#Rev (GearShark #2)(22)

Once we were both clean (some parts cleaner than others wags eyebrows), I shut off the water and, to his frustration, helped towel-dry him.

“I’m not a damn invalid,” he griped.

“Here, put on my underwear.” I thrust the black boxers at him.

Once we were both dry and wearing boxers, I pushed the hair off his face and made him sit so I could re-bandage his forehead.

I sort of wished he’d gotten stitches. It probably would have healed faster.

“Hey,” he rasped, grabbing my wrist and pulling it down. When my eyes met his, he said, “It’s fine.”

I didn’t say anything, just finished applying some more antibacterial cream and another butterfly. Since he wasn’t leaving this house today, I didn’t bother with another large bandage over it, figuring the air would be better.

I dabbed a little more cream on various other scrapes and cuts. Then we both got dressed.

I was right. Seeing him in my shirt—my favorite shirt—was going to drive me crazy all day. The boxers might be his sweet torture, but watching his shoulders ripple beneath my shirt was mine.

The strength in his body was quite the turn-on.

“Yo!” Braeden called up from downstairs. “Get your gay asses down here!”

“Go ahead.” I opened the door and motioned for T to go first. “I’m gonna grab the pain reliever out of the bedroom and bring it down.”

He was still moving slow, but not as slow as when he first got up.

He was just stepping off the stairs when I jogged down. Without any thought at all, I hooked an arm around his waist and offered some support, moving toward the living room. He didn’t lean on me, but he did grab the back of my shirt and bunch it in his hand.

In the living room, four sets of eyes turned on both of us. My feet stalled a little when I realized they were watching us… It was the first time we’d touched each other as more than friends in front of anyone.

And no, there was nothing even seductive about it. It was more me trying to help him move, but it was still more than we usually did. The second I reacted to being watched, Trent took it to heart. He let go of the back of my shirt and smoothed it out, cleared his throat, and stepped away.

Part of me was relieved, and that made the rest of me feel ashamed.

Ashamed because I didn’t want to feel apprehensive about being open about how I felt about him in front of others.

“Don’t be shy on our account,” Romeo drawled from the couch. Rimmel was right beside him with her one-eyed black cat Murphy on her lap.

Damn. So much for hoping no one but Trent noticed my reaction.

I glanced around for my sister. She was smiling up at me from the floor where she and Nova were sitting on a big, fluffy blanket. The baby had a toy in her mouth and drool all over her hand. She was adorable.

Ivy gave me an encouraging smile. I reached for Trent’s hand, linking them together. He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. “It’s okay,” he whispered.

“So is this,” I insisted, tightening the hold I had on his fingers and stepping forward, drawing him along with me. Maybe he understood better than I did what just happened. Hell, he seemed to accept it.

I didn’t.

I wasn’t going to do that to him.

To me.

Loving him was nothing to be ashamed of. I wouldn’t put him in a neat little box I only opened when I thought no one was looking. He deserved more.

Braeden got up off the couch where he was lounging and slid into a nearby chair. Everyone already had mugs of coffee in their hands, and I knew Rome wanted to get down to family business, but I needed my damn caffeine.

Coffee was like gas to my car. I simply didn’t start without it.

“I’m gonna grab some coffee,” I told everyone when Trent was on the couch.

In the kitchen, I hurried to grab the brew and a bottle of water. I dumped a few pills into the palm of my hand and abandoned the bottle to the counter.

In the living room, Braeden and Romeo were debating some football play, and I held the pills over the back of the sofa for T to take. Once they were in his mouth, I handed him the water and moved to sit down beside him.

We didn’t touch, but I sat close enough so the sides of our legs were pressed together. He set aside the water, and I sipped at my coffee.

Once I had a little in my system, I handed the mug to him.

He glanced between me and the mug. Then he took it and lifted it to his lips. I knew the second the brew hit his taste buds because his eyes came back to mine.

“This is how I drink it,” he said out of the side of his mouth.

I hid a smile. “I was too lazy to make two.”

I liked sharing my coffee with him. I liked eating off his plate. I liked anything that moved me just one centimeter closer to him.

“You two are like a damn Nicholas Sparks movie,” Braeden announced, and T choked on the coffee he was drinking. “Stop it. We got shit to deal with. People to payback.”

“You watch Nicholas Spark movies?” Romeo asked, blinking at Braeden.

Rimmel giggled.

“Maybe once,” Braeden muttered.

“And you think we’re the gay ones?” Trent goaded him.

I laughed. So did Romeo.

“Oh, for shit’s sake!” he declared. “Ivy was all hormonal. Have you ever told a pregnant woman no?”