Page 14

Fourteen

You let them shenan once, you’ll let them shenanigan.

— Text from Aella to Chevy

CHEVY

I was sick as a fucking dog.

So sick, in fact, that I’d called into work for the first time ever.

I was pissed, too, because I just knew that Aella would come in breathing fire for not only stocking her fridge, but buying her shoes and then stealing her vehicle.

Though, she might not have known about the stealing her vehicle thing.

I’d been able to get it from her after she’d gotten off work and return it before she left for work.

Or, more accurately, Copper had.

I’d tried to do all the work with him, but at some point through the night, I’d gone from slightly feeling bad to fully feeling bad.

I was fully aware as a doctor that I could get the fuckin’ flu in the middle of the damn summer, but I hadn’t really expected it to happen.

I blamed my nieces.

Catalina had gone to the doctor because she hadn’t been feeling well, and I’d then had lunch with her immediately after.

It was only discovered later that she had the flu, but at that point it was too late for me. I’d already been exposed.

Sadly, I was the only one in the family besides Catalina that got it.

Which I guess worked out because Catalina needed to be taken care of by her parents, and that wouldn’t happen as easily if they were both sick, too.

Needless to say, I was running a fever, had chills from hell, and was mad.

Three very horrible combinations.

By noon, I’d done nothing but become nauseous because of the rocking of the house underneath me.

Now was one of those times that I questioned why the fuck I lived out on a houseboat on the lake.

I felt so bad, in fact, that I was heading for my truck by two, no longer able to take the rocking anymore.

I somehow drove myself to the clubhouse and managed to grab a donut that was sitting there as well as a couple of bottles of water before heading to my room.

I cranked the heat up to seventy-five and crawled under the covers fully clothed, closing my eyes minutes later and falling into a deep sleep.

It was the raucous laughter and the music that woke me up next.

The bass pounded my skull, and I would’ve gotten up to shut it off if I had the energy.

I was lying there, contemplating opening a bottle of water and snacking on the stale donut when the bass suddenly stopped, giving me immediate relief.

Kind of.

My head still felt like it was filled with cotton, and I was fairly sure that I needed some more meds, but the bass wasn’t making me feel like I was going to explode anymore so…win.

It was the jeering that I could hear that had me frowning hard.

“…those fuckin’ hips! My god.”

I slowly went up onto a forearm and listened to the conversation happening outside my door.

I could only hear when the second man spoke, because his voice was a bit higher pitched than the other.

While I was listening, I stripped my sweaty shirt off and kicked off my boots.

I was in bare feet and sweatpants only when the man next spoke. “All that auburn hair and ass. I’d wrap the long strands around my fist while I fucked her…”

I didn’t expressly remember opening the door.

Nor did I know either of the men standing outside my door.

“Who the fuck are you talking about?” I rasped, throat raw as fuck.

Both men looked at me in startled fascination.

“Um, this chick that showed up,” he said.

“Who are you?” I asked as I pushed past them.

“Um, Robby and Jess,” he offered. “We’re just here for the party.”

I ignored them as I kept walking, fairly sure what I’d find when I got outside.

When I got out to the main room it was to see Webber talking to Doc and a few others, circled around someone.

Not circling her in but talking to her while they surrounded her.

I saw the auburn hair and knew who it was immediately.

Not that I hadn’t suspected before I’d left the room.

I went up to the group and pushed between Doc and Webber, revealing her to my view moments later.

“What’s wrong?” I asked immediately.

She jerked her head up and I saw that she was terrified.

I reached forward and pulled her into my body, glaring at the men of my club over the top of her head.

“What in the fuck?” I asked.

Webber hid a grin as he said, “She wanted to talk to you, but we didn’t know you were here. We were trying to explain how to get to your place.”

I grimaced. “The rocking was making me sick. I had to come here. Parked my truck in the barn out back because it’s supposed to storm tonight.”

Was storming if the sound of rain on the tin roof above my head was any indication.

“Oh.” Webber frowned. “And then two fuckin’ assholes scared the shit out of her by grabbing her since she was ‘unclaimed’ and we were trying to calm her down.”

That pissed me off. “Who?”

“Already dealt with,” Webber said. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Fever, chills, body aches and nausea.” I listed off my symptoms the way any doctor would. “The flu.”

A hand sneaked up the length of my chest and pressed against my forehead.

If I had any energy, I would’ve grinned.

“Have you had anything to drink today?” she asked, ignoring the group and those around us to focus solely on me.

I liked it.

A lot.

“Not much,” I confessed.

“Come on, let’s get you some water, a little bit of food, and some medicine,” she commanded.

“It’s in the kitchen, and I seriously don’t think that I could walk that far even if I wanted to,” I admitted.

