PERSONAL: A Stepbrother Sports Romance (21 page)

“We need to check your vitals, as well. You don’t look so great.”

I wasn’t even aware that I was shaking all over until a nurse began to check my vitals.

“Will he need stitches on his lip? He’s so bloody and swollen. I gave him my jacket. I wasn’t there for long, though.”

“There?”

“Jail. But uh, it’s not like you think.”

“DWI?”

“No, God, no. I, well, some asshole I guess decided to administer me into custody because I kept asking questions about, my, uh…uh… boyfriend.”

Just saying that term of endearment caused color to rush to my cheeks.

“And you were left how long? I feel like I should bring our officer in here. It’s not every day you see a man naked and barefoot.”

“For hours. In the dark. Cold. They left him like that!” I began shivering thinking about it all.

“Okay, I’m going to administer a sedative and get fluids and nutrition in you as well. You should get some rest, as well. I’m sure that was quite traumatic.”

“I…I’m not cold like he is. I don’t think I have hypothermia.”

“Sweetie, you’re in shock. It’s written all over your body.”

“Well, it was quite…stupid…stupid…crazy! I didn’t think you could just be put into jail like that. I didn’t do anything.”

My breaths were coming quickly now and everything I had held back to stay strong for Bradley—giving him my jacket, trying my best to stay calm to keep him calm, well, it all came crashing into me like a freight train. That pound of bricks. The restricted breathing. The anxiety attack.

“Are you on any medications?”

I nodded. “I sometimes take Xanax when an anxiety attack is coming.”

“I’ll get you something. I also need to get you an IV and an oxygen mask.” I went weak in the knees and sat in a chair by the hospital bed. I felt spent. I felt like I was cast into angry waves at sea, seeing Bradley suffer like that. It really took a toll on me. Being freezing, fear. I shivered thinking about it all.

“Please don’t separate us. I can’t handle that right now. I don’t want to be alone in a place like this right now.”

“I understand, sweetie.”

A while later, Bradley was peacefully sleeping and the doctor agreed to let me stay in the room with him.

“Do you want to provide rescuer’s body heat?”

“What’s that?”

“You can lay next to him. Your body will keep his warm. Hypothermic skin is very sensitive to burns. His body will respond more naturally to his girlfriend.”

Girlfriend.

I nodded and smiled, the feeling of pride covering my body. It was the first time anyone had ever said it. It sounded beautiful and amazing.

“I am. Of course, I’d love to.”

“He’s very dehydrated and is lacking nutrients. He will probably sleep for a long time. But he’s stable so there is no need to worry about anything bad happening to him now. If you need to get up to use the restroom, just help yourself. Make sure he’s covered, though.”

“Oh, I’ll take excellent care of him between your rounds.”

Minutes later when it was just the two of us lying in the bed together for the first time, I kissed his cheek and brushed back his hair. “Thank God, you’re okay, Bradley.” I whispered. “I can’t lose you again.”

And just like that, all in a day’s journey, I found myself next to him again, wrapped in his arms in a bed, waiting for the first ray of dawn to dress our skin; I just didn’t ever imagine it to be like this.

I awoke again to the nurse checking my vitals.

“Uh, a Mr. Fox came by a few hours ago with clothes for you and a few of your things. He said that that officer came to the estate to notify him of Bradley’s condition.”

My heavy eyes dashed toward the bench and it brought a smile to my face. He brought my school bag and next to it was a few books, my computer and my files. It was so sweet of him to be so thoughtful. Heck, it was sweet of him to risk being stuck out in the blizzard!

“How have your stress levels been lately?” Her question snapped me back to the present.

“Um, through the rough. My stepfather passed, I’m in graduate school. I’ve been running from my family members. I…I’m going to be okay now, though. I am…I have him again.” My hand rested on his.

“Well, you’re too young to be this stressed. You don’t even have children yet.” She winked at me. “Do yourself a favor. I know who this man is. Have him take you on a month-long vacation. God knows your adrenals need it.”

