Page 52 of Up In Flames
“It’s fine.”
He’s not looking at me, and I hate it.
Looking down, I realize I’m in a shirt that swallows me and shorts that do the same. Tugging on the shirt, I thank him for the loaners, wishing we could skip this awkwardness. I push up on my elbows, wanting to be closer to him, to not waste this precious time, but my equilibrium is still off, and the room starts spinning again.
“Dammit,” I groan, flopping back onto the pillow. I squeeze my eyes shut because I hate this feeling. Then the mattress dips beneath Knox’s weight.
“Talk to me, Taylor. What’s wrong?”
The concern in his voice guts me.
“I’m fine. I just can’t sit up without the fucking room spinning.”
“I can’t give you any more meds yet, but maybe I can help get you back to sleep,” he says in that voice that threatens to undo me.
“What’d you have in mind?” I ask playfully.
“Really? You’ve got a concussion and can’t sit up on your own, but you want to flirt right now?”
I can’t help my smile. “What can I say? When I see what I want, I won’t be deterred.”
“Shut up.” The words lose all their bite when he laughs as he says them. I’m in love with the sound. “You’re supposed to be sleeping…andhealing,” he reminds me.
“I’m not so tired anymore,” I tell him, looking up at his handsome face.
He gives me a cocky grin that has me dangerously close to coming in his sheets, but before I can respond with something smart, he drives his fingers into my hair and starts massaging my scalp.
“Ohmygoooooood. Fuck, yeeeees,” I groan, my back bowing slightly off the bed in an effort to get closer to him. I’m entirely unable to hold my reaction back.
“Taylor,” Knox warns.
“Don’tTaylorme when you’re giving me a scalpgasm,” I chastise, my eyelids closing because they were already heavy from his touch.
I don’t know how long he stays because I’m out again within the next five minutes, despite the protestations from my dick.
Chapter 19
Knox
Icheck on Taylor every hour, just as the doctor required. I only wake him up every other time, though, satisfied with his heavy breathing and small moans to let me know he’s safe. I spend longer than necessary in the presence of his sleeping form and finally, by two a.m., I grab a pillow and a blanket to sleep on the floor next to his bed.
This way, I don’t have to walk down the hall and make noise opening his door and risk waking him.
I adjust my pillow, and a small groan of discomfort leaves my lips at the way my shoulder grinds into the hard floor beneath me.
Suddenly, a sleepy voice rings out above me.
“If you’re moving in, you might as well just get in this bed,” Taylor says, still half asleep.
His eyes aren’t even open.
It takes me a full minute to formulate my response. When I finally find words, they’re lacking.
“I’m fine. Go back to sleep.”
But Taylor doesn’t have the reservations I do. Eyes open, now looking fully awake, he props himself up on an elbow to look down at me.
“Come on, Knox. No one wants to sleep on the fucking floor. I’m fine. Go back to bed.”
