expression looked pained and forlorn.
“Fuck, Lil. I thought we’d lost you. You have no idea how bad that was killing us. I was hurting, but seeing Gage… He was in a bad way when we couldn’t find you at your house. He loves you, you know.”
I smiled and gripped Mace’s hand. He squeezed back with both of his engulfing mine.
“I know, he told me.”
Mace’s brows rose. “This morning?”
I nodded. “And last week, before he left.”
“Did that go down okay?” he asked, studying my reaction.
“It did. I, ah, I said it back,” I confessed and felt the blush creep onto my cheeks.
“We’ll I’ll be damned,” Mace chuckled. “I must say that I predicted you two getting together. I haven’t seen him hot under the collar over a woman in a very long time.”
“Since Lotte?” I whispered.
Mace’s eyes flared then narrowed. “Since Lotte,” he confirmed.
We remained silent for a couple of seconds as the memory of Lotte was acknowledged then filed. Mace dashed a shy glance at me before speaking.
“So... Jess is, er... nice.”
His eyes narrowed at the sound of me holding in a giggle.
“Jess is gorgeous, both inside and out, which I couldn’t help but notice you noticing.” I leaned forward to fist bump his bicep. “Mason Westbrook, I do believe you have a bit of a crush for my boss.”
He fought the smile tugging at his lips and tilted the glass in my direction.
“I do believe I like you better when you are asleep, Lil Bean. Anyway, I actually came in because I need to get going. I’ll visit soon, okay.”
I nodded and thanked him again, then watched his retreating back leave the room.
~
“Yol, Lil, I know you’re awake, I can fucking see your lips twitching. Plus, I bought M&Ms.”
At those words, my eyes flew open. “Get your ass in here, Travis,” I called.
It was day three of my recovery, and I needed some of Trav’s personality to boost my mood. My back was killing me from being horizontal for most of the days and nights, but I was simply too exhausted and depleted to gather the strength to move downstairs. Gage had been by my side the last couple of days, and today Kimmie was here to lo
ok after my sorry ass for a day or two.
“Kimmie said it would be okay to come say hi…?”
I smiled. “You know it is. Just don’t get too close, I haven’t showered today.”
Trav chuckled and shook the bag of M&Ms as he made his way across the room. He perched beside me and bent his knee on the bed to face me better. The joviality in his expression faltered when his eyes skipped over my black and blue face before dropping to my bandaged arms resting on top of the blankets. The crease between his brows deepened before his mouth parted to speak.
“Don’t, Trav.”
His eyes snapped to mine, and a beat passed before his grin returned.
“Oh, I was gonna open these, but since you’ve just said no…”
I tried to kick him from beneath the blankets.
He chuckled. “Good to see you’re getting some of your pep back.” Trav ripped the bag open and flicked the discarded top over his shoulder. “Kimmie can pick that up. Make her earn her keep,” he winked.
I scoffed and held out my hand so he could pour the candy-coated chocolate into my palm.
“Pick what up?” Kimmie asked as she entered with hot drinks.
“The mess I make here instead of in my own home.”
“Typical! Here, drink this and get out,” she teased, thrusting a mug his way.
“So, what’s the occasion?” I asked after gratefully accepting painkillers and coffee from Kimmie.
Trav’s expression darkened a little again and his brows pulled in as he took a sip of hot beverage.
“There is none, just stopping by to say hi to my girls.”
Both Kimmie and I snorted, causing Trav’s scowl to deepen.
“You scared me, Lil. Scared the shit out of all of us.”
“I know, Travie…”
He refilled my hand and offered M&Ms to Kimmie. After crunching his down, he reached for my hand and hooked the top of his fingers over mine. The caring touch was an unusual display of affection from Trav. Sure, he was handsy and physical most of the time, but his soft and intimate side seldom came through; and only did when he was truly worried.
“No, Lil, you don’t. You have no idea how hard it was to sit on my hands while the others were out looking for you. It killed me and Kimmie to have to sit around waiting for information to trickle in, not knowing how long it would take to find you, or if they’d even be able to...”
My voice was tight and it was painful to speak. “Trav. I’m so sorr-”
He pressed an M&M against the non-swollen side of my lips to shush me. “All I’m saying is that I’m so fucking glad we got you back.”
I focused on his tattooed arms and got an idea. “Well, I guess I can always get tattoos to cover the scars…”
Trav beamed a smile again. “Shit yeah you can, ‘bout time you got some ink on that virgin skin of yours.”
“I honestly don’t know if I could handle the pain. I almost knocked a guy out when he pierced my nipple!”
Kimmie laughed at the memory. I glared at her, still mildly resentful over losing our bet.
“Ha!” Trav crunched. “It’s not anywhere near as painful as that. In saying that, the pain from a tattoo gun can either be hell, or euphoric. For me…” he held up his arm in explanation.
“Tat whore,” I mumbled through a mouthful.
He nodded with a cheeky grin. “Tat whore.”
“More than a tat whore,” Kimmie muttered under her breath.
Trav pegged an M&M at her. “Hoy! Whoa back, lil’ Kim, ain’t nothing wrong with appreciating a woman or two.” He wiggled his brows and munched with his mouth open, making me laugh.
“Oh, Trav, don’t ever change for anyone. Even the woman that will one day steal your heart when you least expect it.”
Trav scoffed. “Uh huh, I doubt that.”
