Mike sat with Shelby on his lap and rocked and crooned to her, trying to calm her and comfort her. He knew she was Gavin’s girl, but holding her like this was heaven. Shelby was very attractive, and had she not been Gavin’s first, he would have asked her out.
He and Gavin had often discussed sharing a woman. He wondered if Shelby could be that woman. He didn’t know if she was attracted to him or if she was even interested in being shared by two men. How would she handle that? Now was not the time to talk to her about it. He needed to talk to Gavin first and see if he was still interested in sharing. Maybe Shelby would be the one for them.
Shelby couldn’t believe it. Gone, they were gone. She hadn’t talked to or seen her parents in several years, but had always hoped that they could reconcile. Now they were gone. She would never hear her mother’s voice again. Never feel the warmth of her father’s embrace. And Elliott, her little brother needed her. Elliott was five years younger, but they had been close. When he left to go to college they had drifted apart but still talked frequently. She hadn’t talked to him since she moved to Minnesota. Now she was sorry she hadn’t called him. Linda said he was asking for her. She had to figure out a way to get to him.
She started moving on Mike’s lap. “Elliott, I need to get to Elliott.”
“Shhh, honey, Gavin’s on his way. We’ll get you to your brother. Shh.” Mike held her tighter.
“Gavin’s coming?” Shelby asked through her tears.
“Yes, honey. I had one of the boys call him, and he’s on his way. He knows what’s going on, and together we’ll get you to your brother.” Mike told her, holding her tighter.
“Gavin knows about my…” She started sobbing harder.
“Shhh,” Mike turned her face against his shoulder and held her tighter, wishing there was something more he could do. Rocking her, he held her has tight as he could.
Gavin made his way to the garage as quick as he could. He knew Shelby would need him, but he also knew that Mike would be taking care of his girl. His girl—he hadn’t known her that long, but already he was thinking of her as his.
He and O’Brien had shared women before and had talked about making something permanent, but he didn’t know if Shelby could be that woman. He could tell O’Brien was interested in her, but how did she feel about him? Now wasn’t the time to worry about that, he needed to get to her and get her to her brother.
When Gavin got to the garage, he ran straight to Mike and Shelby. Sitting on the floor in front of them, he took her gently in his arms and held her in his lap. Holding her and rocking her he looked to Mike.
Without Gavin saying a word, Mike said, “I’m on it, man—two first-class tickets to the closest airport next to her hometown and a rental car waiting. I’ll also get hotel accommodations. One of the boys is on his way to the house to pack you both a bag, and you can buy whatever else you need.”
Neither of them was hurting for money, so O’Brien wasn’t worried about the cost of anything and knew Gavin wasn’t either. Gavin smiled at him in appreciation and continued rocking and holding Shelby.
“Gavin, will you come with me?” Shelby asked him in a small voice.
“Baby, I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he said, leaning down to brush her lips with his.
“I’ll pay you back for everything as fast as I can.”
“Baby, don’t worry about that. We just need to get you to your brother. Then we can worry about everything else.”
Mike had squatted beside them and held one of her hands. “Don’t you worry about anything, sugar. Gavin and I will take care of everything.”
Gavin nodded and looked at his friend with a question in his eyes.
Mike nodded at Gavin and mouthed, “We’ll talk about it when you get back.”
Gavin nodded, knowing that his friend was interested in Shelby, too. In the back of his mind, he wondered how it would all play out but had a woman to take care of now.
Chapter Six
By the time, Gavin and Shelby got to Elliot’s hospital room visiting hours were over, but the staff made an exception and let Shelby into see him. Elliot had a broken arm and a broken leg, but most worrisome was his head. He had a small crack in his skull and some swelling of his brain. There was no way to tell how bad the brain injury was until the swelling went down. By the time Shelby got there, the doctors had put him into a coma to give his brain time to heal.
Gavin watched from outside the room as Shelby laid her head on her brother’s chest, and wished he could go in with her and hold her. The nurses had told him about the concerns for Elliot and what the expected outcome was. They let Shelby be with him for a few minutes before they made them leave for the night.
By the time they got to the hotel room Mike had reserved for them, Shelby was exhausted. Gavin ordered room service, and they ate a quiet meal before he took her into the shower. The next few days were going to be busy and Shelby needed her rest.
Once Gavin had her settled, he called Mike to give him an update. “Man, when I get back we need to talk about Shelby,” Gavin told Mike.
“Yes, we do, and I think you know what we need to talk about.”
Gavin answered. “We both need to think this out before we do anything and talk to Shelby.”
They finished the conversation, and Gavin crawled into bed with Shelby. She was sleeping soundly, finally. It had been over thirty-six hours since either of them had any sleep with traveling and stopping at the hospital. Gavin knew the next few days were going to be stressful. They had an appointment with the funeral director tomorrow, and with Shelby’s brother still in a coma, she was going to have to handle everything herself.