CROSS (A Gentry Boys Novella)(39)

“Erin, wait-“

“No!” I shouted. “Now. I need to find him. I need him.”

For a second my tangled thoughts screamed that Stone Gentry was deliberately standing in my way. It seemed he was the reason I wasn’t able to get to Conway. I struck out a blind fist, which he easily caught and forced down.

“Erin!” he yelled, “Knock it off.”

The ink blots were back and they were furious. Stone’s face disappeared behind a particularly fat one and as my shoulder hit the doorframe I realized I was probably going to fall down. Once again Stone caught me, although the spell passed nearly as soon as it started. Still, I let him hold me up and felt his chest underneath my cheek as I leaned on him.

“I can walk,” I muttered when it seemed like he was planning on carrying me again. He kept his arm around my waist as he led me back to the couch.

“I think you need a doctor,” he warned.

“No. I don’t need a doctor.”

He put a hand to my forehead again. “You’re still hot. How long were you out there running around without water in hundred and ten degree weather?”

“I was a little distracted since my boyfriend had just accused me of f*cking his brother.”

Stone sighed and tugged on my sweater. “Take this off.”

I was disgusted. “Seriously?”

He let out a short laugh and rolled his eyes. “I just mean that you need to cool your body down. Believe me, whatever you have, I’ve seen better.”

“Hey Stone, you should also add that to your list of ‘Things never to say to girls’.”

He chuckled. “Stay here. I’ll crank up the air conditioning and get you some more water.”

After he paused to adjust the thermostat Stone disappeared into the kitchen. Reluctantly I shrugged out of my sweatshirt. Then, slowly, I pulled my long t-shirt over my head, leaving me sitting there on the Gentry’s couch in the middle of the afternoon in only my white tank top. It shouldn’t have been such a big deal but to me it was almost the same as sitting there naked. Still, I had to admit that Stone was correct and I started to feel better without all those layers.

Stone returned with another glass of water and an ice compress made out of a yellow dishtowel. He waited while I drank and then ordered me to lie back as he leaned over and covered my forehead with the crude ice pack. I didn’t miss the way his eyes lingered on my body and he swallowed hard.

“Hideous, isn’t it?” I asked.

He was startled. “What?”

I held out my arms, displaying the scars; most faint, some not so faint. “These.”

“Oh.” He shook his head, smiling. “I wasn’t looking at those. I was looking at something else. Two things actually.”

“Stone!”

He shrugged. “What do you expect? I’ve got an eighteen-year-old dick. It makes me look at things like pretty tits even if I’m not allowed to touch them.”

I laughed, long and hard. “You’re impossible.”

Stone cocked his head and watched me for a moment. “And you’re okay, Erin,” he said softly. “You’ll be okay.”

I knew he wasn’t just talking about today. “You think so?”

“I do.” He pulled the ice pack away and lightly pressed his lips to my forehead before gently putting the ice pack back. It was actually sweet, a gesture of friendship and caring. In the context of the moment it didn’t seem sexual or even inappropriate. But it happened at the worst possible time.

Conway must have come in through the side door that leads to the kitchen. We didn’t hear him at all. We didn’t see him until he was standing right in front us, wild-eyed, and grief-stricken. Stone looked at me and I felt the panic that I saw in his face.

After all, what would any reasonable person think of this view? I was lying down with only a flimsy tank top covering my breasts. Stone hovered over me with his shirt off and the button on his jeans still loose.

Of course it wasn’t what at all what it looked like. But how many guilty parties had made the exact same claim?

Conway was broken, utterly crushed. “Damn you,” he sobbed as he backed away from us. “Damn you both to hell.”





CHAPTER FOURTEEN


CONWAY



“Fucking nuts,” I muttered to the mirror. It only answered by continuing to spit back my weary reflection. I’d been in here for too long, ever since I watched Erin run away, right after I accused her of betraying me with my brother.

A fist thundered against the bathroom door. “Get outta there, Gentry!”

I splashed some cold water on my face and shoved the ratty baseball cap back on my head. What had I done? What was wrong with me? I rubbed my eyes, trying to erase the image of Stone’s hurt face from this morning. And then there was Erin’s devastated one from less than an hour ago. These were the two people who meant more to me than anyone. These were the two people who loved me the most in return.

The thought of them together…it was ridiculous. It was absurd. It was a product of my paranoid imagination. It was f*cking nuts.

“Gentry!” The complaint on the other side of the door returned, along with another volley of battering knocks. When I opened up I saw Booster standing there, hopping from foot to foot with a pained expression.