Page 29 of Cannon
His eyes shut, and he lays there quietly for thirty seconds or more before he opens them again, staring at the ceiling. “K, she was shell-shocked. Really rattled by what happened. I could hardly get her up off the bathroom floor. There she was, completely naked, but she kept trying to pick up all the tablets, saying she needed to do that for him. And you know damn well, his medical condition is only the tip of the iceberg with him.”
“Yeah.” I rub my hand over my jaw, thinking back. “You know what I find interesting about the two of them? She’s accepted him as he is. She questioned his abnormal behavior at first… but then she let it go.” Chewing on my lip, I groan, admitting it to myself that Elliot is very good for Cannon, even if it makes me question everything about my relationship with her. “I think you’re right. They havesomething,the same way she and I do.”
Archer winces, looking away from me.
I nudge him in his ribs with my foot. “Yeah. You like her too. I heard you loud and clear last night.”
Turning his head, Archer meets my eyes. “She didn’t seem to mind being… ours. The other day, I mean.”
My heart jumps in my chest at the reminder that it wasn’t but a few days ago that she let all three of us touch her. At the same time. I don’t know if that was a one-time thing, but— Actually, fuck, I hope it wasn’t. It’d been insanely hot looking into both her eyes and Archer’s while she ground her pussy against me and let Cannon play with her tits. I blink hard, realizing my dick is getting hard at the thought of doing something like that again.
When I don’t comment because I’m freaking stuck in my own head, he draws in a breath and gestures to my right hand. “How’s that looking this morning?”
“Fucked if I know. I keep testing it”—I lift my hand, slowly moving my fingers around—“and it’s so swollen I can’t make a fist.” I huff out a breath. “And I busted open two of the knuckles. It’s gnarly. I’ve mostly been ignoring it.”
He sits up. “Get your ass off the bed and come with me.”
“Where?”
“To my room for medical supplies. I don’t know what you have, but I know I have what I need. Come on.”
“Seriously.” I clench my teeth together and eye him warily.
A tiny smirk drifts to his lips and his amusement shows in the glint of his eye. I can feel the crass remark coming before it leaves his mouth. “Um, yeah. Before you get an infection and have to jerk off with your left hand.”
Archer always manages to make me laugh. And, let’s face it, there’s not a whole lot of room left to argue with his assessment either, so I follow him across the hall to his room and into his bathroom, where he’s already pulling supplies from drawers. He points to the faucet. “Rinse.”
Archer is probably the only person that I’d allow to boss me around and get away with it unscathed. I turn on his faucet and gingerly edge my hand under the flow of cold water. I gasp aloud as it hits the broken skin of my knuckles and distract myself by watching Archer take a washcloth, get it wet, and squirt some soap onto it. He briskly works the soap into a lather before pointing. “Give me your hand.”
I turn, propping my ass on the glossy black granite and hold my hand over the sink. He comes in close, planting his feet on either side of mine, and dabs the open spots gently with the soapy washcloth. Blood from my wounds immediately stains it a pinkish red. I grind my teeth, sucking in air through them.
“You really fuckin’ did it this time.” Archer breathes out, then glances up at me for a split second before he returns to his ministrations.
“Yeah, well. It is what it is.” I sigh and let him rinse and pat my hand dry.
A quiet laugh passes through his lips. “Tell me about that.”
I roll around what to say for several beats. “Hell, you already know I was being a fuckin’ jealous dick. But you know what?” I shift to a slightly more comfortable position against the counter and wait until his gaze lifts to mine.
“No, man. Tell me.” He shoots me a wink then goes back to work on my hand, applying some sort of antiseptic ointment.
Somewhat amused, I clear my throat. “I know the fourth-year members of the house dealt with a lot last year. But I feel like maybe I’m about to break all kinds of records as the house leader.” I stop, taking a few measured breaths, but he doesn’t look up, so I continue. “On top of my own unhinged, jealous freak-out—yes, I recognize it for what it was—there’s Cannon’s refusal to share anything about his medical status with Elliot, my father breathing down my neck about rumors he’s hearing and how we’d better not have an incident like last year, these asswipe brothers who continue to give us grief despite their time in the basement… and now we have this Nick fuck who seems to believe he has some claim on Elliot.”
Archer’s brow furrows. “Yeah. Haven’t really gotten to discuss that yet, have we?”
I don’t bother answering, but barrel on. “And fuck if she hasn’t been keeping things from me again. That shit sends me right over the edge. What, does she just pick and choose which assholes she wants to tell me about?” The question shoots from my mouth in a low growl. The mere thought of anyone touching her, hurting her, or saying a goddamn ugly word to her threatens to spin me right back to where I was last night.
“I doubt that’s it. Our girl seems a whole lot overwhelmed. Do you really think she wants to dredge up her past?” Archer’s brow pinches hard. “I think, based on those few texts we’ve seen, that Nick guy is real trouble.”
My jaw clenches as a flash of something she said to me earlier this week in a private moment rolls to the front of my mind. She used to cut in response to whatever the fuck this guy Nick did or said to her. My stomach twists into unbearable knots, unwilling to offer up her secret. “No, I don’t think she wants us to know about whatever happened between her and her ex. But I’m nervous as hell her past is about to come out to fuckin’ play.”
Archer’s hand jerks at that comment, and I flinch in response, sucking in air through my teeth. Archer winces at the pain he’s just caused me. “Fuck. Sorry, man.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
He clears his throat, then murmurs, “I agree, or I wouldn’t have shown you the texts he sent her in the first place. And if I hadn’t, we wouldn’t have shown up in time to help Cannon and Elliot.”
I nod. “Right.”