The three of us paused and listened as someone entered the house.
“Lil? Kimmie?”
“Upstairs,” Kimmie called.
“There’s a party in Lil’s bed and you’re invited,” Trav added.
Footsteps sounded on the stars along with a cheeky chuckle before Nico appeared in the doorway. He was in uniform and had his beret tucked into the waistband of his pants.
“Hey guys. I finished early for the day so detoured on my way home. Sorry I couldn’t get here sooner, pre-deployment is insane,” he said, coming into the room.
I met his green eyes as he sat on the end corner opposite Trav.
“It’s okay, Neek, we understand. When do you leave?”
“Couple of days, all going well. Couldn’t leave without saying goodbye to my homies.”
“Damn right you couldn’t. But seriously, what the heck is up with everyone hanging out on my bed?”
A shout came from downstairs then two sets of footsteps stomped up the stairs. “Have you guys not learned to keep the fucking door locked?”
“Party in Lil’s bed and you’re invited!” Trav hollered back, earning a growl and a chuckle from the latest arrivals.
Gage stormed into the room holding a large glass bowl and glared before being jostled to the side by Mace, who took a running jump and slammed onto the bed beside me.
“Gah! Jeez, Mace! Seriously, why is everyone here? Wait! Do I hear Mickey?”
Sure enough, Mickey appeared in my doorway within beats.
Mace clapped his hands. “Now that we’re all in attendance, Gage, do the honours.”
Gage slapped the bowl down on the bed and pulled out a massive bag of M&Ms from his jacket pocket. They dinged against the glass as he poured them in. Mace shuffled beside me and extracted a bag from his jeans then tossed them at Gage. Everyone else followed suit—apart from Trav.
“Mine have been consumed already.” He cast his blame-laced eyes my way.
Flicking him off, I smiled when Gage picked out a couple of yellow ones and tossed them into his mouth. Seeing me catch his action, he gave me a smouldering smirk that instantly heated my cheeks.
“This is the last time the entire crew will be together for at least six months. We can’t have a party to farewell Neek, given Lil Bean’s state of affairs, so we decided to come here today to let you know how much we all love you, Lil, and also put the hard word on Neek that he’d better fucking come home in one piece.” Mace leaned towards me and spoke under his breath. “Those M&Ms should last you at least a week!”
I poked my tongue at him in an effort to hide how overwhelmed I was by them all being here. Tears blurred my vision of the people who meant the most to me, and I focused on the lone M&M between my fingertips as I fought for composure.
“Right,” Gage barked. “Everyone down stairs so I can help Lil get sorted. We’ll be down in a few.”
The crew filed from the room without a single murmur of complaint. When the door clicked closed, Gage rounded the bed and kissed me tenderly.
“Hey, beautiful, you look like you’ve got a bit more energy, but are you up for this?”
I dashed away a tear. “I’m always up for spending time with the people who matter the most.”
He halted my movement as I flung back the covers. “One exception.”
Confusion had me frowning, and Gage’s features softened slightly. “I carry you downstairs, Sunshine.”
I scoffed despite agreeing without hesitation. “You’ve got yourself a deal, Batman.
FORTY
GAGE
THE EVENTS OF last week rocked me to the core and had me questioning my entire life the way it was. Why was it that it always took a crisis to realise just how precious life was and just how much people meant to you? I still felt physically ill thinking about how close I had come to losing Lil. I wasn’t yet one hundred percent over losing Lotte—I didn’t know if I would ever be—so to lose another woman I loved would have decimated me completely.
For the second time in my life, my heart and soul were owned by someone who deserved every second of happiness. Before Lil crashed into my existence, I had resigned myself to living out
the rest of my days on my own.
Now that I’d been given a second chance, I was going to take it and hold on tighter than ever before. It was time to man up and tell Lil my story, the entire story, of why I came to Auckland and why I needed to briefly return to Tauranga.
It was something I didn’t want to relive, however, I had to set the last of my skeletons free in order for us to wholeheartedly move forward.
Lil tried to broach the subject of our misunderstanding on the afternoon after her abduction as I drove her home, but I refused to say one word about it—for both our sakes. She was in pain, sleep deprived, and hopped up on painkillers. Likewise, I was lacking sleep and, in all honesty, only cared about the fact that she was there beside me, although harmed, still alive.
Kimmie had hung out with Lil for a few days after the crew’s farewell for Neek, and I returned to work at the girls’ insistence. Today being the weekend, I had woken beside Lil in her bed and knew we had the house to ourselves with nowhere to be for the next two days. It was the perfect opportunity to sit down with Lil and clear the slate.
I was up early cooking pancakes with bacon, bananas, maple syrup, blueberries and ice-cream. My heart skipped a goddamn beat when I felt Lil’s bandaged arms weave around my waist and carefully pull me into her. I closed my eyes and smiled, just like every other time I did when she did this.
“Mornin’, Sunshine. How’s the pain?”
“It’s okay at the moment, I just took more meds.”
“I wasn’t expecting you up already.”
The tip of her nose pressed into my bare back. “I missed you,” she murmured after a deep inhale.
A content chuckle rumbled in my chest. “I missed you too. Hungry?”
“Ravenous.”
My eyes flew open at a new sensation. “Er, babe, did you just lick me?”
Her giggle made me smile again. “I licked it, so now it’s mine.”
“I was always yours, right from the moment you swooned at my feet.”