Page 38 of Get Undressed With Me

He glanced back at her, impatient and exasperated and so fucking grateful she was feeling enough like herself to argue.

“Your choices are to climb on and let me carry you or stay here while I get you a medic.”

“Fuck.”

With some awkwardness, she grabbed him and climbed on his back, once again wrapping her legs around him as he stood up, bouncing her to settle their combined weight. He had hoped this position would let his cock calm down but had underestimated the feeling of her breath in his ear, her breasts pressed against his back, and her nails digging slightly into his shoulder.

“Don’t drop me,” she told him, her voice unsteady with what he told himself was stress.

“Never.”

He slowly carried her to the exit, dodging around the remaining stragglers as the fire alarm was finally shut off, the relief of the silence echoing through the center. Once they were outside, he waved over a waiting taxi, and carefully placed her in the back seat. She gave him a wry grin.

“Gus, I got it. I’m not a toddler.”

He tapped her nose lightly. “Let me do it, it’ll make me feel better.”

Gus reached across her, clicking in the seat belt, their faces no closer than they had been before but for some reason, this was different. The energy between them was charged, heated. Almost volatile. With a shaky breath, he stood, closing her door and walking around to the other side to slide in next to her.

He gave the driver the address, and they were moving.

“Gus, that’s not the hotel address. Where are we going?”

He looked out the window, already knowing she was going to want to argue, and already over it. “My place.”

“Gus.”

“Brittany, don’t. You’re hurt, you need medical attention, and you won’t let me take you to the medic. I have a first aid kit and a quiet condo. I don’t want to hear it.”

She was quiet, so Gus dared to shoot her a look. She was shaking her head.

“You’re really overbearing. You know that?”

It was then he noticed she was shivering, her body jumping a little as the adrenaline wore off and the shakes took over. Without thinking about it, he slid an arm around her shoulders, pulling her to him, and was surprised when she let him, even sinking into his side.

“Humor me,” he told her. “My heart stopped back there. I’m still recovering.”

They sat like that for the duration of the ride, neither of them acknowledging how close they were sitting, how well they fit together. And when the taxi pulled up in front of Gus’s building, he was out and at Brittany’s door before she could touch the handle, scooping her out of the vehicle, hauling her up in his arms before striding inside.

“This feels excessive,” she managed to say as they rode the elevator.

“Getting really tired of you complaining that I’m taking care of you, killer.”

“I’m just saying. This is feeling like some real movie cinema shit. Also, how often do you work out to be able to carry me around all day?”

“As much as I need to in order to be certain I can carry you around all day.”

He saw she didn’t know what to do with that statement, which was good because he wasn’t really certain how he would explain it. Instead, he carried her down the hall and managed to open his door without putting her down.

Once inside, he strode straight to his sofa, gently placing her down. He grabbed her ankle and worked on untying her shoe.

“Gus, I can do it.”

Ignoring her, he placed her sneaker on the floor and then maneuvered her leg so she could stretch it out, putting a pillow underneath her foot to elevate it. When he was done, he stood, towering over her. She looked so small on his sofa, delicate in a way that was easy to miss when she was upright and yelling at you, stomping around in her heels and demanding her way.

Gus shook off the weird feeling of tenderness that was invading and went to the kitchen to get her an ice pack and grab the first aid kit. He took advantage of the moment alone to get a hold of himself. Brittany was Robbie’s ex-girlfriend. Gus couldn’t get involved with her. He couldn’t betray Robbie that way. Which meant he had to get all these damn thoughts out of his head now.

After that quick pep talk, he went back into the living room, sitting at the end of the sofa with her ankle. He took a better look at it, poking and prodding gently, her ankle warm in his handsand her big blue eyes on him in a way that he knew she could see right through him.

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