Naked Edge (21 page)

Skylar shakes her head. “I just want to brush my teeth. I’ll shower when I get home.”

“Do you have someone to help you bathe?”

Skylar glances at me then blushes. “I think so.”

Hell, yeah. I get hard just thinking about it, which is wrong on so many levels but I’m a sick bastard and Skylar is much more than just a patient. I press against the bedrail, trying to hide my erection from the overly observant nurse.

“I just need to check your vitals and go over a few things with you then I’ll get out of your hair.” She does a typical exam then hooks a foot around the rolling stool and sits beside Skylar’s bed. “Your doctor will give you a prescription for pain meds. Take them as directed for the next four days whether you think you need them or not. He’s switching you to an oral corticosteroid until you can handle using your Albuterol inhaler and recommending you use a nebulizer for acute symptoms. Do you have a nebulizer?”

Skylar shakes her head. “I’ll just suck it up and use my inhaler if I need it.”

Shit. Using any sort of inhaler is going to hurt like hell. Fuck that. “We’ll pick one up before we leave.”

Skylar closes her eyes. “I can’t afford anymore medical expenses. I’ll never pay off these bills as it is.”

“Don’t worry about it now. We’ll figure something out.” I know she doesn’t want my help but I’m at least going to buy the damn nebulizer.

“To prevent pneumonia, you need to take at least one deep breath every hour, no matter how much it hurts, while you’re awake. No heavy lifting or strenuous exercise for four weeks.” The nurse pauses and shifts her gaze to me. “That includes sexual activity.”

My ears burn as I give her a curt nod. I know what is and isn’t allowed with rib injuries. At least Skylar’s ribs are just bruised and not broken or cracked.

“You also need to rest that brain of yours. No reading, studying, texting, video games or puzzles until all your symptoms disappear.”

“Classes start in a few weeks.”

“You’ll probably be okay by then. If not, get your doc to write a note excusing you.”

“I’ll be sure she follows her doctor’s orders.” My heart sinks as I remember Anna’s orders. I’ll sneak over to Skylar’s as often as I can and make sure Boone knows what to look out for in a patient with a brain injury, bruised ribs and asthma. It’s not ideal, but it’s as good as it’s going to get until I can get rid of Anna.

Cherri and Wade stop by with a get well card, a bouquet of helium balloons and a sack of clean clothes while we’re waiting around for the doctor. Those two may have different religious beliefs but they both have hearts of gold. I hope they can figure things out.

I keep my eyes trained on the floor as I help Skylar step into the sundress Cherri loaned her. It hangs loose from skinny little shoestring ties on her shoulders, perfect for her bruised ribs. She didn’t even have to raise her arms to put it on. I kneel on the floor in front of her and slip my hands up under her dress to help her change her underwear. Her skin is soft as silk. My dick is hard, but all I want to do is take care of Skylar and protect her.

Rowdy’s quiet as he cleans and puts away my new nebulizer. He refused to tell me what happened with Anna until I was hooked up to the machine he insisted on buying.

He kneels beside my bed. “Can you ever forgive me?”
 

“There’s nothing to forgive. Anna basically tried to rape you.”

His eyebrows shoot up. “I didn’t think of it like that, but you’re right.”

“I just wish you hadn’t tampered with the evidence.” I was prepared to go to the police and tell them everything. But not if it means getting Rowdy and Wade into trouble. “I think we should destroy the evidence. According to Derek, it’s useless anyway. We can pretend we have no idea what happened to it. Let the cops assume Anna came back and tried to clean up the crime scene. There’s bound to be a few bits and pieces left over.”

“An investigation of the scene will just as likely turn up evidence that Wade and I messed with shit.”

“What are we going to do?”

“Whatever we have to.”

“Anna’s going to want you to sleep with her tonight.”

“I know.” Rowdy’s voice cracks.

I take his hand and tug him closer. “Do everything in your power not to, but if there’s no other way…”

“I’d rather die.” Rowdy buries his face in my mattress. His head nestles against my waist, opposite my bruised ribs.

“Don’t say that. Don’t even think it.” I comb my fingers through his hair. “It’s just sex. I know you don’t love her.”

“Love her?” Rowdy lifts his head. “I fucking hate that bitch.”

