Page 3 of Send It
Lincoln
“Good morning,” Mom says over the rim of her coffee cup as I pad into the kitchen for breakfast.
“Morning,” I smile. “Do you know where the ibuprofen is?”
Her smile fades, “Should be in the bathroom cabinet. Are you okay?”
“Sure, I’m just a little sore. I hit the dirt a little harder than I thought.” I lie, knowing damn well there’s a giant bruise in the shape of Africa on my side.
“Okay, well if you need to go to the doctor let me know. We can ride into town.”
I lean down, kissing her head before walking into the bathroom. “I’m fine. I promise.”
With every stride to the bathroom the pressure on my leg sends a sharp pain to my hip, but I’m trying my best not to limp until I’m out of Mom’s sight.
I open the bathroom door and Colson stands in the middle of the floor with a towel wrapped around his waist. I jump backward, my cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
“I’m a little naked here, baby Bane.” He smirks, not bothering to cover up anymore of his beautiful caramel skin.
“Lock the damn door, Colson.”
“Nah,” he smiles, grabbing his toothbrush off the sink. “I like watching you gawk at me.”
I scoff, “I’m so not gawking at you. I just need some ibuprofen.”
Pushing him out of the way, I open the cabinet, searching for the medicine. I see it, and of course it’s on the top shelf. It’s out of my reach but I’ll be damned if I ask him to get it.
I feel his body press into the back of mine, as he reaches from behind me over my head to grab what I need. When he pulls the medicine down, he whispers in my ear, so close that I feel his lips against my flesh. “If you want something from me, just ask.”
I feel the teeny-tiny hairs on the back of my neck stand up, as his warm breath glides down my neck before he pulls back. I can think of quite a few things I want from him, but I don’t give him the satisfaction.
“Fine,” I sass. “Colson, will you pretty please get the fuck out of my house?”
He chuckles deeply, grabbing my chin between his thumb and forefinger, “We both know you like it when I stay over. Otherwise, you’d have nothing to stare at.”
I roll my eyes at him and stomp my way back into the kitchen to get some water. He’s not even worth arguing with. I need to get to work so I can get home this evening and train.
“Find it?” Mom asks, rinsing some dishes in the sink.
“Find what?” Dad asks, coming in the back sliding glass door. He spends most of his mornings in the shop.
“Lincoln needed some ibuprofen,” she states.
Dad stares at me, like he’s trying to crack some sort of code. “You alright?”
“I’m fine,” I lie. “I told mom, I’m just sore.”
Colson strides into the kitchen, fully clothed. Thank God.
“She has a nasty bruise on her hip, so I told her to ice it.”
Damn it, Colson .
“Let me see,” my dad demands, closing the distance between us. I pull my shorts down a bit so he can see the top part of the monstrous purple beast.
“You need to have that checked out, Linc. It needs an x-ray.”
I shake my head, “It’s fine, Dad, really.”
“She hit the dirt pretty hard,” Colson adds. “It wouldn’t hurt, Linc.”
I’m going to murder him. He knows how my dad reacts to an injury. He’ll make me pause training to heal, and I don’t want another setback. I shoot him a hateful glare.
“He’s right,” Dad says. “Make an appointment, Kate.”
I look at mom, begging her to argue but she doesn’t.
“What are ya’ll in here yelling about?” Reiss says, his hair still messed up from sleeping.
“They are dragging me to the doctor for no reason,” I huff, and Colson crosses the room yanking my shirt up and the side of my shorts down.
“Fucking hell, Linc. You should go, that could be fractured.”
“I should be training,” I sneer.
“You aren’t touching a dirtbike until you are cleared by a physician.” Dad says, and then grabs a muffin, non-chalantly walking back outside. Like my training doesn’t mean shit.
Pissed off, I stomp up the stairs, the best I can with my good leg, trying to make sure that Colson hears it. I rummage through my drawers trying to find my Lakeside t-shirts from last summer, and pull one over my head.
“Where are you going?” Reiss asks, barging into my room and leaning against the doorframe.
“I have a shift at Lakeside with Stassie.”
He shakes his head, “You need to listen to Dad. If something is wrong, you need to know.”
“I’m fine, Reiss.” I snap. “Colson is pissing me off, he needs to mind his own damn business.”
Reiss shakes his head, “What is wrong with you, Linc? Colson cares about you. He’s only looking out for your best interest.”
I feel my face heat with anger, “He’s not looking out for anyone but himself, Reiss.”
“He loves you, Lincoln. We all do. Just suck it up and go to the doctor with Mom, I’ll cover your shift.”
Quietly, I nod in agreement. Reiss can make me do almost anything, and when he whips out the “I love you, little sis” card, it’s all I can do to think straight. He doesn’t say it often but he means it.
When I make it to the bottom of the stairs, Mom is on the phone with a client. She runs a salon in town, and stays pretty booked out.
“Yeah, I can be there in twenty minutes,” she says, ending the call. “A waterline has burst at the salon. I need to go check it out.”
“That’s fine, we can go to the doctor tomorrow,” I smile, having every intention of sneaking off to ride.
“I’ll take her,” Colson buds in. “I’m going into town anyway to see my Nana.”
She smiles, quickly hugging him, “Thank you, hon. Is that okay with you, sweetheart?”
I stare at her, screaming ‘no’ inside my head, but I don’t want her to feel like she can’t go to the salon because of me. So I nod, “Sure.”
She hugs me and grabs her bag off the table, rushing to her car. “Reiss, tell your father I’ll be back later.”
The three of us watch her walk outside, and the second the door shuts, I turn to Colson.
“I can drive myself.”
He stares at me, his jaw tightening. “Or you could just shut up and get in the car.”
Reiss shakes his head, “You guys are so exhausting. I’m going to Lakeside, call me after the doctor.”
He exits the room and it’s like the tension between us stretches even farther. Colson moves to me, and bops his finger on my nose, “Come on, baby Bane. Your chariot awaits.”