Page 113 of A Little Broken

“No shit,” I say, caught between barks of laughter and groans of excruciating pain.

Moving closer, Tatum suggests, “Here. Use me for balance. Let’s take a look.”

“I’m fine.”

“Don’t be a tough guy.” She pats her shoulder, urging me to lean into her. “I got you.”

Giving in, I grab her shoulder to keep from falling on my ass and lift my foot a little higher into the air. A tiny divot forms between her brows as she assesses the damage, gently dragging her fingers along the raised flesh before grimacing. “Ouch.”

“Stings like a bitch.” I try not to flinch away from her soft touch, but fuck, it throbs. I feel like my foot was dipped in a vat of acid or is sitting in a barrel of hot coal, and it isn’t getting better. No, it’s getting worse. A lot worse. “Fuuuuck,” I seethe.

“Do you want me to…” Her eyes lift to meet mine, and her nose wrinkles. “You know.”

“What?” My forehead pinches as the angry sting hits a new level. Fuck, this hurts. It really hurts. Seriously. Do they do amputations for shit like this? Because I haven’t been in this much pain, since…shit, I don’t even know when.

Tucking her hair behind her ear, Tatum explains, “I heard that if you…you know, it makes the sting go away.”

Distracted by the blinding pain crawling up my ankle, I grit out, “Gonna have to spell it out for me, Birthday Girl.”

“Pee on it. Do you need me to pee on it?”

My eyes bulge, and I tear my attention from the bottom of my foot to the girl who just confirmed I’m hallucinating because there’s no chance in hell she said what I think she did. “What did you say?”

“I said, I heard peeing on a jellyfish sting helps the pain go away,” she blurts out.

“You’d pee on my foot for me?”

Shimmying away from me, she bounces on the balls of her feet like I’m the one who suggested it when we both know it was her.

“Don’t make it weird,” she starts.

Despite the pain, I throw my head back and laugh even harder, caught off guard by the ludicrousness of the situation. But fuuuuck, this hurts like a bitch!

“Okay, seriously. Come on, big boy.” Wrapping her arm around my waist, she helps me hobble to the side of the beach and away from the water.

“Fuck,” I grit out, trying not to black out from the blinding pain. “No, I’m fine.”

With a gentle shove, she tips me over, and I collapse onto my ass, barely catching myself with my hands at the last second. My foot hovers a few inches from the ground as I grind my teeth to keep from crying like a baby.

“Okay, so here’s the deal,” she announces. Glancing left and right, she reaches for the drawstring on the gray sweats I let her borrow before turning her attention back to me. “What happens at the beach, stays at the beach. We clear?”

I glance up at her. “You talking about when you sucked me off or?—”

“All of the above. Now, lay back and close your eyes because this is not allowed to be used for your spank bank on the off chance you have a kink I don’t know about.”

I burst out laughing again and lay back on the sand, tossing my forearm over my eyes to cover them. “Not into that kink, Tate. Sorry, if it’s disappointing.”

“Well, at least we agree on one thing. Now stop moving your leg.”

I force my muscles to stay in place and fight the urge to writhe on the ground, but fuck, it feels impossible. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

“Don’t. Move.”

The buzzing in my ears is almost enough to drown out the rustle of fabric, but I stand my ground—er, sit my ground—refusing to move as I try to control my breathing.

“Man, this is so embarrassing,” Tatum mumbles.

Warm liquid hits my foot, and I fight the urge to pull away when the blazing fire starts to ebb, being replaced with a softer, more manageable discomfort I can handle.

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