Page 25 of After All

With that, she headed across the street to her truck, grateful that Scott wouldn’t be getting out and about for a while. Hopefully the gossip about her confronting Reed would have died down by the time he was.

Of course, there was also the possibility that the tale would have grownbiggerby then.

* * *

Scott steeledhimself as he mounted his front steps with one crutch under his right arm. And it wasn’t even about the nursing costume he was sure Peyton was wearing. It was just the fact that she was there. In his house. Waiting for him to come home.

Kyle got the door for him. Derek carried the other crutch that the therapist at the hospital had said he wouldn’t probably need to use, and the bag of wound-care supplies he’d need.

“Hey, honey, we’re home!” Kyle called into the house.

“Be right there!” was Peyton’s reply from what sounded like his bedroom.

Scott squeezed the handrest on the crutch. Damn, this was so not how he’d envisioned having Peyton in his bedroom for the first time.

The three men were all in the front door when Peyton came around the corner.

And even knowing she’d be wearing it, and remembering what it looked like from Halloween, Scott was not prepared for the sight of her in the tiny, tight nurse’s costume. In his living room. Welcoming him home.

It wasn’t just the white fishnet stockings and bright red fuck-me heels that matched the red cross on the right breast of the top. It was the smile she wore. She looked like she was up to something. She also looked happy to see him.

But damn, her short skirts and high heels had a way of making her legs look even longer and, in spite of himself, he couldn’t keep from thinking about how they’d feel wrapped around his waist every. Damned. Time.

No one couldreallyblame him for what had happened on St. Patrick’s Day. Her little leprechaun costume had been, essentially, just a green version of this. And he was only human.

Derek coughed. “I might be coming down with something and need some nursing too.”

Scott didn’t even look away from Peyton as he told his friend, “Get out. Now.”

Chuckling, Derek tossed the bag of supplies to Peyton.

Kyle gave her a once-over. Again. And said, “Be gentle with our boy here. He’s in a weakened state, remember.”

Then they both, thankfully, got lost.

For now. Scott knew he hadn’t seen or heard the last of them. Which, normally, he was grateful for. Not so much right now. He neededlotsof alone time with Nurse Sassy Pants.

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

“Feverish.”

She grinned. “Want a sponge bath?”

“I want you to put more clothes on.” He knew he sounded grumpy. And that wasn’t exactly how he was feeling. Though cheerful was definitely not right either. He was—frustrated.

Frustrated that she was here, finally, andnoneof this was the way he wanted it to be. Frustrated that her being here, in her mind, needed to include a sexy nurse’s costume. Frustrated that he wanted to stalk over to her, sweep her up into his arms and take her into his bedroom and do all of the things that costume made him think about doing. And that he couldn’t.

She tipped her head, studying him. They were standing about twenty feet apart, but Scott had a feeling she was reading all of those thoughts on his face.

“Sit down before you fall over,” she finally said, moving toward him.

He assumed that she meant to help him to the couch, but he couldn’t handle having her in reach. “I’ve got it.” He moved swiftly toward the sofa, ignoring the twinge in his leg that said he’d gone too fast.

Of course, once he was down with his leg on the coffee table and the crutch propped next to him, it was a lot harder to move fast. Which was how he found himself with Peyton sitting right next to him, looking like a goddess and smelling like everything he wanted all rolled into one delicious, lick-able package.

He closed his eyes and leaned his head back on the cushion behind him. “Fuck.”

He felt her shift on the cushion beside him.

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