Rowdy has the strongest sense of loyalty of anyone I’ve ever known. He could have turned Keith in for abuse when he was a kid and saved himself from a lifetime of beatings, but his mother begged him not to. He openly claimed Boone as his best friend all through high school, even though doing so was social suicide. He stayed faithful to me for two years after I disappeared. He’s put up with Anna’s dramatics for years.
 

But once his trust is broken, it’s all but irreparable. The only reason he’s giving me a second chance is because leaving was never my choice. I’m not surprised he hates Anna.

Rowdy’s phone alarm goes off. He groans. I want to cry, but I don’t want to make it harder for him.

He kisses my forehead then stands up. “I have to go.”

“I know.” I take his hand and give it one more squeeze.

As soon as the front door closes, Boone clomps up the stairs. He’s off crutches, but still has to wear a walking cast. He puts his hands on either side of my doorframe and leans into my room. “Hey, are you okay?”

Tears pool in my eyes. “Have you ever wanted to kill someone?”

“Besides you, Wade and Rowdy?”
 

“What?”

“Why didn’t someone call and tell me you were hurt?”
 

“I’m sorry. There was just so much going on all at once. Were you worried?”

“I thought you were rolling around in Rowdy’s bed. I had no idea until he brought you home.” Boone grabs the desk chair and scoots it next to my bed.
 

“So, who do you want to kill?” He holds up a hand, palm out. “No, wait, let me guess…
Anna
.”

“I can’t get the image of her forcing herself on Rowdy out of my head. And I can’t come up with a plan to get us out of this mess.” I rub my forehead. “It’s giving me a headache.”
 

“You’re not supposed to be trying to solve problems with your bruised brain, remember?”

“I need a distraction.”

“Want me to tell you a story?”

“What? Like a fairy tale?”

“Exactly like a fairy tale.” Boone clears his throat. “Once upon a time a handsome young prince lived in a beautiful canyon.”

“Canyon? Not kingdom?”

“Do you want to hear the story or not?”

“I’d prefer to hear the real version. The one where you’re not a prince.”

His knee bounces like a sewing machine needle. “Can I still be handsome?”

Boone’s always been vain about his looks. I decide to appeal to that vanity in hopes of calming him down.

“I can’t imagine you as anything but.”

His leg slows down but doesn’t stop bouncing completely. “I have a secret.”

“Do you want to share it?”

“Yes…and no.” He takes a deep breath then lets it out slowly. “It’s my fault that Mom and Dad died.”

“It was a car accident, Boone. You weren’t even driving.”

“They shouldn’t have been on the road.” He swipes a tear off his cheek. “I was at a friend’s house up the canyon. We had too much to drink and got into a horrible fight. I wanted to leave, but was too drunk to drive so I called Rowdy. He didn’t answer so I left a voice message, begging him to come get me, then I called everyone else I could think of.” He rolls his eyes. “Which, as you can imagine, was a pretty short list."

Unless things changed dramatically after I left, there wasn’t a list at all. I’m surprised Boone was actually at someone else’s house. That means he had another friend besides just Rowdy. “Who was the friend you were visiting?”

“It doesn’t matter. What we had is over.”

Sounds like it might have been a girl.

“Anyway, my fucking heart was shattered so I ended up calling Dad and asking him to come get me.”

Definitely a girl.
 

“Dad had taken some cold medicine earlier that made him too drowsy to drive.”

“Was it dark?” Aunt Lori had horrible night vision and never drove after sundown unless it was an emergency.

Boone nods. “It was about two o’clock in the morning and raining. Dad couldn’t drive, but he came with her.”

Now I understand where the guilt is coming from. I take Boone’s hand and hold the back of it against my cheek, like I used to do when we were kids and someone had been mean to him. “You can stop if you want.”

Boone smiles through his tears. “It actually feels sort of…I don’t know? Freeing? To talk about it.”

“Okay.” My heart hammers my sore ribs but Boone’s pain is obviously just as agonizing so I ignore mine.

He stands up and paces in front of my bed. “Rowdy didn’t answer because he was out on a rescue call. He got my message and tried to call me back but my phone had died. He knew where I was and could tell I was upset so he decided to just come get me, not knowing that Mom and Dad had already picked me up.
 

