Page 33 of Give Me Three

Even now, I could feel a cold coming on. My nose was stuffed, and my throat was sore as hell. Groaning, I pushed onto my hands and knees, my hand knocking against the two empty liquor bottles. Muttering a curse beneath my breath at my splitting headache, I stood shakily to my feet and leaned the two empty liquor bottles against Penelope’s headstone. A little gift for her. If I didn’t feel so terrible, I’d have laughed at myself.

It was her fault I was like this anyway. She should’ve just left me alone instead of meddling in my life, making me keep my stupid promise to her.

I made my way out of the cemetery and began walking toward downtown, where I knew I could find a hotel. Five minutes into my walk, I vomited, my head hurting like a mother fucker and the alcohol sloshing around in my belly. I was pretty sure I was still fucking drunk.

A taxi was up ahead, and I waved it down before sliding into the backseat with a grimace. “I’ll pay extra for your wet seats,” I told him before he could bitch and order me to get out. “Take me to the first hotel you reach in downtown.”

He nodded and pulled off from the curb. I closed my eyes, falling back asleep easily. The driver was shaking me awake what felt like a second later, but I knew it’d been longer. After forking over another hundred, I slid out of the car and made my way inside, asking for a room and paying extra to get into it before the stupid three P.M. check-in time.

Once I was in my room, I stripped out of my clothes, too fucking tired and feeling too shitty to deal with a shower, even though I knew I needed one. Instead, I face-planted on the bed and promptly passed out, too tired and sick to even pull the blankets over my naked body.

CHAPTER 24

Jaxon

“Fuck, baby,” a familiar male voice said softly. Long, thick fingers combed through my hair. An embarrassing whimper slipped up my aching, sore throat. “He’s burning up, Eros.”

I slowly opened my eyes, my head hurting so badly, another tiny whimper of pain slipped past my lips before I could stop it. Zeppelin was sitting on the bed beside me, his fingers combing through my hair. Concern and sadness lingered in his dark gaze as he drank me in.

“What—” I croaked, then winced. Talkinghurt. My throat was so fucking sore, even the mere act of swallowing made me want to claw my fucking throat out.

“Easy,” Zeppelin said softly, leaning over to brush his lips to my forehead. His lips felt so cool against my hot skin, and I missed him the moment he pulled back. Eros appeared beside him and began to sponge my hot skin with a cool rag. I shivered when he moved the blanket to reach my neck and collarbone. “You’resick as fuck, baby. What did you do to yourself?” Zeppelin asked, stroking his thumb over my cheek.

Why were they here? How the hell did they even find me? Why wasZeppelinhere? Him of all people? I thought he hated me for what I’d done.

I was so confused. And my head hurt too damn much to try to figure out what was going on.

“How…” I rasped, closing my eyes as Zeppelin fixed the blankets piled on top of me. Where had all these blankets come from? What the fuck was even happening right now?

“You used Spencer’s debit card to pay for your hotel instead of your own. He was concerned, and he called me,” Eros gently explained, his voice sounding like I was hearing him from underwater. Why were my ears so stuffy?

Had I used his debit card? Fuck, I didn’t even remember getting this hotel. Was I that drunk still? The last thing I truly remembered was getting fucking wasted in front of Penelope’s headstone. When had I left the cemetery?

“We jumped on the next flight here,” Zeppelin told me. “I know you’re confused,” he said when I looked at him, my brows furrowing, “but for now, please just rest. Get some sleep. You’re really sick, Jax baby. Your fever is almost high enough to take you to the emergency room. Eros had to talk me off the fucking ledge when we got here.”

I tried clearing my throat, only to groan in pain. Zeppelin got off the bed just as Eros laid down beside me and pulled me into his arms, squeezing me to his warm body. I sank into him, letting him heat me up in a way all these blankets that were piled on top of me could never hope of doing. He rested his chin on the top ofmy head and stroked his hands up and down my back, soothing me to sleep.

“I love you,” Eros whispered. I tried blinking my eyes open, but they weren’t working. “I know us showing up here is confusing as fuck for you, but I love you. We both do. So, for now, please let us take care of you, and we’ll talk once you’re better and a little more coherent, okay?”

I nodded, breathing in the scent of him—something spicy with a hint of lavender. Zeppelin leaned over, the bed dipping behind me where his hands were pressing into the mattress, and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “I love you,” he told me quietly. “And I’m so, so, so fucking sorry, Jax baby.” His apology feathered over my skin, soothing something deep inside my chest that’d been burning me for days now. “I’m going to get you some medication and food. Let Eros take care of you.Please.”

I nodded since talking hurt too much. He brushed another kiss to my skin—this time to the shell of my ear. A moment later, I heard the hotel room door open and quietly click shut. Eros squeezed me to him. “Get some sleep,” Eros softly told me. “When you wake up again, we’ll get some medicine in you, as well as some food, and then, we’ll see if you can manage a shower. You smell like a liquor store.”

My lips quirked in amusement. Ididremember drinking two liters of cheap Vodka. I could still taste it in my mouth, which wasn’t all that pleasant. But there was no way I was making it out of bed to eventryto remedy that issue.

Eros shivered when I slid my palm beneath his shirt, sliding it over his flat stomach and the blonde hair that I knew trailed from his belly button and disappeared beneath his jeans. I wanted to be skin-to-skin with him. Fuckingneededit. I felt likeshit, and he was the only thing making me feel even somewhat better at the moment.

Eros, somehow sensing what I needed, sat up and pulled his t-shirt over his head, dropping it to the floor. He unbuttoned his jeans and shucked them off with his boxers before sliding beneath the heavy blankets with me again, molding our fronts together. I shivered when his hard cock brushed against my belly, but we ignored it. Wasn’t like I could get my body to cooperate anyway. I felt like death.

I sank back into his hold, burrowing my head beneath the warm blankets to nuzzle against his chest. A soft sigh escaped his lips, and he clutched me to him even tighter.

“I love you so, so fucking much, Jaxon,” he whispered. “And this shitwillbe put to rights.” He stroked his hand down my bare spine. “I’m not fucking losing you.”

CHAPTER 25

Zeppelin

While I waited on the elevator down the hall from Jaxon’s hotel room, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called Spencer. I hadn’t had time to after Eros sweet-talked the receptionist into giving us a room key. Seeing Jaxon so pale, sweat glistening on his bare skin and shivering, unable to become conscious enough to cover himself, Eros and I had both been too focused on getting Jaxon warm and figuring out what the fuck was going on to call Spencer and let him know we’d found his dad.

---