“My adrenals?”

She looked down at her chart, marking a few things off, and then adjusted Bradley’s IV and drip.

“Uh huh. It’s responsible for your endocrine system. When your adrenals are shot, and I mean shot, like from stress, you get run down and fatigued.”

“Well, I for sure have been fatigued like forever. What do you take for that?”

She shook her head. “It’s not just about taking something. It’s an overhaul on your health. You treat it nutritionally and with the right supplements, but you also have to take it easy with your stress levels. Sleep more. Relax. Remove as much stress as you can because if you don’t, you can really mess up your thyroid levels and if you do want a family one day with this handsome guy, well, that can make it a long road.”

“Huh. Never heard anything about that.”

“It’s around if you research it. With you being on Xanax, and now this whole episode, seeing the man you love in despair like that, sweetie, you need a vacay.”

She glanced over at my heaping pile of books and paper and whistled a long note. “And ditch those big books for one of those trashy novels. Make you feel good real quick.” She winked.

“Oh, I don’t have any of those books.”

“Oh, but I do. I’ll be back soon.” She winked again. “Trust me, you’ll love this book! It will sweep you away and make you think about nothing but sunshine, feeling good and happy.” Her hands advertised the promise as she slowly made a wave in the air, like a natural born salesperson. She really made me believe her.

Minutes later, she was back faster than Amazon Prime one hour shipping itself!

I glanced at the cover. It was a shirtless man. Bradley looked way better than him, though, but that’s because Bradley’s a demigod. Still, the man looked pretty good.

The title:
Heat
.

“Oh honey, don’t judge. You just get past those three pages. You’ll be hooked.”

One hour later, I felt so hot, I swear I was burning even Bradley up!

This book really was just the trick. I was feeling loopy, happy, and blissful. I wasn’t sure if it was from the sedative drip, being cozy next to Bradleyin a hospital bed in the middle of a snow storm, or being called his girlfriend, but one thing for certain was I felt heat, alright, like the title of the book, so hot, I wanted to wake him up to satiate the need that’s been buried in me for so long it was becoming a part of me.

I was dreaming of the warmest place on the beach with the sun shining down on my face, and I was wrapped up next to him, making love on the beach. It was so sinfully sweet and he filled me so deeply just like he had promised me a day ago, when my ring tone woke me up, snapping me out of my lustful but perfect dream.

My ring tone!

Damn phone.

Wait…the phones are working!

I quickly scrambled out of bed in search for the phone that Mr. Fox so kindly packed.

“Where am I? Why am I in here?” Bradley asked softly, sounding hoarse and week. I spun around to see his green eyes blinking back from the sunlight. Oh thank God. I held up my finger and mouthed one second as I swiped answer. It was my mom.

“Kate! Kate! Dear, I’ve been calling you every minute since the phones started working. I was so worried sick that something happened to you and you were on the side of the road frozen to death. Are you still at home? I really wanted you to come with me to my hunkering down party in the city. You would have met some lovely people. You nodded your head and told me you were going to join me but then, wait, is that Bradley I hear in the background?”

“Yes.”

“Why is he asking why is he in a hospital?”

“Because, well, we kind of are.” I cringed, thinking how worried she was about to get.

“Oh, dear God.”

“It’s a long story but I was in prison. Well he was—”

“Prison! What on earth!?” I swear every room in the hallway could hear my mother’s shrill.

“You’ve never done anything wrong in your life! What…what is happening? Am I hearing you correctly? Hello? Kaaaaaate!”

“Mom, you can hear me just fine. You heard me correctly. Bradley was in prison for breaking into the library for some books for me.”

“You can’t just put someone in jail like that. How did they even know he did it?”

“Trust me, I know. It got really bad, too, with some bullying from this sheriff. He has a busted lip and then he had hypothermia.”