“I was in the back seat with the window down, trying to keep from puking. Dad was in the front with Mom. We were coming down the canyon while Rowdy was driving up.”

Blood roars behind my ears, but it’s not loud enough to block out the words I don’t want to hear.

“Mom took a corner too fast. We skidded off the wet pavement and rolled down the embankment into South Boulder Creek.” Boone stops pacing. His eyes glaze over.

“We rolled over and over. It went on forever. When we finally stopped, we were upside down in the creek. It was running high with spring melt-off. The force of the water pushed the car upright. Mom was obviously dead but Dad kept patting her face and shaking her, begging her to wake up. Water rushed into the car. I managed to get my seatbelt off, but I couldn’t fight the current. I was trapped in the back seat.”

The corners of Boone’s mouth curve up in a heartbreakingly sad smile. “And then, out of nowhere, Rowdy stuck his head in the front passenger window and shoved a rope at Dad. But Dad refused to take it. He said, ‘get Boone out.’”

A broken sob escapes Boone’s throat. I reach for him, but he shakes his head and steps back, as if he doesn’t feel worthy of my comfort.
 

“Rowdy crawled halfway through my window, cutting himself on the broken glass. He slid a rope around me, under my arms and somehow managed to fight my drunken ass and the current to get me out of the car. He hauled me onto the bank then went back for Dad. But the car rolled over again and disappeared before he got there.”

Tears stream down my face as I picture the scene.
 

Boone sits back down and wipes the tears off my cheek with his thumb. He smiles at me through his own tears. “When they finally pulled the wreckage out of the river, Dad was still holding Mom. He died with her in his arms.”

Boone and I sit in silence, lost in our own thoughts and our own grief.
 

He takes a deep breath then slowly exhales. “I found out later that Rowdy broke all sorts of rules to rescue me. They even considered kicking him out of BMR because of it. It’s a miracle he didn’t get tangled up in the wreckage and drown. I’d never be able to forgive myself if he had. It’s hard enough knowing that Mom and Dad died because I was too drunk to drive myself home.”

“Is that how Anna blackmailed you?”

“What?” Boone frowns then rolls his eyes. “No. She found out that I’m gay.”

“You are?” I feel my eyes widening and blink in an effort to disguise my shock. “Since when?”

Boone chuckles. “My whole life.”

“But…you don’t act gay.”

He crosses his knees and plants a palm on his cheek. “Not all gays follow the stereotype.”

He uncrosses his legs and relaxes back into his normal slouchy posture. “I fought it for years, but it just got to be too hard.”

“Are you out?”

“I’m working on it.”

“How did Anna find out?”

“The only thing I can think of is that she overheard Rowdy and me discussing it. He’s the only straight person I’ve ever told. Except for you.”

I make it back to the house five minutes before Anna does. She must have skipped out of work early. I’ll have to be more careful in the future. I’m sitting in the living room, sipping on a much needed Coors, when I hear her tires crunching on the gravel out front.

She doesn’t even get all the way inside the house before she starts making demands. “Put the beer down and let’s go.”

I take another long pull. “Go where?”

She puts her fists on her hips. “To your room.”

I tip my head back and belch, loud and long. Maybe if I’m gross enough, she won’t be so eager to get in my pants. “I’m a little old to be sent to my room.”

“We need to talk.”

I need to stall. “How about we go out to eat first?”

“Really?” She clasps her hands under her chin and grins. “Like on a date?”

I stand up and grab my keys off the hook by the door. “Call it what you want but let’s go. I’m hungry.”

I take her to The Sante Fe Grill in Louisville and order their cheese and onion enchiladas with extra cheese and onions.
 

Anna scowls at me. “You’re lactose intolerant.”

“Life’s short. I want to live a little before I die.” And if I get the runs, there’s no way she’ll be able to get me hard. She hasn’t forced an erection yet, but friction is friction and I don’t trust my dick to obey my heart. It’s got a mind of it’s own. I’m still in charge of when and how I use it, but it’ll be easier to avoid fucking Anna if I just stay soft.

My stomach’s gurgling before the check comes.
 

When we get home, Anna tries to pull me upstairs to my room.