Page 14 of The Ones We Fight For

Finally, Walker stepped forward and easily swept Piper off her feet, cradling her like a baby.

“I’m ssso sssorry,” Piper slurred.

“We’ll talk about it tomorrow. Let’s just get you in bed. Uh…” Walker met Talia’s eyes again in slight panic. “Is she okay? How much was she throwing up? Should I be taking her to the hospital? What—”

“I think she’ll be all right, but I’d monitor her. Do you want me to… I-I mean, I can help her get ready for bed. She’s probably going to need a change of clothes. She didn’t entirely miss her shirt earlier.” Talia pointed to the wet spot on Piper’s chest.

Walker grimaced. “Yes, can you? Otherwise, I’m going to have to wake up her sister to help her, and Pearl is only—”

“Eleven,” Talia remembered, stepping into the house. If she recalled correctly, Walker also had a sixteen-year-old niece, which confirmed her theory that Piper was not of legal drinking age.

“Right.” Walker nodded. “Uh… follow me?”

Talia pulled the front door shut and trailed behind Walker as he hauled Piper up the stairs like she weighed next to nothing. Talia did her best not to notice his extremely toned torso or the way his back muscles worked when he moved around a corner, but dear God. To deter her thoughts, Talia ran through the checklist of reasons she should not be admiring Walker’s body.

He's a jerk. He’s been nothing but rude to you from day one. He’s clearly not doing so hot in the raising children department—but he is definitely doing hot in… other departments.

Walker flicked on the lights to a room Talia assumed was Piper’s and walked over to the queen sized bed in the middle of the room, gently laying Piper down. Piper mumbled out another “sorry” right before lurching over the edge of the bed and vomiting on the wood floor at Walker’s feet. Jumping backwards to avoid the splatter, Walker rammed into Talia. The room turned sideways as Talia's feet searched for the ground, only finding air. Closing her eyes, she prepared to hit the hardwood, only to be caught by a pair of strong hands. When she opened her eyes, she was clutching onto Walker’s arms, which, apparently, he’d wrapped around her to stop her from plummeting to the floor. Frozen, Talia stared up at him in shock. His bare chest, sprinkled lightly with dark hair, was mere inches from her face. One tattooed arm slid to the small of her back as he blinked slowly at her.

“Sorry.” Walker cleared his throat and took a giant step toward the door, away from her, and even further away from the putrid mess on the ground. Talia just nodded stupidly, wondering when she had ever been at such an utter loss for words before.

Say something, literally anything, to move past this extremely uncomfortable situation.

“I assume her clothes are in the dresser?” Talia asked breathlessly as she pointed toward the classy wooden one in the corner.

“Yep, that is where clothes are usually stored.” It wasn’t a snide joke so much as an uncomfortable filler. Walker shifted on his feet, darting his eyes between Talia, the dresser, and Piper like he was begging for all three of them to evaporate on the spot. “Um… I’ll be right back with paper towels and something to clean that up.” Walker pointed to the floor, his nose scrunching in revulsion. “I’ll knock before I enter in case she’s not decent.”

“Okay,” Talia agreed. She waited for Walker to leave the room before finally exhaling the breath she’d been holding since his body held her upright.

“What was that?” Piper was sitting up in bed and looking over at Talia in curiosity, temporarily articulate after her last vomiting session. Talia moved over to the dresser and guessed correctly on the first try that Piper’s pajamas would be in the second drawer down. Teenage girls were predictable.

“You just threw up on the ground, Walker’s getting something to clean it up, and I am going to make sure you don’t go to sleep in your own vomit.”

“I meant the weirdness between you and my uncle.” Piper waved a heavy hand toward the door. “You guys know each other?”

“That’s a stretch.” Talia grabbed the first pair of pajamas she saw and shut the drawer quickly. “Lift up your arms,” she directed. Piper slowly obliged, raising her weighted limbs above her head. Pulling the shirt up, careful to avoid getting any vomit on herself, Talia averted her eyes. She wanted to pretend it was because she was helping a drunk teen get undressed, but that wasn’t why. Talia had no qualms about assisting Piper, especially after understanding her history. Anything she could do to help the girl out, she would. What she didn’t want was Piper to notice her blush-stained cheeks or ask further questions about her acquaintance with Walker.

It was no such luck. People always said the first thing that came to their mind when they were sloshed.

“He totally wants to bone you,” Piper announced as fact.

“I can guarantee you that is not true.” Talia slid the new shirt over Piper’s head and moved to assist in pulling the fishnets and mini-skirt down Piper’s hips, hoping to God it was taking Walker a long time to get cleaning supplies so that he wasn’t listening in on the conversation. “Your uncle does not like me at all. Can’t say I enjoy his company either.”

“Ooooh,” Piper drew out her response and lifted her legs lazily so Talia could slide fuzzy pajama bottoms on. Dropping her legs, Piper scooted her bottom into them and slowly sat up, continuing her thoughts in a medium voice she clearly meant to be a whisper. “Did you already have sex with him and he didn’t call you? He does that sometimes.”

“No, I didn’t, but I can’t say I’m shocked that he doesn’t call women back,” Talia replied in slight amusement. A knock sounded on the door, and she double-checked to make sure Piper was fully covered before announcing they were all clear.

Walker opened the door, brandishing a spray bottle and a roll of paper towels as if Talia needed proof that he'd done what he said he was going to do. He was now sporting a white T-shirt with his sweatpants. She obviously hadn’t been the only one who was uncomfortable with their bare-skinned shuffle situation earlier.

“I should be making you clean this up,” Walker told Piper as she flopped onto her pillow. He stooped down, ripping off several sheets of paper towels and layering them on top of the puddle. When the liquid started to seep through, he gagged, tilting his head to the side to look away from it. He glanced up at Piper again, but she was already out cold and snoring like a banshee.

“God, this is gross.”

“Oh, don’t be a baby.” Talia stepped forward and shoved Walker’s shoulder. She instantly regretted touching him but pretended it had zero effect on her as she bent down beside him and took the paper towel roll out of his hand. Ripping off several more sheets, she swiped her hand over the mess a few times, absorbing all the liquid. Walker gaped at her for a moment before finally springing into action and spraying the spot so she could continue.

When everything was clean, Talia wrapped the bundle of soiled paper towels in even more sheets—even she wasn’t immune to how gross it was. They both rose to their feet quietly so they didn’t wake Piper and tiptoed out of the room, Walker slowly shutting the door behind them. In the hallway, he looked over at Talia without saying anything, leaning against the wall. His arms casually crossed over his chest, as if he had zero idea why she was staring at him and waiting for some sort of direction. The man was truly clueless.

“Trash can?” Talia held up the vomit-soaked rags she was still holding, and Walker cringed. “As much as I want to help, I’m not taking this with me.”

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