“I’ll go.” She shooed me away. “I’ll find you in a second. Head back to bed.”

I liked the take charge nature of her, and I especially enjoyed watching her walk away.

I stayed where I was, swaying lightly on my feet, until she disappeared behind the kitchen counter.

“Better get back to bed before she punishes you,” Webber teased.

I flipped him off and was about to head to bed when another commotion at the door had everyone turning to see what was going on, but I knew that flash of gold hair.

Reign.

With very little energy to deal with her tonight, I left her to my brother, who was in the room somewhere, just not in our immediate vicinity.

I headed back to my bedroom and lay down, being sure to leave the door wide open so Aella could find me.

I wasn’t sure what it was that let me know that someone was in my room, but when I peeked open one eye, it was to find Reign there, and not Aella.

“Go away,” I muttered.

“I…I’m looking for Copper,” she said quietly. “I want to explain. Do you know where he is?”

If he wasn’t in the main room, my guess would be that he was in his room.

Likely not alone.

“Check his room,” I grumbled. “Fourth door on the right.”

“Oh, sorry.” Aella’s voice had me cracking one eye open again to see them squeezing through the door going in opposite directions.

“Sorry,” Reign replied. “Just asking if he knew where Copper was.”

“I think I just saw him in the kitchen, actually,” Aella replied, sounding awkward for a moment.

“Oh, thanks.” Reign left, leaving us alone.

“Close the door so no one else comes in,” I mumbled.

I heard it click quietly closed and barely managed to open my eyes all the way to watch her walking toward me.

She was balancing a few drinks, one of which was in a coffee cup, as she walked toward me.

“What’s in the cup?” I asked.

“Hot toddy,” she answered. “The elderly tech, Noreen, swears by them. I tried it one day a few months ago and I feel like it actually works.”

“Guess I’ll give it a try,” I grumbled as I weakly pushed myself up.

She shoved a few pillows behind my back, propping me up as best as she could, and waited until I was steady to hand me the hot drink.

I carefully sipped it.

“It’s not too bad,” I remarked.

Other than the alcohol being a little tart, the honey gave it a nice sweet flavor.

And the hotness factor soothed my aching throat.

She waited for me to finish before she took the glass from me and said, “Meds next.”

I took everything she handed me with small sips of water, handing the bottle back to her when I was done.

“This sucks,” I grumbled as I leaned farther backward.

“The flu isn’t fun,” she agreed. “Did your niece give it to you?”

“Yes,” I grumbled. “Though she’s faring way better than I am right now.”

“Kids usually do,” she agreed again. “I was actually coming here to thank you.”

I opened my eyes to look at her.

“What for?” I asked.

She crossed her arms over her chest, and if I had the energy, I would’ve grinned.

“Hate to be the bearer of bad moods, but I probably contaminated everything with flu,” I admitted. “You might want to spray some disinfectant on everything.”

She snorted. “If I’m going to get it, it’s going to happen whether I spray that down or not.”

She had a point.

“Sorry,” I apologized. “I truly should’ve read the warning signs. But I didn’t like the idea of you not taking any of that money for yourself.”

She sat on the edge of the bed and I blinked open my eyes, surprised to find them closed.

She looked concerned as she held out a few saltine crackers to me.

“Here.”

I took two of the four she held out and nibbled on them, very aware of the crumb mess that I was making on myself and the bed.

She reached toward me and swept them off the bed as best as she could.

“Thanks,” I murmured as I reached for the water she’d handed me earlier.

She took it from me and twisted off the lid before holding it to my lips.

I took a small sip, then smiled. “You happen to want to stay until that storm passes?”

The music and all sound ceased from the main room.

“I was going to say it’s a bit loud for you to sleep but looks like things just shut down,” she murmured. “I’ll stay for a little bit. It’s really pouring outside.”

“Like cats and dogs.” I patted the bed beside me that was closest to the wall.

She stood up and toed off her shoes.

She started to get on the bed but stopped. “I’m not climbing in the bed with these scrubs on,” she said. “They’re gross.”

I jerked my head toward the floor where I’d taken off my shirt.

She bent down and grabbed it, then disappeared into the bathroom to change.

I once again closed my eyes and only opened them again when the bed depressed beside me.

She crawled up the length of the bed in my t-shirt, and my poor body responded to the beauty in front of me despite being sick as fuck.

I slowly shimmied down until I was mostly flat with my head propped up on two pillows, then gave her one of the ones that had been propping me up.

She curled herself into a tiny ball, and I twisted until I was facing her, my body curving around hers but not quite touching her.

“Sleepy,” I muttered.

She patted my jaw. “Sleep.”