Page 4 of Gooey

“C-cold,” the girl whines, trembling.

“You’ll warm up,” he replies before returning his eyes to mine. “Jim is getting Nancy to come check on you two.”

Nancy is only allowed to live here with the crew because she has heaps of experience being an emergency nurse. I’ve never needed her before, but I’m sure as fuck grateful she’s here now.

“You s-saved me,” she whispers.

Looking down at her while she’s cradled in my lap, I meet those soft gray eyes and swallow hard. She’s beautiful.

“Yeah,” I rasp, not knowing what else to say.

Before I can think of anything to add, her fingers wrap around the back of my neck. My brain short circuits as she tugs me down, pressing her chilled lips against mine.

I’m frozen under her touch, too shocked to move let alone breathe. I can feel Rob’s eyes on us as she makes a little sound, kissing me harder before pulling back to rest her head on my chest.

“My hero,” she murmurs, snuggling into me like I’m some kind of teddy bear.

The girl is clearly delirious. She wouldn’t have kissed my ugly mug if she wasn’t. Maybe she can’t see that well with the sting of salt water still staining her eyes. Pretty little thing like her, she’d run as far away from me as she could if she saw me in the daylight.

Probably makes me a monster that I want nothing more than to press my lips back into hers and let her deliriously kiss me until she realizes her mistake.

Flicking my gaze to the side, I see a goofy grin on Rob’s face, along with a sparkle in his eye. Rob has always said I’ll find someone to deal with my grouchy ass some day and by the look on his face, he thinks today is that day. The old man is clearly seeing something that isn’t there. She may have just kissed me, but she’ll come to regret it. This isn’t some fucking fairy tale, even if he thinks it is.

Even if someone as pretty and sweet as her could possibly want someone like me, I shouldn’t be thinking about her in any capacity other than hoping for her safety. That’s what a good man would do. He wouldn’t be thinking about how she feels cuddled into his chest or how soft her skin is even when she’s soaking wet and cold.

An angel is in my lap and she can’t be mine.

You don’t even know her name, I remind myself silently. She can’t be more than twenty either—at least fifteen years too young for me. She also just almost drowned to death and witnessed her father die.

Fucking hell, this is a mess.

A small gasp sounds as Nancy walks into the bathroom, getting a look at the pair of us. “Oh, you poor things.”

The nurse gets right to work, aiming the shower spray at our lower halves so she can tend to us without pulling us from the warmth yet.

“Her first,” I grunt at Nancy as she tries to look me over. “She was in the water longer and she’s smaller.”

Nodding, she jumps into action, carefully touching the girl’s face. “What’s your name, love?”

“Winter,” the girl whispers in response. She’s stiff against me, like she doesn’t know if she can trust the newcomer.

Winter.

Fuck, even her name is pretty.

Nancy nods and keeps looking her over. “Winter,” she repeats softly. “I’m Nancy, I’m going to take a look at you now, okay? I’m a nurse. How old are you, honey?”

“Twenty,” she replies quietly.

Shit, I knew it. I’ve never wished to be more wrong in my life. Twenty is too fucking young. Too young and too damn innocent to be kissing me. Definitely too young for me to never want to let her go.

“Does anything hurt, love?” Nancy asks her, examining her limbs as best as she can from this position.

Winter shakes her head, her damp hair rubbing against me as she does, giving me tingly fucking chills. “Sore and c-cold.”

“Your head doesn’t hurt?” Nancy double-checks. “Or your stomach?”

Winter just tiredly shakes her head, mumbling, “No.”

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