Be My Hero(42)

Pick pressed his cheek to my temple. "Eva? Talk to me. Say something, baby."

My knuckles were still white from holding onto his shirt so hard. But I managed to gasp, "I'm okay."

"Is she okay?" Reese asked, her voice coming closer.

I held my thumb up with my free hand but couldn't unclench my eyelids. "Where's Skylar?"

"Quinn's holding her," Pick said.

"Wasn't he sitting all the way across the driveway?"

"Yep. Kid moves fast when he needs to." Lifting his face away from mine,  he asked, "Where's her room? I'm going to lay her down."

"It's this way. Follow me," Reese instructed just as someone else asked, "Should we take her to the hospital?"

Pick took charge as he carried me inside. "Let's see if she broke anything open first."

Though my stomach felt as if it had been cut apart without anesthesia, I  was glad to be back in his arms and inhaling his intoxicating coconut  scent. He was laying me down on my mattress way too soon for my liking.  Without him right there against me, I curled into a ball and tucked my  knees up toward my chest as I cradled my inflamed stomach.

I heard enough voices to realize just about everyone at the picnic was cramming into my room, trying to get a peek at me.

"Is she okay?" Ten asked, right before Pick growled. "Get the fuck out of here."

"Okay, that's enough," Aspen instructed, her voice brooking no room for  argument. "Why doesn't every guy get out? We need to make sure she  didn't re-open her incision."

"Wait," I gasped at the last second, reaching out my hand blindly. "Pick."

He was there immediately, kneeling next to me. "I'm here, Tink."

I pulled him closer and he came without any kind of resistance, his  brown eyes swirling with anger and concern. The anger was what worried  me.

"Promise me you won't kill Ten. It's my fault he-"

"It was not your fucking fault."

"I was egging him on and elbowed him first."

"Well, he should've used his damn brain. And even if you were perfectly  healthy, no way in hell should he have elbowed back that hard. Fucking  idiot."

I grasped his chin in my hand. "Patrick."

He growled out his irritation but gave a terse nod. "Fine." Then he  leaned in and pressed his lips to my forehead for a long twenty seconds.  Just before he moved away, he brushed his tongue out and tasted my  skin. Then he smoothed my hair with his fingers. "You better be okay."

"I'll be fine." The pain was already subsiding. Everyone had made a much bigger deal about my injury than they'd needed to.

Once Pick was gone, Reese shut the door after him. She, Aspen, and Caroline remained.

"Let's see what we have here." As Aspen neared the bed, I tried to sit up.

"Dr. Kav . . . " Crap, forgot I was supposed to use her first name.

"It's just Aspen," she said, smiling slightly. "And I'm not really a doctor, doctor."

I nodded, a move that made me wince. "Sorry."

"Quite all right. Do you feel comfortable with letting us see your . . . ?" She motioned vaguely toward my lap.

I gave a small laugh. "A room full of complete strangers got up close  and personal with my hoo-ha when I gave birth. I think I'm okay with  it."

"E.'s not exactly shy. Or modest." Reese sat on the mattress next to me and took my hand.         

     



 

"Geez. Streak topless across a beach once and you suddenly get labeled indecent." I rolled my eyes and squeezed her hand back.

"Actually," Reese argued with a grin. "I think it was you laughing and  screaming 'Look at my titties' that cinched the whole indecent label for  you."

When Aspen and Caroline exchanged scandalized glances, I sighed. "In my defense, I was really drunk at the time."

"Oh." They seemed to understand that, which made me wonder what both of them had done in drunken episodes.

I sank back on my pillow as Aspen slowly peeled down my yoga pants to  reveal my stomach. Caroline inched in closer, biting her lip. Reese  leaned in to look too. I closed my eyes, hoping for the best but fearing  the worst.

Aspen's surprised "Oh!" had my lashes flying open.

"Oh, God. What?"

She smiled up at me with complete reassurance. "I didn't realize your staples were already out."

I nodded. "They took them out last week."

"I guess I haven't updated Mason recently with all of Eva's medical  issues," Reese added. "He was just a little behind on the times when he  said they were still there."

