Page 51 of Totally Shipped
They have to be careful. Harvey could come back, and he has that knife.
“H-Harvey,” I stutter. “Kn-knife.”
“HE CUT YOU!” screams Leander.
“A little, it’s not too bad, but you—you need to b-be careful.”
“Harvey is not a problem,” says a third voice, and then Gray comes into view.
Killian gets up and wraps his arms around Gray. “You did good,” he murmurs into Gray’s hair.
Gray shakes his head. “I didn’t, I couldn’t.”
Poor Gray buries his face in his hands.
“What happened?” asks Killian.
“I chickened out—couldn’t do it. I was going to kill him. I was, but then…I couldn’t fucking take his life. I just knocked him out then tied him up,” answers Gray. His eyes, he looks terrible. “I’m so sorry, I let you down.”
“Gray…” I beckon him down and he joins us on the edge of the pool in a warm and wet hug. “I love you,” I tell him. “I’m glad he’s not dead by your hand. You don’t need to carry it around with you.”
“But I love you, Daisy. I want to make sure Harvey never hurts you again.”
“We’re not murderers,” says Leander, “however much we want to murder him. I guess we are disappointingly civilized.”
I look around at their gloomy faces.
“Guys! Get a grip! I don’t want you to kill Harvey. I don’t want that. Not killing him makes you better men than killing him would. Yes, he is a royal pain in our collective behinds, but to be honest, I think he has completely lost his mind. We cannot condemn a man to death for having a—a fucking mental break from reality!”
They don’t look convinced, but I know I’m right.
“...Swear,” says Leander, eventually.
I smile at him; at all of them.
“Believe me, this is right.”
“But what do we do with him now? We obviously need to keep an eye on him,” Killian says.
“Yeah, it’s fucking annoying,” Leander says, “but we’ll have to take him back with us. Figure out a way we can keep him contained.”
“Speaking of which, I’d better go and check he’s still tied up,” groans Gray, getting to his feet.
I stand too, then squeeze my arms tight around his waist. “I love you, Gray.”
“I love you, Daisy.” I move forward for a kiss, but we are interrupted by Leander.
“Dudes! Hot water!”
Oh, right! Leander hadn’t seen the springs before. He cannonballs in then resurfaces.
“Go check on the douchebag, then get back here Gray. This is fucking amazing.”
We don’t head home straight away; it’s too late to start a jungle trek and then a mammoth swim. Instead we eat, drink, and swim in the amazing spring waters all afternoon. As soon as it’s dark, we cuddle up together to sleep. I sleep all night without waking once, though the guys take turns to keep watch over Harvey.
The next morning, we set off at first light and covered the journey to the north beach slowly and with frequent stops. Moving at a pace I could handle was more important. Harvey was silent most of the time, apart from a little tune he kept humming to himself.
The moment the north beach comes into view, the idea of that swim makes me freak out, but I try not to show it.
