Defending Everly (Mountain Mercenaries, #5)(14)

“I will not,” she lied. “And I can’t sleep with you touching me like this.”

“Try,” was his unsympathetic response.

“Ball—”

“Shhhh. I’m exhausted,” he said.

“Then get out of this bed, and go into the guest room to sleep,” she said snarkily.

He inhaled deeply. “You smell good,” he whispered, so softly that Everly wasn’t sure she’d heard him right.

“What?”

“Go to sleep,” Ball said a little louder. “Just try. If you still can’t sleep after a while, I’ll

leave.”

“Fine,” Everly huffed. Anything to get him to let go of her. Having him this close, holding her as securely as he was, made her suddenly want things she couldn’t have. At least not from him. She and Ball were like oil and water. They’d never work out.

But she couldn’t deny that being plastered together on the full-size mattress like they were . . .

felt good. Really good.

She wasn’t sure sleeping with Ball in her sister’s bed was appropriate, but she couldn’t muster up the energy to kick him out.

“I’m scared for her,” she said quietly after a tense silence.

Ball tightened his arms around her and nuzzled her neck gently. It tickled a little bit, but took her mind off her sister for a brief second.

Several minutes went by, then he whispered, “We’re going to find her. I fucking promise.”

It took a lot, but Everly beat back the tears that threatened to fall.

She liked this gentler, more supportive Ball. Too much.

Her entire life, she’d felt as if it was her against the world. But for a moment, just this moment, she felt as if she truly had someone on her side.

Ball knew he was pushing his luck, but he’d watched Everly getting more and more stressed as the evening went on. When she didn’t even get upset after Me-Maw made a slightly suggestive comment about the two of them, he knew she was officially done.

After her grandparents had gone to bed and she’d worried herself sick overanalyzing every word her sister had written on the back of the poster, he’d physically dragged her away and told her in no uncertain terms they were done for the night.

As she went into the bathroom to get ready for bed, he knew she was only humoring him, that the second he fell asleep, she’d sneak out and go right back to obsessing over the poster. So when he’d finished getting ready for bed, he decided to do something he’d never done before.

Oh, he’d slept with women, of course. But generally for sex, and afterward, he’d roll over to sleep on one side of the bed while they stayed on the other. Ball was not a cuddler.

However, the second he’d entered Elise’s room and climbed under the girly comforter on the bed, he’d wrapped his arms around Everly, effectively trapping her. At first he’d done it mostly because the bed was so small—and because annoying her in the process was just a bonus—but the second her warmth seeped into him, he knew he’d made an error in judgment. He liked this a little too much.

He was surprised by how good it felt. How good she felt. He tried not to dwell on that fact, but he could feel every inch of her body against his. He wasn’t aroused, but he felt . . . content. He was also exhausted. He’d used up a lot of energy being stressed over working with a woman, and then trying to figure out where Elise might have gone. He was in a strange city, in a strange house, and he’d had more than his share of being polite and courteous. He just wanted to relax and sleep for a bit.

Somehow, holding Everly in his arms seemed to make all the stress he’d been feeling fade away. She was tense and stiff at first, but the longer they lay there, the more he could feel her relax.

He drew in a deep breath, and the scent of whatever shampoo she used further eased his tension.



After she admitted her fear, Ball whispered, “We’re going to find her. I fucking promise.”

He felt her body tense again, heard a small hitch of breath, but she controlled herself and relaxed once more. In ten minutes, her even inhalations and exhalations told him she’d fallen asleep.

It made him feel good that she’d been able to shut down enough to finally get some rest. Ball had no doubt that she’d be up and raring to go in a few hours. He would be, too, if it was his sister who was missing.

But for now, he relished the quiet of the house with only a muted ticking of a clock somewhere breaking the silence—the feel of Everly against his large frame, as if she were made to be there.

Closing his eyes, Ball ran his thumb over the ring on her right hand. He had no idea what the significance of it was, but he’d seen her turning it around and around and around all night. As if the simple act of touching it calmed her.

He fell asleep with the scent of her in his nostrils and the feel of her in his arms . . . and never slept better.

“I’ve got bad news,” Meat said the next morning when Ball and Everly were sitting at the table after eating breakfast. Everly had tried to tell Me-Maw they would grab something on their way to the school, but she wasn’t having any of it, and had insisted on making them eggs, bacon, and pancakes.

“You need a good meal to start your day. I know you, Ev, you’ll grab crap, and then you’ll be sagging by the end of the day. If you and your man start off with a full belly, you’ll be able to think better.”