Page 51 of Beyond Repair, Part One (Damaged Duet #1)

Kai

" D o you think she's doing okay?"

Henry's question throws me off a little. He's always been the one to sense things like that. Sometimes I wonder if he has a little magic, not just in his pants, but it really feels like he's connected to something greater .

Trevor crosses his arms and disrupts my thoughts. "She needs more fucking sunscreen."

Henry cocks his head as if he can tell how many layers of sunscreen she has on her bare arms and legs through the glass door. I roll my eyes. "Chill, cavemen. And I think Nina's doing great, Hen. Why do you ask?"

"Don't know," he mutters, further increasing my anxiety. "She just seems like... good , you know?"

"No, I don't know." I frown, turning him toward me and Trevor so we can talk about this. "What's wrong with good ?"

Running a hand through his dark curls, Henry looks flustered and a flustered Henry means it's time to give him more support.

After that first year of the four of us spiraling after Nina went missing, Will sat us all down and reminded us Nina wouldn't want us losing ourselves.

Since then, we've fallen into a natural habit of taking turns with big feelings.

Sure, we overlap every few months, but we've learned the best ways to support each other.

With Trevor, he needs a firm hand, kind of similar to Ridge. Where Ridge needs someone to push him out of the past, Trev needs a slap of reality. I usually need a hug and someone to lean on and we have to tug Hen back to the present lest he get lost in future what ifs.

"What happens when she regresses again, like when something triggers her, because it will happen. The fall is going to be so far because she's so high right now."

"Baby..." I interrupt his panicked rambling with a tight hug.

With my fiancé wrapped in my arms and my woman sun bathing out on her patio with more skin showing than she ever would have dared a few weeks ago, all feels right in the world.

Seeing Ridge out there tickling her bare tummy gives me all the warm fuzzies that this is going to work.

"He has a point." Trevor sounds pained, and when I look over, I see him frowning pretty damn hard. "Shit, we can't let her fall."

Henry pushes back from me a few inches and gives Trev an exasperated look. "Nina's going to fall, Trevor. Everyone falls."

"I won't let her," Trev retorts with his teeth clenched and posture rigid.

Keeping an arm around Henry, I reach the other one toward Trevor and snatch his T-shirt. With a hard yank, he stumbles into us with a curse and some choice words about my asshole.

"Hush," I tease and wrestle him under my arm so the three of us are in a small huddle. "Stop being all daddy and listen to what I have to say."

Henry chuckles and quickly hides his smirk when the big guy glares at him. To me, he snarls, "Don't ever call me that again."

"Yes sir," I nod enthusiastically and bow my head. Henry laughs again, making me feel like a king.

"Kai," Trevor warns, but he's not fighting our little three-way hug anymore.

"Calm down," I groan and give him a squeeze before releasing all that muscle. I keep Henry tucked close to my side as I give Trevor the reality check he needs. "Nina's going to fall, just like we do. But we'll be there to help her catch herself. She's strong?—"

"The strongest," Trevor agrees softly, his eyes trailing back to Nina currently getting peppered with kisses by Ridge.

I glance at Henry and notice he's also hanging onto my every word. "We're here to lighten the load, not lift her up. Neen has proven time and time again that she can stand on her own. So when she falls, we'll remind her just how capable she is and encourage her to stand again."

M y nose leads me to the kitchen and when I see Nina wiggling her hips in front of the stove, my dick propels me forward. Burying my nose in the crook between her shoulder and neck, I relish in her throaty gasp. "Whatcha making, miss flora?"

"It's a surprise, fauna." She bounces on her toes, and I swear to fuck I'm going to come in my pants.

Groaning, I kiss her neck. "Keep wiggling your hips like that and you're going to get a surprise." Throwing caution to the wind, I grind my erection into her pert ass.

"Kai!" Nina's left hand flies up to grab the microwave. "Hot. The stove is hot."

Pulling my weight off of her, I panic. "Shit!" I pick her up and swing her around until her ass is on the cold island. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry, I wasn't thinking."

Fuck, I'm such an idiot. I see no injuries, or burn marks, but that doesn't mean I didn't scare her. How could I be so stupid?!

"Hey." The hand not holding the ladle touches my cheek, drawing my attention to her pink cheeks and searching gaze. "I'm okay."

My eyes narrow on her obviously heated flesh. "You're red."

"I uh—" Nina shifts and glances down. "I'm embarrassed."

"What?" The hell is she talking about? I almost burned her. "Nina, I almost hurt you and you're embarrassed?"

"Um." She wiggles again and I have half a mind to pull her leggings down to make sure she didn't burn her hips. Then she blurts out a statement that wakes my dick back up. "I liked it! It-it turned me on."

I open my mouth with a smirk, ready to tease her and maybe tease an orgasm out of her. But the ladle presses against my lips, effectively cutting me off.

"Shoot, I hope that wasn't hot." I shake my head in answer to her worry.

"Phew. Okay, no, just don't say anything.

Let me finish making you dinner while you hang with the guys outside, please?

Just ignore that, or you know...maybe we can try again later, but I have a timer on and it's really important?—"

"Okay, flora," I cut off her cute rambling and seal it with a scorching kiss before helping her off the countertop. "I'll see you and your surprise in a bit."

With a wink and a kinky promise, I leave her to it.