Page 37 of Velvet and Valor
9
JUNE
“Hey,” I cry. “You can’t do this right now! We’ve got to get out of here.”
Axel groans, and his eyelids flutter. Otherwise, he remains still as a stone.
“Come on, Axel, be okay. You’ve got to be okay,” I mutter, going into the bathroom. I quickly fill a paper cup with water from the tap. A few moments later, I toss the water right into Axel’s face.
The results couldn’t have been more dramatic if I’d shocked him with a live wire. Axel leaps out of my bed and stands at attention.
“Sir, yes, Sir!” he bellows. “Ready for PT, Sir!”
“Axel,” I say, grabbing his arm. “Hey, Axel, you’re not in the army anymore, remember?”
“Oh.” He blinks rapidly, then his eyes focus on me. “That’s right. Hey, we should probably get out of here before more guys with axes show up…I’m not bleeding that bad, am I?”
I check the damp spot on his sleeve, peeling back the fabric. The sight of the gash in his tricep makes me wince.
“Jesus, if I had a cut half this deep, I’d be squealing like a baby.” I rush into the bathroom. “Hang on, I’ve got a first aid kit.”
“I’m fine,” Axel says. “It’s not even that deep.”
“Well, maybe I don’t want you bleeding all over my place?”
I pause and consider him for a moment. I realize this is my fault. I insisted on coming back to my place.
And Axel agreed, even though he knew it was a bad idea. Score one for him. He is a soldier, and Jax didn’t seem the sort to hire a buffoon. Axel wears his snarky persona like a bulletproof vest, thinking it will keep him safe.
Safe from what, though? Caring? If that’s the case, I don’t think his armor is working.
I rush into the bathroom and grab the heavy kit before lugging it into the bedroom. I spray the wound with antiseptic, Axel doesn’t so much as flinch. It’s not as bad as I feared, but it continues to bleed.
After applying a gauze pad, I wrap Axel’s arm.
“There, that should hold long enough for us to get out of here,” I say. “Where are we going? To the police?”
Axel shakes his head.
“I don’t think so. We should head back to my beach house. They very well might be watching the police stations.”
“They must have seen us coming in,” I say, looking down at the unconscious intruder.
“Maybe, maybe not. They came in through your front living room window. We came in through the back. If they’d been watching us, it would follow they’d use the same way we got in, rather than smashing the window.”
“Yeah, and they warned us with all the noise they made,” I add.
Axel nods. “Now you’re thinking tactically. You’d have made a great soldier.”
“Yeah, right. I’m allergic to getting up early, and as far as I’m concerned, a push-up is a bra.”
Axel’s warm laughter fills the air as we make our way out the back door into my yard.
“For what it’s worth, I much prefer that kind of push up myself,” he says.
“Really? You don’t seem like you need the support,” I quip.
Axel snorts with laughter, holding the back gate open so I can exit first.
