Page 44

Damn it, this motherfucker again.
“How do you know my name?” I’m not sure if Sleeping Bowie or Conscious Bowie just spoke but the question still begs an answer. Nothing about the guy who beat the shit out of me felt familiar. Not his eyes, or his voice, or his stature. Not a fucking thing, so how the fuck did he know me?
Just as my mind starts to put the puzzle pieces in place—though it looks more like a Picasso than anything else—my eyes fly open and my body freezes with fear.
The first image I get is Hayes sitting in the chair the guys have been occupying this whole time. Well, except for Hadley. I don’t remember seeing him in my in-and-out moments. Then again, I have no idea how much time has passed because these painkillers are fucking epic.
“Your face is going to get stuck like that. What a shame.” I must still be high if my brain deems it a good idea to speak this way to Hayes.
“Oh, good. You’re awake.” My view of Hayes is interrupted as Orion steps between us, carrying a wooden tray. He places it on a table that looks suspiciously like something in a hospital, with wheels and all. Weirdos. But also kinda sweet. “Got your breakfast and pills here.”
“Aww, you’re such a keeper. Did you steal a hospital table for me?”
“No, we bought it from them.” See? Total keeper.
“Wanna marry me and leave Grumpy and Sadist behind?” Fuck my life, my mouth needs to shut itself up. Like. right the fuck now.
With a grunt, Hayes stands and stalks out of the bedroom while Orion just chuckles, pushing the table over my lap as I sit up, my back against the headboard.
“Does that make you Snow White and me…the prince?” The mirth in his voice is like a thick, warm blanket wrapped around my heart.
“Ew, no. The prince is an idiot. You’re more…Swoony Dwarf.” I frown because that doesn’t sound right. “But not Lord of the Rings Dwarves, those are scary looking.” Please make me shut the fuck up. “Also, I say Dwarvvves not Dwarfffs because that’s how Tolkien said it was supposed to be. I read it somewhere.” I can feel my face scrunching up, the tightness of my split lip and bruised cheek making me flinch. On the plus side, it’s not as painful as the last time I was awake.
“Ah, got it. I’m good with Swoony. Now eat and take your meds.” With gentle hands, he helps me sit up. “Although, I’m guessing they’re still working their magic.” No shit, Swoony. Oh, fuck. Now their nicknames are stuck in my highly medicated brain.
Then I remember and I can’t help snapping my fingers and widening my eyes with delight.
“The foreword in The Hobbit! He wrote that. In his book.” Just kill me now so I can stop this nonsense.
“Right, right.” I feel like he doesn’t care at this point and, really, neither should I. Why the fuck am I still talking about this?
Orion leans over me, taking my tall glass of water in one hand and the pills in the other. These are different from the last ones I took and he must notice my confusion because he chuckles again. I think I may love the sound more than anything. Of the three, he’s the one less likely to murder me and bury me in a hole I had to dig up myself.
Maybe.
“No more painkillers for you, pretty girl. Just regular ol’ Ibuprofen.”
I should be happy about this but I boo him and his rule-following instead. I liked flying high, it made me forget that my life is a fucking dumpster fire.
“Fine but if I’m in pain, it’ll be your fault.” A pang of regret hits my lower belly when I notice the dark shadows cross over his eyes. I can’t imagine he feels responsible for what happened to me… “Oh shit! No, I’m kidding. This is all on me, I promise.” Even though I’m not sure about any of this shit, my words ring true for some reason.
“What do you mean by that? No one deserves to have this”—he waves his index finger around my face as if I need a visual demonstration of what’s been done to me—“happen to them.”
“I wish I knew who it was…” I don’t mean to say the words out loud but it seems I have no control over my mouth these days.
“Me too.” When I look back up at Orion, the darkness is back, and with it, a kind of dangerous fire that feels all consuming. From the slight flare in his nostrils to the tightness in his jaw, I know without a doubt that he’d rip the guy’s head off his shoulders.
Okay, maybe not literally rip, but he’d do some heavy-duty damage, that’s for damn sure.
And I like it.
“See? Swoony.”
“Shut up.” There isn’t a hint of malice in his words and it only makes my belly fill with butterflies.
Just as I take my pills and wash them down with my glass of water, I hear Hayes calling out from somewhere in the apartment.
“Ry! Get over here!”