Page 116 of The More the Merrier

“Sorry, sweet girl.” He shifted his hand.

“At least you know I like that, Sir,” she said with a straight face.

“I apologize for not warning you, lumbersnack,” I said sincerely. Kendall waggled her eyebrows up and down smirking, clearly liking the nickname. “We don’t want bacteria hanging out in your leg. When’s the last time you had a tetanus shot?”

“Two weeks ago,” he replied. “You won’t believe the sort of shit I get myself into.”

“At least you’re protected, otherwise one of us could jab you. Elias usually has all sorts of nifty extras at his house and it’s closer than anywhere else in town.”

“You have a weird definition of the word ‘nifty’,” Grant quipped. “Back to what you mentioned. I’m not falling asleep anytime soon. Maybe we could have that discussion tonight?”

“We’ll see.” I was happy for the tiny bit of compliance, even though I felt like we had more stuff to dig through. He also wouldn’t like the sudden plan I had for him tomorrow, which involved me keeping his ass red hot. I already had ideas for Kendall, but now I had both brats at my disposal. I was going to have fun even if they didn’t.

Something must have flickered across my face because Grant poked Kendall.

“Does he always make that face, sweet girl?”

“Only when something truly awful flitters through his brain.” She had been quiet, handing me the needed supplies without my asking, but not speaking much. “Dalton has a sadistic streak a mile long.”

“Quiet, prancer.” I shushed her, though she was right. “Let’s not scare Grant out of the gate.”

“I don’t scare easily,” he replied. “Not that I know exactly what you’re talking about.”

“Dalton enjoys inflicting pain but not during an actual medical problem,” Kendall explained patiently, but then her eyes darted to mine. “Oh! I probably shouldn’t share private stuff.”

“It’s all right,” I assured her. “There is something immensely satisfying about shifting pain into pleasure, but no, not during an emergency. We can discuss what I’m into later.” I checked to see if the bleeding stopped and was happy to see it had. Sometimes a few stitches did the trick, but we were lucky Grant didn’t need them. Changing my task to bandages, I tapped Kendall’s hand, and she followed suit.

“Sorry, Sir.” She apologized as she tore several lengths of medical tape, handing each one to me as I worked. Kendall swept her gaze to Grant. “I have some super ibuprofen in my bag. Would you like a few?”

“Yeah, my leg is throbbing. I’d appreciate the medicine.” He pressed a kiss to her temple. “It’s nice to have someone else looking out for me,” Grant said offhandedly, but his eyes shone with adoration as he stared at her.

I believed the two of us taking care of him meant more to him than he let on.

“I hope you won’t have to rely solely on yourself anymore.” Kendall mimicked his action, kissing the top of his hand. “I think the three of us could really use some time to relax.”

“Yes, darling.” He smiled at her. “You’re right.”

I finished patching him up and Kendall shuffled off to get the aforementioned pills.

“Even though I’m grumpy, I appreciate you and Kendall being here. Sorry, the night didn’t play out better.”

“Accidents aren’t planned. I’m glad we were here, though I wish you hadn’t gotten hurt.”

“Earlier you mentioned pushing me to work through some hesitations tomorrow.” Grant rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m not sure how I feel about it.”

“Let’s worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.” I kissed his lips once. “I’ll help you to bed so you don’t have to put pressure on your leg.”

“You gonna carry me like a princess again, charming?” His eyes sparkled as he looked me up and down.

“If carrying you around helps you relax, then I’ll do it all the time.”

Grant stared at me, something he’d done a lot of since I’d pressed him against the wall and made out with him. “You’re serious about making me fall in love with you, huh, Dalton?”

“I’m already growing on you, Santa. You just need to get used to the idea.”

He nodded, letting my words sink in. Somehow, I’d show him that I was exactly the type of man he’d been wanting to be in a relationship with for so long, and I was up for the challenge.

Chapter 7

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