Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 139803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 699(@200wpm)___ 559(@250wpm)___ 466(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 699(@200wpm)___ 559(@250wpm)___ 466(@300wpm)
Vincent came in from the back porch. “Is she okay?” he asked.
“No,” Axel snapped at him. “I specifically told you to leave her the fuck alone while she was painting. She doesn’t like to be bothered, and yet you did whatever the fuck you wanted to anyway. She can’t even drink coffee, Vincent! The caffeine is fucking bad for the baby.”
“Axel,” I tiredly called, not wanting to fight. I just wanted to figure out how the fuck I was going to sleep with these burns on my legs and feet because I certainly couldn’t cover them up.
He gave a disgusted shake of his head before he walked over to our bedroom as Julian carried me inside. “We’ll sandwich you between us, and you can wear one of our hoodies to sleep in,” Julian told me as he gently laid me on the bed. “I don’t want you to have to cover up your legs and feet. You’re only going to hurt yourself more.”
I rested my head on his shoulder. “Laying down is going to make the sheets rub on my burns.” I sleepily mumbled. Whatever medicine they had given me at the hospital was making me extremely drowsy.
“We can always drag the recliner in here,” Axel suggested. Julian looked over at him. “And we can take turns sleeping in it with her. She can dangle her legs and feet over the side of the chair if we sleep in the recliner.”
Julian sat down on the bed and nodded his head. “Yeah, go ahead. We just need to hurry. She’s on the verge of passing out.”
“Sorry,” I slurred as my eyes drooped closed.
“Hold on, baby.” Julian gently sat me up. “Put this on.” He quickly slipped his hoodie over his head.
I pouted as I pulled it on but sighed in contentment when I was wrapped up in Julian’s warmth and the smell of his cologne. He pulled me back against his chest as we listened to Axel pull the recliner into the bedroom. Once it was in the room, Julian stood up. “I’ll take the first shift,” he told Axel. “I know you’ve got schoolwork to catch up on.”
Axel grunted. “Yeah, fucking unfortunately.”
Julian sat down in the recliner and eased it back, bringing me with him. Once he was settled comfortably, I relaxed further into him, sleep already tugging at me since I had been fighting it so hard.
Axel’s lips suddenly covered mine. “Get some rest, sweet girl. We’ll wake you up when it’s time for more pain medicine.”
“Love you,” I mumbled, but I didn’t know if he could understand what I said. It was pretty damn garbled.
Axel laughed softly. “I love you, too, sweet girl.”
I finally let sleep take me.
47
Axel
* * *
I looked up at Vincent when he stepped into the kitchen where I was sitting at the dining room table doing classwork, trying to figure out this stupid essay that was due in a week. “I’m busy,” I grunted. It was an excuse, but I really didn’t fucking want to talk to him.
“I wanted to apologize,” Vincent said.
I arched an eyebrow at him. “I’m frankly not the one you should be apologizing to, Vincent. You need to apologize to Meghan. Her feelings were the ones you shredded the fuck apart. You’re lucky Julian owns and makes the payments on this place because I would have slammed the fucking door in your face and called the police to report you for driving under the influence.”
He flinched. “I guess I deserve that,” he mumbled. “I don’t know where to begin with her.”
“A fucking ‘I’m sorry’ might be a good place to start,” I sarcastically retorted.
He sighed. “How bad are her burns?”
“Third degree. She’ll forever be scarred from them.” He winced, looking down at the floor.
My phone vibrated, and I looked down at it to see that it was a text from Julian.
* * *
My fucking ass is asleep, and I have to piss like a mother fucker. Your turn.
* * *
I laughed at his message before I closed my laptop and stacked everything neatly to carry it to the office. If Meghan saw I left my shit on the table, I would get scolded.
It was hot seeing her all frustrated with me, but the less stress she had right now, the better. And things being out of place really irked her nerves.
I looked at Vincent. “Look, I’m not the one to talk to,” I told him. “All I want to do is bust your fucking face up. Julian will be your best fucking bet if you want someone to talk to about how you fucked up everything with her.” I made a disgusted sound in the back of my throat. I clenched my hands around my laptop. “You know, I don’t fucking get it. You two were super fucking close. You fought Julian every step of the fucking way when he was trying to be with her. I was there to witness every bit of the fighting between you two. You visited her one time, and suddenly, she was a fucking monster in your eyes. I don’t fucking understand it. I’ll never understand it.”