Page 107 of Not A Whisper

The worry and stress etched into Grant’s sharp facial features shift abruptly. The ferocious glare brought on at the mention of his father causes me to shiver. Trip enters the apartment, slamming the door shut behind him, before Grant can say anything.

“We can skip pouring the wine into something, I’ll drink straight from the bottle,” Trip announces. He glances at me. “I’ll tell the others what Garry said while you?—”

“You can tell Grant. I’ll hear about it later,” Jason said, grabbing my good hand.

Grant nods. Before he turns back toward the kitchen, he steps forward, leans down, and kisses me hard. I melt into him,feeling finally settled now that I’m here with all three of my guys in my—our—apartment. When he pulls away, I waver about whether I really need a shower when I could have more kisses.

“I’m glad you’re ok,” he murmurs, his brows pinching together with concern before he turns and heads for the kitchen.

Jason drags me into the bathroom and shuts the door.

“Let’s get your clothes off. Your jacket’s ruined. You’ll have to get a new one. I think your shoes aren’t salvageable either.”

The shoes I know about. It’ll be impossible to get the scorch marks out. But my jacket?

“Ruined?”

He helps me shrug it off and turns it around for me. There, in the middle of my back, is a hole with burn marks around the edges. I gape. Oh shit… How’d I not feel that while it was happening? How did I not get burned from the flames, and how’d they go out?

“Still fine?” Jason asks, his voice soft but full of scorn. I look up from my jacket to find him watching me.

I swallow hard but it only causes me to wince in pain. Jason doesn’t miss it. With a sigh, he throws my jacket onto the ground and moves past me to turn on the shower. As he checks the water, I undress the rest of the way. I take a moment to check myself over. Around my ankles are a few minor burns, my wrists as well. But luckily that seems to be it.

Jason removes his shirt and tosses it in the pile I created on the floor. My breath catches as he removes his pants. Will I ever tire of seeing all of him? His solemn expression doesn’t change, even as he catches me ogling him. When he reaches for me, all the muscles in his body ripple. Together, we step into the shower. I turn to face the water while Jason presses up against my back. I hiss as warm water pelts down onto the both of us,hitting my face and neck, hand, and ankles—all the places exposed to the flames. Lifting my injured hand, I keep it from getting wet.

I groan as any lingering tension eases from my body.

Behind me, Jason quietly works the bobby pins from my hair and untangles the hair tie that had kept half my hair up while the rest of my curls were allowed free. When he’s done, he proceeds to wash my hair. I hum, savoring the way his fingers rub my scalp.

Neither of us says a word as Jason shampoos and conditions my hair. Nor do we speak as he drags the soapy loofa over my skin. His hand and the loofa are thorough, touching me and scrubbing everywhere. Closing my eyes, I relax against him. His solid presence and diligent hands are comforting. My nipples bead under the hot water, and soon I’m struggling to breathe evenly as he cleans away all the soot and grime. I hold my breath as his hands dip between my legs. He doesn’t play with me though, as I expected. Even with his erection jutting out, Jason focuses on the task at hand.

Only when the water runs clean does Jason move to wash himself. I snatch the loofa from his hand. There’s no way he’s going to touch me and I can’t do the same.

“Here, let me.” I bring the loofa up but wait for his ok.

Our eyes meet. The same emotion that was there in the car reflects back at me, its intensity just as potent. Jason gives me a tight nod. I swallow and look down as I start to bathe him. Jason says nothing as I work over his body. He’s not filthy, not like I was, but still, I’m meticulous as I clean him. When I catch sight of the tattoo I’d inked into his skin on his butt cheek, I smile. It’s short-lived; Jason’s clearly not in the mood to be teased.

When we’re both clean, we step out of the shower. Jason wraps a towel around me, I pull it tight and watch as he reaches for his own. Each muscle moves fluidly, like water overstone. Honestly, his body is just perfection. I can’t wait to wrap my legs around it. My core is aching for attention. Even my heart is fluttering in anticipation. When we’re both done, Jason walks me out of the bathroom and toward my bedroom. I lick my lips, ready to lose myself in him. Coming from somewhere else in the apartment, I can hear Grant and Trip talking.

I step into my room, turn, and wait for Jason to join me. Instead he stops at the threshold and looks down at me.

“Get some sleep, Bri.”

With that, he turns and moves to walk away. I sputter, surprised that he’s leaving, and catch his wrist. He looks back at me over his shoulder, his wet curls falling into his eyes.

“Come join me.”

Jason hesitates, his jaw clenching so tight, I wonder if I’ll be able to hear the sound of his teeth cracking soon. What’s his hold up?

“I-I don’t think I can tonight.” He slowly shakes his head. The motion is stiff and unsure.

I’m not sure if I’m more hurt or confused by the rejection. “Why not?”

“Because, dollie, I’m so fucking mad at you that I want to strangle you!” he snaps loudly, his brows slamming together. “It’s one thing seeing you beat up because of someone else’s fuck-up, but tonight? Seeing you all covered in soot and smoke, your hand bandaged because of somethingyoustupidly decided to do?” He shakes his head. “You put yourself in danger on purpose.”

My mouth drops open in surprise. Before I can reply, Jason continues.

“I don’t know if it’s because you’re still pissed with us about the marriage thing that you’d be so careless, but whatever the reason is, I’ll never accept you being injured as something to brushoff.”

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