"Well, it seems to be healing . . . okay. I mean, I'm not a  doctor-doctor, but nothing's broken open and there's no blood or redness  or puffiness. Just some greenish looking bruises that look a few weeks  old."

That would be where Alec had punched me.

Aspen bit her lip. "Want me to poke on it to see if there's any extra  tenderness?" Her fingers were slowly inching toward my abdomen, but she  was cringing as if she'd rather have her wisdom teeth removed.

I smiled. "I'll do it." After reaching down, I prodded my bikini line.  Aside from the usual, I felt okay. I pulled my pants back up to where  they usually rested. "I think I'm good."

When I went to sit up, all three girls reached out to keep me down.

"Maybe you should just rest for a while," Reese suggested.

I opened my mouth to tell them I was fine, but a commotion outside the door caught our attention.

I'd barely sat up and slid my feet to the floor by the time Aspen,  Caroline, and Reese had thrown open the door and rushed from my room.  Pick was shouting something, Ten was shouting back, and both Mason and  Noel were shouting for them to calm down. I huffed out a breath and  rolled my eyes.

Boys.

"Pick," I scolded before I'd even reached the doorway. I found Mason  holding him back by the arms while Noel was setting his hand against  Ten's chest to keep him away. Ten had a very distinct red mark on his  cheek.

"What?" Pick said, shrugging off Mason so he could come to me. "He's still breathing."

I sighed. "You seriously just couldn't help yourself, could you?"

"If someone hurts you, I'm going to hurt them back. That's all there is to it."

The sincerity and emotion in his eyes made me gulp with longing.

If only.

I shook my head. "Well, I'm fine, so you can leave him alone. And just  where is my baby while all you guys feel the need to brawl?"

"Right here," Quinn spoke up. He stepped from the corner where he'd been  shielding the bundle in his arms from all the testosterone surging  through the room. He looked extra huge with a preemie in his arms, but  he carried her with the upmost care as he brought her to me and handed  her over.

"She's been asleep the whole time." His voice was hushed as if he were  afraid to wake her, even after the yelling match that had ensued between  the other guys.

I smiled up at him. "Thank you, Quinn."

"It was my pleasure." He blushed and stepped back, sending a worried  glance Pick's way, as if afraid he'd get into trouble for standing too  close to me.

Pick ignored him as he set his hand lightly on my back and steered me  back into my room. "Let's get you two ladies settled into bed."

I tried to tell him I was fine, but he wouldn't hear anything of it. The  frustrated man wasn't satisfied until he had me reclining on my  mattress with Skylar cradled to my chest. And even then, he sat on the  edge of the bed next to me, looking forlorn as he watched us.

When he drew in a deep breath as he slowly reached out and ran his hand  lightly over Skylar's dark hair, my heart broke for him, even though I  had no idea why he was so sad.

"Hey." I set my hand on his thigh. "What's wrong?"

He grabbed my fingers and squeezed. "Nothing. I . . . " He shook his  head and blew out another breath. "I really need to get going. Tris  still isn't answering her phone. I can't believe she'd have Julian out  this long. She's not . . . " He shook his head again. "It's just not  like her."

I nodded as if I understood, even though I understood nothing. "Why didn't you ever tell me about you and her?" I blurted out.         

     



 

He hesitated and refused to meet my gaze. "What do you mean?"

"You don't have a real marriage."

He lifted his face and cringed, looking apologetic. "Trust me, it's real. I have a license signed by a judge to prove it."

"But it's not real, real. You don't love her. You don't have sex with  her. You've never had sex with her. And Julian's not yours."

"How . . . ?" He cocked his head to the side, suddenly suspicious. "How'd you learn all that?"

I let out an exaggerated sigh. "It doesn't matter how. It matters that  you never bothered to tell me any of it yourself. Why didn't you think I  deserved to know? I thought we were at least friends. And you knew I  always felt guilty about the way we . . . interacted."

"Eva . . . " He glanced away, torment creasing his face as he ran his  fingers through his hair. When he came back to face me, he gave a heavy  sigh. "We are friends."