Page 62 of Refusing Kendall

I lean down just enough for her to be able to lean forward the last little bit and press her lips against mine.

Leave it up to Teagan to ruin the moment as they walk back in carrying food, “And you’re stuck with us now, so you may want to go ahead and ask for some crazy pills while you’re here.”

Her laugh is cut short when she winces in pain.

I kiss her nose, “I love you, baby girl.”

Enjoy the Small Things

KENDALL

The following weeks after waking up in the hospital are agonizingly slow and painful. Shockingly enough, I’m only kept in the hospital for a little over a week. The fine print they didn’t bother telling me was that when I was able to get up and start moving around, then the threat was over, and I’d be sent home. Hell, if I had known that, I may have tried to get up even sooner than what I did.

I’d only been home for a day, when the detectives came knocking on the door to ask me to come to the station for the lineup. The quicker I got this shit out of the way, the better. They even offered to drive me over there, but the guys weren’t having any part of it in the least. We all hopped in the Rover and drove over. I sat in the back between Teagan and Lucas, clinging to the latter’s hand for dear life. I’d have had Teagan’s too, but I’ve had my arm in a sling since I left the hospital. His hand rested reassuringly on my leg to keep it from bouncing.

They had to wait outside as I identified the man I’d thought was my father and his son from the lineup as the men who kidnapped and attempted to kill me. I’m told that I won’t have to face them again, even in court since they were witnessed on scene. As the detectives put the last piece of paper in front of me to sign, some of their fellow officers exit out of a side door with Leroy and Nick in tow.

The younger detective cursed as I did the same inside my head. Dropping the pen, I reached out for Maverick. He was the only one that looked ready to commit fucking murder every time the news talked about my case. That still left the other three. Lucas, standing behind me, was partially blocked, but Teagan and Goose slipped the cop in front of them and launched themselves at the assholes. Both had their hands cuffed in front of them, so they had as much of a fighting chance as I did when they had me. None of the cops stepped in to stop them until they’d both leveled at least four good punches on Leroy and Nick’s faces.

When the cops pulled them off, they both threw up their hands to say that they were done. Leroy stood up, yelling about filing a lawsuit against Teagan, who had tackled him to the floor before giving him his beating.

The cop on his left looked around, “I didn’t see a damn thing, anyone else?” He looked around at all the others standing around, but they all simply shrugged or shook their head. That got Leroy on a tirade about the system and filing a lawsuit against the station. I had watched with morbid satisfaction as they were led away broken, and bleeding. If I could’ve jumped my boys right there in front of everyone, I would have.

As it stands, that was two weeks ago. Not even one of them has made any kind of advance on me, and it’s driving me crazy. They are taking the doctor’s orders to heart about no strenuous exercising. I’m still hurting pretty badly and having to take my pain pills, so I can’t really blame them too much, I suppose.

That’s exactly what I’m doing when a thick set of arms fold around me, and the scent of spearmint assaults my nose. I let loose a scream as I turn, and I bump my shoulder into the fridge where I was getting water from. Between the twisting on my stomach and hitting my arm, I’m pretty close to collapsing from the pain. Goose helps lower me to the floor as he sits on his knees in front of me, worrying his hands around my body.

Thunderous footsteps come at us from both the upstairs and downstairs.

“What the fuck happened?” Mav growls at seeing us sitting in the floor.

Goose shrugs as I sit holding my shoulder with my good hand, “I startled her, I think. I’m sorry, sweetheart. I wasn’t thinking.”

When I can finally catch my breath, I try to let him off the hook, “It’s okay. I’m okay. I just have a favor to ask of all of you.”

My eyes are closed as I’m talking, so when I don’t get a response, I open them. Lucas is kneeling beside us with T and Mav directly behind him, “What is it, baby?”

“I can’t handle the smell of spearmint right now,” I admit. “I know it’s stupid, but it’s what Nick smelled like, and…”

“You don’t have to explain, sweets,” Teagan says. “We get it.”

Goose’s face is apologetic as he gets up and spits out his gum, “I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”

I reach my hand out for him when he comes back over. He and Lucas help me get my ass off the floor before I put my arms around him, “I know you didn’t.”

“Are your wounds okay?” Maverick asks.

They hurt, but it’s not unbearable, and I tell him such. It placates him for now, and they let out a collective sigh of relief before we all move downstairs to watch a movie. I’m asleep halfway through.

When I wake up, everyone but Lucas is gone. He sits at the end of the couch with my feet in his lap. If he didn’t look so damn comfortable, I’d wake him up to go to bed. Making my way up the stairs, I run into Maverick in the kitchen. He stands with his back against the counter island drinking a glass of milk. I hide in the shadows, admiring him as he stands there in nothing but his boxer briefs, all that lean muscle on display. His arm flexes when he brings the cup to his lips, and before I can stop myself, I make my way over. The only sign that I’ve surprised him is his eyes widening a bit. After almost dying, it’s like I’m seeing them all with a fresh set of eyes, taking a break to enjoy the small things. Like now, not even trying, he’s so sexy half dressed with bed hair.

“Stop looking at me like that, baby girl,” he says gruffly.

Out of all of them, I know that he’s the least likely to break this pact thing they have against doing anything with me right now. Besides, there’s someone else that I need to see first. So, going against what I want to do, I reach up on my toes and give him a quick kiss. Then I go hide in the hall leading towards my room until I’m sure he’s gone to bed.

I almost give myself away with a giggle as I sneak up the stairs to the room across from Teagan’s. When I get there, I don’t bother knocking, considering he’s probably sleeping anyways. Slipping inside, I find Goose stripped down to the same state Mav was in. He’s laid across the bed like he didn’t even want to bother using the blanket. I’m just glad to see that his room looks lived in again. I’ve missed him so damn much. There’s not a lot of light in the room, but there’s enough to see every inch of toned muscle laid across the bed. He never lost all of that definition, even while he was in his drunken stupors, leaving him just as toned as before getting hurt.

Trying to contain another giggle, I run my finger up the bottom of his foot. He jerks awake to glare at me.

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