Page 47

Sorry again if I freaked you out

God, I’m so embarrassed. I cover my face at the thought of what happened earlier. When I close my eyes, I can still see the tattoos on Madden’s muscular chest.

I groan softly as warmth makes its way lower on my body. When will this feeling go away?

I sit up to try and make my way to the bathroom to splash more cold water on my face, but freeze as the aches and pains in my body start screaming at me.

Shoot, I guess I’m a little behind on my pain medication. I don’t have any food in the room, which means I have to make my way downstairs to grab something before I can take it.

It should be okay though, it’s late. Maybe I won’t have to run into any of the guys. Well, at least I hope I don’t run into anyone.

I don’t think I can face any of them right now. Not after failing at providing for them and selfishly thinking about them while touching myself.

I can’t even bring myself to text Madden back and tell him that he didn’t push anything, that he has nothing to worry about and shouldn’t feel bad. I tell myself I can’t text back because it’s so late, but I’m definitely lying to myself. It’s because I’m scared he’ll know what I’ve been thinking about.

With a deep breath and the bottle of pain medication clenched in my palm, I stand from the bed. My knuckles go white around the doorknob, but I don’t hear any sounds from beyond the door, so after a few seconds of trying to build my courage, I open the door and head into the hall.

The walk down the stairs sucks, but I make it to the kitchen.

There’s a pizza box with a sticky note with my name written on it in the fridge, just like Madden said there would be. It’s a whole cheese pizza all for me. For some reason, seeing something they got specifically for me has my hands trembling a tiny bit.

I’m just about to pull it from the shelf when I hear a throat clearing behind me.

I whirl around, jumping out of my skin and knocking into the fridge door. I’m about to fall flat on my face when strong arms wrap around me, pulling me against a strong chest.

The scent of a pine forest wraps itself around me.

“I’m sorry, little one, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he murmurs softly into my hair. He doesn’t set me down just yet, which I’m grateful for, it kind of feels like my legs are about to give out from underneath me.

“It’s—it’s okay, please don't apologize. I’m the one who should be saying sorry, I just wasn’t expecting anyone to be awake, since it’s so late.”

He relaxes his hold so I’m standing, but doesn’t unwrap his arms from around me.

“I have trouble sleeping,” he shrugs. “What are you doing up so late?”

“I just woke up, I came down here because I know I have to eat something with my pain meds,” I shake the orange plastic bottle that I somehow managed not to drop. “I saw Madden’s texts on the tablet he gave me about a cheese pizza.”

“Ah, that makes sense,” Kane says. “May I help you?”

His hand flexes against my waist, stopping my ability to form a coherent sentence for an embarrassingly long time.

“Oh, I—I think I’m fine, it’s alright, I’m alright—” I finally manage to stutter out.

“Please, you must be in pain. It’s been a while since your last dose of meds.”

My feet are killing me, which is why I’m still grateful he’s holding me close and giving me something to lean my weight against.

“O—Okay. Thank you.”

He sweeps me into his arms the moment I give him permission to and sets me gently on one of the barstools. I just sit there and watch as he grabs the pizza box and a plate from the cabinet.

“Two slices good enough for you to start?” He asks.

“Yes, of course, thank you,” I say, nervously clasping my hands in my lap to keep from fidgeting. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do when someone is taking care of me, let alone an alpha with a delicious scent.

The hum of the microwave fills the air as he puts the pizza box back in the fridge and fills a glass of water for me. When our eyes meet from across the counter, he holds my gaze, giving me a soft smile.

I shift nervously, praying that he can’t read my mind. The shame of all the indecent thoughts I had of the entire pack earlier weighs heavy on my shoulders. At least Madden wasn’t the one awake. I don’t think I could stand making eye contact with Madden right now, considering he was there when my slick gushed out of me.