On my way to the bathroom, I tried to calm my pulse, all the conflicting emotions threatening to burst out of me. Guilt and gratitude. Love and terrifying fear of getting my heart broken.
Once done with the shower, hair towel-dried, and clad in my pajamas, I opened the bathroom door to Olly wrapped in a blanket on one corner of the couch and Lucas sitting on the floor with his back against the opposite side.
He was pressing the ice pack on his knee and when our gazes met, his eyes warmed. Then, as I stood there in my sleeping shorts, he looked down my bare legs and that warmth turned into heat.
A few hours ago, a look like that would have left me tingling, hoping for more, but now all of that… had soured. Because I had ruined tonight. And I hated it. I hated that I was responsible for him being in pain.
“Come here,” Lucas said, patting the couch cushion behind his head. “I was asking Olly what we should watch.”
I sighed. “It’s so late, Lucas I…”
Before I could properly complain, though, Lucas’s lips curled, giving me a distracting smile. “We all need to unwind, take our minds off tonight. I would cook something but—”
“No.” I instinctively shot forward. Just so he wouldn’t move from where he was. “No cooking or anything that implies being on your feet for you. Stay put.”
He smiled wider, and dammit, it was hard not to feel good seeing that smile.
“I think he’s right, Rosie,” my brother offered.
“You two ganging up on me?” With a sigh, I came to a stop in front of Lucas. “Why don’t you take the couch? There’s enough space for you to stretch your leg.”
He shook his head. “The floor is fine.”
I pinned him with a look.
And instead of fighting me over it, instead of trying to say something that would convince me or make me feel better, he placed the palm of his hand to the side of my thigh. And slowly, ever so slowly, he squeezed. The pads of his fingers were right against my bare skin, and everywhere that our skin touched heated up. Intense awareness spread out, traveling to all parts of my body.
Lucas let his hand rest there as he looked up at me, straight into my eyes. His jaw set into a line, his features serious. “Don’t make me get on my feet and pick you up myself, ángel.” And I knew he meant it. “Because I’ll carry you to the couch if I have to.”
God, this man. “Fine,” I relented.
His hand fell off my skin at the same time as a grunt of agreement left his lips.
Choosing to ignore how that little sound affected me, I plopped myself down on the couch, watching as Lucas repositioned himself so his shoulders and head were between my legs.
He curled the arm that wasn’t holding the ice around my shin. “Now the floor isn’t just fine,” he said quietly. “It’s perfect.”
I laughed, secretly cursing him for thinking he could go around saying stuff like that like it was nothing. Like it wasn’t supposed to make me want to scramble off the couch and camp in his lap.
“Bean?” my brother called from the other side of the couch.
I looked over at him. “Yeah, Olly?”
“Why are we at Lina’s place?”
“That’s a bit of a long story. I’ll be moving back to my apartment tomorrow.”
Lucas nudged my knee with his head, and my hand unconsciously dragged along my thigh, stopping when my fingertips reached his hair. Slipping them in, I absently stroked a few chocolate-colored strands back.
“After I drop you off at Dad’s,” I added, watching with infinite pleasure how Lucas’s head rolled to one side under my touch. “I’ll take the train to Philly with you and then get back to the city.”
“Okay,” Olly accepted without a complaint. And that made me so relieved I barely handled not crying. “I already told your boyfriend while you were in the shower, but… I’m sorry I ruined your night,” he continued, and the man sitting between my legs on the floor, the one whose head was leaning on my thigh and whose hand was latched on my ankle, didn’t utter a word at the label my brother had used. Didn’t even tense or flinch at all. Olly went on, “I owe you an explanation, Rosie. For being an idiot and dragging you into my mess tonight. Because if you had shown up alone, Jimmy—”
“But she didn’t,” Lucas cut my brother off. “And that’s what matters.”
“That’s right. And I know you’re sorry, Olly.” There wasn’t a doubt in my mind or heart about it. Olly was sorry, and this whole ordeal would weigh on him for a long time. “But I need to know what happened, whatever it was.”