Page 92 of Ours to Keep

“Jackson, thank you,”I whisper, my words clogging my throat. Tommy reaches for my hand and squeezes it. “And the rest of you, are you all okay?”God, I hate myself for not asking sooner, and that iswhen I get a sinking feeling, one I can’t articulate. It’s almost like a sixth sense, this impending feeling that whatever he’s about to say isn’t good.

“Elliot was shot. He’s in the hospital too.”

I feel the world fall out beneath me. Elliot was shot?

“What?”I ask, my voice rising.

“Duchess, you need to breathe. Are you with me?”he asks, his voice full of concern.

Tommy reaches out, cups my cheeks, holding my stare, and breathes with me.

“I’m okay,”I reply. Now is not the time to lose myself to my emotions. “How bad is it?”I ask, finding my inner strength.

Jackson blows out a breath. “He’s really fucking lucky. He took a hit to the shoulder; it was a through and through. Missed anything vital, hit muscle. They’ll be moving him to a private room soon.”

His words do nothing to ease my concern. I’m sure someone with a military history or medical knowledge would understand what he’s saying, but I’m still stuck on three words.Elliot was shot. I’ve been clay pigeon shooting. I know how to handle a shotgun, but outside of that, guns are something you hear about in the news, see in movies or read about in books.

Tommy stays on the phone wrapping up the conversationwith Jackson, but I hear nothing other than white noise as I go to the bathroom to relieve myself. Once I’m done, I flush and strip out of Tommy’s t-shirt and start the shower. I tie my hair into a tight knot on top of my head using one of my hairbands. Holding onto the sink, I lower my head and take deep breaths.

“Sunshine?”Tommy asks, walking up behind me. I look up, seeing his reflection in the mirror, noting that even though I’m naked, he keeps his eyes on my face. “Are you okay?”

I bite my lip and nod but don’t reply, worried if I try to speak, I’ll start crying, and I’m sick of fucking crying.

“Come on, let’s get washed. The sooner we get ready, the sooner we can hit the road.”

He steps back, and I watch as he lowers his boxer briefs and kicks them to the side, but unlike him, my eyes don’t stay fixed on his face. No, they have a mind of their own as they glance down at his thick, semi-hard dick.

I swallow hard, suddenly feeling nervous.

“I just want to help you,”he says, holding out his hand for me to take.

He leads me into the shower and eases my body under the jets. Soft, warm spray begins to cover my body.

I blink up at him, confused.

“Turn,”he says softly. “Trust me.”

Doing as he requests, I face the other way, and then I feel the soft brush of the loofah as he begins to roll it over my shoulders and down my back. My head falls forward, and I watch the suds as they disappear down the plug-hole.

Spinning me back to face him, he repeats the same process, his touch gentle, reverent, andcaring. His emerald eyes hold mine in a way that feels like he’s staring into my soul. He uses the same loofah and quickly cleans himself before reaching for the shower head to rinse us off and then shuts off the water.

“Come, let’s dry off and get dressed.”

I nod and follow him out of the shower. He passes me a largetowel that I wrap around my body and tuck in under my armpit. I watch as he wraps a slightly smaller one around his waist.

“Tommy,”I whisper as he opens the bathroom door fully, allowing the fresh steam to escape.

He turns back to face me, and I take a shallow breath. “I love you.”Now more than ever, I feel it’s important things are not left unsaid. No matter how much it scares me. I refuse to hold back anymore.

He smiles, showing off his dimples. “Lily, I love you too,”he replies before making up the distance and kissing me softly.

I don’t know how I managed it, but as soon as we were in the air, I somehow fell asleep—which, in hindsight, was probably a blessing. The thought of sitting there for five hours in a constant state of worry would have made it even worse. Nice is an hour ahead, which meant it was already after Three PM when we arrived.

A friend of theirs named Mason picked us up from the airport. If I didn’t know better, I’d say there was something in the water that this friend group were drinking. It should be illegal to be so good looking. I mean, I might have four men I’m currently salivating over and have no desire for another, but even I can’t deny he’s hot. He has a large build, soft brown sandy hair, thick muscles, tattoos, and a scar on his left cheek that cuts through his short beard, which gives him an extra edge.

As soon as we parked at the hospital, he took us straight to Mia’s room.

I freeze in the threshold when I see her sitting up in bed laughing at something Jackson said. They’re playing a game of cards, as if this is normal.

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