I nod, the relief pouring through me as Carver detours by the outdoor kitchen and grabs a bottle of water out of the fridge. He makes his way back to me and hands me the cold water. “Drink this,” he murmurs, avoiding my eyes. “It’ll help your throat.”
“Small sips,” Cruz adds.
I take the bottle from Carver and nod, a silent thanks sitting between us as he takes a step behind Cruz and sits on the edge of the sunbed that I’d only been lying in less than five minutes ago. He’s close enough that I could reach out and touch, but I wouldn’t dare because doing that means pulling away from Grayson.
King makes his way over as Cruz opens the bottle of water for me and presses it to my lips, forcing me to collect it and get on with taking a sip. Knowing that he won’t back off until I’ve at least tried, I take hold of the bottle, hating that I have to release Grayson’s hand. I tip the bottle up and just as I knew it would, the cold water burns down my throat, but I can’t deny that it makes it feel a million times better.
I take a few more sips, and despite not being able to see him behind me, I can sense the cocky pride rolling off Carver in waves.
King sits on the end of the other sunbed behind Grayson and Cruz slowly spins us around so that we face the guys, being careful not to jostle me too much. My new position puts me right in front of Carver, my head level with his knee, and the way he sits forward with his elbows on his knees, puts his bloodied knuckles right in front of my face.
I suck in a gasp and instantly regret it. My gaze sweeps up to Carver’s to find him looking down at me, and without thinking, I reach up and take his hand in mine before slowly tipping the cold water over his bloodied knuckles and cleaning them the best I can.
I feel his stare on me, but I refuse to look up, knowing that what I might see in his eyes is bound to hurt or confuse me, but he doesn’t pull his hand away and that speaks volumes.
Once the blood is gone, I lift his hand to my lips and gently place a kiss over his broken knuckles while feeling the stares of all four of the guys on me. Three of them in understanding, one with an intense confusion and desire that tears at my chest.
I hold onto his hand a second longer than necessary before finally releasing it and glancing up at the boys. “I thought I was safe here.”
Grayson shakes his head. “You’re not safe anywhere,” he murmurs. “We shouldn’t have left you here alone. Your life is in our hands and we let you down.”
“I fucking let her down,” King says, his tone completely broken as he hangs his head, his devastation speaking loud and clear.
My brows furrow as I watch him, but his despair has me crawling through the guys until I’m seated right in front of him, looking up as he sits on the sunbed before me. “What are you talking about?” I whisper, taking his hands in mine and squeezing tight. “The four of you just saved my ass. Literally saved it. No one here has let me down, especially not you.”
“Don’t you get it?” he questions, raising his gaze to meet mine. “It’s exactly two in the afternoon. The conversation we overheard last night was that fucking bitch arranging this, and instead of beating his ass then and finding out who’s behind this shit I hid you in the fucking bushes.”
“I … no. Are you sure it’s the same thing? They could have been discussing anything.”
“Babe, come on. The only reason two people would meet in the middle of the night would be if they were fucking, or about to fuck someone over,” he spits, shaking his head. “I knew it the second that asshole tripped the silent alarm. I could have put a fucking stop to this last night. You nearly fucking died today. Fuck, you did die.”
Desperation pours through me as I look at the guys for help, but they’re all just as perplexed as I am. I climb up off the ground and straddle his lap, curling both my legs and arms around him. “Don’t do that,” I warn him. “You couldn’t have known, just as I didn’t know. You’re not a mind reader. They said absolutely nothing to have made either of us suspicious of an attack against me. I actually thought that it might have been a drug deal.”
He rests the top of his head into the curve of my neck, his arms circling me as the guys remain quiet behind us. “If I’d have lost you today …”