Page 32 of My Ex-Best Men (Ex Marks the Spot #4)

***Claire***

G etting everyone tucked away into the appropriate treatment rooms while avoiding the guys, especially Will, had been stressful.

At times it felt like herding cats but all that was over.

The spa staff would take care of the rest and I was finally alone in a mud bath.

Todd, a super nice guy with a dragon tattoo that peeked out of his salon uniform top, had assisted me into the thick mud and dimmed the lights in the solo room.

I didn’t have to worry about anything for a while.

I just had to sink back in the mud and ignore the thoughts in my head about where the mud came from and if there was a chance of there being worms in it.

Each time my mind tried to conjure up the image of Madeline clinging to Will’s chest, the two of them gazing into each other’s eyes, I decided thinking about the potential worms would be better.

I started to wish I’d brought my cellphone with me after just a few minutes.

I had nothing to distract myself with and that was a scary place to be when I had a lot of things I was avoiding.

When I heard the door open and shut, I was so happy that Todd was back to free me from my mud prison that I had the biggest grin on my face. “Thank god, you’re here. I was about to lose my mind.”

“I’m here, Claire. Don’t worry.”

My eyes flew open. Instead of Todd, I was staring up at Jordan. I gasped and nearly choked on the thick scent of clay and eucalyptus. “What are you doing in here? Get out, Jordan!”

He dropped his towel and revealed he was only wearing a very small banana hammock. There were untamed hairs sticking out of each side of the hammock and I was horrified as it all came at me. “Coming in, babe.”

I surged forward, eager to forgo my mud bath, but nothing happened. I grunted as the thick mud held me captive. “This is not happening.”

Jordan lifted his leg and dipped his toe in.

I screamed for Todd like I was being murdered. I couldn’t fight against the mud and I was about to be trapped in it with Jordan. “Todd! Todd, get me out of here! Jordan, don’t you dare! If you get in here with me, I’m going to make you eat all the mud in this tub, worms and all!”

“There are worms in there?”

“Todd!” I screamed so loud that I knew half the spa had to have heard me. I couldn’t even get my arms lifted high enough to shove Jordan’s leg away from me. I was just stuck in what quickly felt like quicksand, slowly panicking more and more as Jordan dipped more and more of his foot in next to me.

The door behind Jordan burst open but instead of Todd, it was Will who came to my rescue. He took one look at the situation and charged at Jordan. “You sick son of a bitch!”

Jordan yelped and managed to get his foot out of the mud while I was still stuck, sweating from how hard I was working to get free.

Will charged at Jordan and they both slipped in the mud and went down.

I watched in horror as Will slammed a fist into Jordan’s stomach and Jordan elbowed Will in the face.

Adrenaline made me fight even harder to get free and I managed to get one arm out. I threw a huge clump of mud at Jordan and clung to the side of the tub when the mud tried to suck me back in. “Todd!”

Everything happened in a blur. Will and Jordan wrestled on the tile floor, slinging mud everywhere, and I added to it by screaming for help while simultaneously clawing my way out of the tub like a demon in a horror film.

Jordan was taking the worst of the hits but it didn’t help that when Will slipped in the mud, Jordan just threw himself on top of Will, elbows first.

“Stay the fuck away from her!” Will pinned Jordan to the mud-covered floor and hit him once, twice, and-

The door flew open again and Todd screamed at the mess he saw.

Of course, my screaming had brought more than just Todd to the room to see what was going on.

Anthony and Jake ran in to separate Will and Jordan but they slid in the mud, too.

Sophia was behind them, her eyes wide as she took in everything.

“Knock it off!” Jake slapped Jordan on the forehead and pried Will off of him. “What the fuck is going on?”

“Help me!” I was half in-half out of the tub and I wasn’t a huge fan of everyone converging on the room while my ass was straight up in the air. “I’m stuck!”

Sophia and Todd managed to pull me the rest of the way out with Todd wincing as he apologized. “I don’t know why the mud is so thick. I’m so sorry.”

“He was trying to climb in the tub with Claire while she was screaming for help and telling him no!” Will was red in the face, in the places where he wasn’t brown from the mud, anyway.

He was still livid as he stood up and slid his way over to me.

He cupped my face and tilted my face up to his.

“Are you okay? You scared the shit out of me. Tell me you’re okay. ”

My heart lurched into my throat at the concern on his face.

It was easy to forget everything else when he looked at me like that.

I nodded and brought my hand up to press his more firmly into my cheek.

I just needed a second. “I’m okay. I was just trapped and he tried to get in. I’m okay now, though.”

Will bent forward and picked me up, bridal style.

I slid against his bare chest and coated him in even more mud but he didn’t seem to mind as he carried me out of the mud-covered room and towards the exit.

“I could kill that motherfucker. You sounded terrified, baby. I don’t ever want to hear you scream like that again. Jesus.”

I pressed my face into his neck. “I’m sorry. I just couldn’t move and the idea of being stuck in the mud with that jerk was a nightmare. I didn’t mean to cause a scene, though. I feel horrible. I should go back and offer to clean the room.”

“What the hell is going on?” Sophia’s voice sent a chill down my spine. Will stopped just outside of the spa entrance and turned to face his sister. Sophia’s face was red and blotchy, the same kind of red and blotchy she always got when she was furious. “Someone better start talking right now.”