“Oh, no, no, no. That Sheriff doesn’t know what he did with this future life. It’s going to be oveeeer. Can you believe that, Victoria? Bradley and my daughter were in that lousy county jail for doing nothing! Now they’re in a hospital and—”

“Mooom! Mom!” I tried to pull her back into our conversation.

“Well, he messed with the wrong people.” I could literally hear my mother’s blood boiling like water in a teakettle. It was about blow up.“You better believe the world will hear about this. I will make sure everyone knows about this! I—”

Suddenly a smartly-dressed older man burst into the room like he owned the entire hospital. He held a suit and shoes and made a mad dash to the foot of Bradley’s bed.

"Airports are working. We need you now. I have a suit. We have a meeting to be at in ninety minutes before they leave. You better thank your lucky stars for this freak blizzard that prolonged a simple decision that could have been fixed days ago."

“Um, hold on, mom.”

“He’s in a hospital bed. Can’t you see that?” I reprimanded Mr.-Who-The-Hell-Do-You-Think-You-Are.

“We can bring the proper fluids and warming devices. We need him. Now. No more delays. It’s not like he just had heart surgery. And even if he had, we would have wheeled him out just like we did his father a few years ago. That’s how important this meeting is. Billions are at stake. But of course you wouldn’t understand any of that.”

“Bradley?”

He clenched his jaw and a low growl roared in his throat. I’d never heard that from him before. I didn’t know whether to expect to see him shape shift into an angry lion, a hungry wolf or what. But I did know one thing, my heart felt like a deflated balloon. I didn’t want him to leave.

“No, Peter, I think you don’t understand a lot of things. I’m coming. And apologize to my st—to my girlfriend.”

My eyes grew wide, my cheeks flushed.

“Oh, well whatever. She looks a lot like Mrs. Rainshaw’s daughter.”

And just like that, my heart was in my throat as the man I had envisioned cozying up to by a fire, making homemade soup to warm him, the man that was supposed to curl up with me, at home, was being called away.

But oh he called me his girlfriend. So that did a topsy-turvy with my hormones and mood!

“And is she attending the meeting, too?” he asked sarcastically.

“No, you prick. She needs to get back to the city to be with her family.”

“No, I mean in the copter. The Chengs are in there
right now
. She can’t distract the deal.”

“The Chengs are in the copter?”

“You must have really had a few cells freeze over. Yes, the Chengs are in the copter to sign the deal. Their flight is leaving in less than two hours. Which is why you need to put this suit on in less than five minutes.”

He sat up and his hand ran through his hair. I could tell he was dizzy and still not feeling his best. My worried eyes ran to meet the leech’s very own eyes. His jaw clenched and he stood still before he charged toward the bed and helped him up.

“Well, you look like hell. But I suppose you’ll do. Here.” He pressed the suit into his body. The blankets fell at his ankles and I instantly worried about him.

“Mom? Can I call you back? I’m...coming back to the city with Bradley. So there’s no need to send a car for me.”

“With his girlfriend? Why wasn’t she at the funeral?”

“I’ll fill you in later. Look, sorry. I have to grab my books and my bag. I’m sure it will thrill you to pieces to know I have nothing to wear and will need to go shopping.”

I could feel her excitement transmitting all the way through the ice and melting all the snow: shopping!

Even in his weakness, Bradley still looked pretty damn sexy. His hair totally sported that Edward Cullen vampire look that I just loved ever since I first saw the Twilight films. I suddenly became extremely self-conscious of my own attire and all-natural look.

I felt incredibly awkward since, well, I was in lounge clothes that Mr. Fox so kindly brought me so I wouldn’t have to leave Bradley’s side—a black lounge set from BeBe. Although they were cute and high-end, thanks to my ever-so-thoughtful mom who stocked my dresser for me when I came home to lounge, I hadn’t asked Mr. Fox to bring any of my other more suitable clothing for meeting important businessmen.