Page 102 of Not Your Little Girl Anymore

“Shit!” Alec shouts, his hands stretching out to catch me, but with the soap-slicked palms and slippery wet skin, I slip through his hands, crashing onto the hard tile floor.

Despite the agony I feel in my leg, I’m left laughing. I laugh to replace the utter embarrassment I feel.

Alec gets out of the shower quickly, crouching beside me. He looks over my entire body for any damage. “Are you hurt?”

“I think it’s just my ankle. There are probably a couple of bruises.” I’ll feel those tomorrow, I’m sure of it.

He grabs a towel, wraps it around me, and helps me stand. “Can you walk?”

I attempt to, but I screech the moment I put pressure on my foot. “It hurts.”

“Fuck,” he says.

“Alec… you still have soap in your hair.” I don’t know why that matters at a time like this.

“I don’t give a damn about my hair. Let’s get you in bed. I’ll grab ice, and we can elevate your ankle.”

I nod. “OK. Uhm… this was… an entirely new experience.”

“Indeed, it was.” He chuckles, taking one of my arms and wrapping it around his shoulder to keep pressure off my ankle. Holding the towel with my other hand, I hop slowly as Alec walks, guiding me to his bedroom.

Turning around slowly, Alec helps me into the bed. He then lifts my hurt foot up and props it onto a pillow. He takes a minute to look over my ankle.

“It doesn’t look swollen, but to be safe, I’ll grab some ice.”

“I think I just twisted it. I’m not sure.”

He kisses the top of my head. “Don’t move it. I’ll be right back.”

He returns with a small bag of ice wrapped in a thin cloth and places it on my foot. I look over at him and begin to laugh again because he’s mostly covered in soap and completely naked.

His eyes narrow. “What’s so funny?”

“You should finish washing that out of your hair.”

He smirks. “Promise me you’ll stay put.”

“I promise.”

Chapter Thirty-seven

Summer

I’m beginning to think drinking was a terrible idea. I hadn’t had that much, but enough to give me a blazing headache between my brows. My eyes feel heavy, like weights pulling down on my lids, but I force them open.

The sun peeking through the dark curtains is bright enough to light the room, indicating it’s not early in the morning. I slept in.

My arms push the weight of my body up so that I’m sitting, but I’m too weak to feel anything. That is until pressure on my ass cheek sparks a weird pain, and my ankle throbs as I go to move it off the bed.

The remembrance of last night snakes through my mind, humiliation taking over every ounce of moral feeling I had.

I turn my head to where Alec was laying, but it’s empty. Although, I notice a bottle of water and two small pills on the nightstand along with a note. I reach over and grab the note, reading it carefully.

Morning Sunshine,

I didn’t want to wake you. Samantha called early this morning about meeting with our coordinator. I’m not sure how long it’ll be, but I’ll only be right downstairs. Give me a buzz when you wake, and I can come up to help you. I was able to run to the store and pick up an ace bandage for you. I’ll wrap your ankle once you’re awake. If you didn’t notice, two aspirin and a water are beside this note. You’ll need it.

I love you,

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