Page 14 of Prickly Pair
He tightened his grip on me, not letting me leave the sink. “Nope. Not going anywhere.”
“What do you mean you sold out?” I growled at Nick.
He flashed his damn stupid painfully hot dimples. “Austin and I are competitively selling your goods right now. He thinks he’s going to win, but he’s not going to, because I am better than him at everything.”
Nick winked and carried the tray out to the front. I wriggled against Matthew, craning my head to try and see what the hell they were doing to my case.
“I’m going to commit murder,” I whispered. “Fuck.Fuck.”
“Evie, it’s fine. Let them have their dick-measuring contest. We have—” he checked the watch on his wrist, “about ten more minutes of this.”
Ten more minutes. Ten more minutes of being held by Dr. Sexy. I guess there were worse ways to deal with a burn.
Reluctantly, I leaned back into Matthew. My head thumped against his chest, and he surprised me by resting his chin on the top of my head. This was certainlynotthe time to get turned on, but it was hard not to.
“How’s the burn feeling?” he murmured.
“Not good.” The pain had subsided some, but I was still shaking. It was manageable, but possibly only because he was here to keep me together. “It’s not my first rodeo, but I think this is the worst one I’ve had.”
I sniffled and wiped my face. All I wanted at the moment was to go home, get in bed, and restart the day.
Matthew and I stayed like that for another ten minutes, and he didn’t try to make small talk. We just leaned into each other, and if I wouldn’t have felt like my arm was being gnawed off, I could have fallen asleep like that.
“All right,” he murmured. He leaned forward and turned off the faucet, looking over the long burn. My fair skin was blotched red and blisters were starting to form, everything shiny. But then there were a couple spots where my skin looked paper white. “It’s second degree, but a couple spots look like third degree. We should go. I need to clean it, we need to get some silver sulfadiazine, and I have a hunch you may need some IV fluids too if you’re dehydrated.”
“Fuck,” I sighed. “How dare you call out my lack of drinking water at a time like this?”
Matthew’s gaze sharpened. “Do I need to be your water Dom, Evie?”
Despite the tears in my eyes, I laughed. “Honestly, maybe. I wouldn’t say no to that. I’ll text Avery and June so they can come close down the bakery.”
Matthew offered an apologetic look. “Sorry. I’ll drive you. Where’s your purse? I’ll get it and we’ll go.”
I pointed to the hooks on the wall in the corner. Matthew grabbed my bag off the wall and slung it over his shoulder. I pressed my fingers over my eyes, feeling the weight of stress press down on me even more. I had too much to do and couldn’t afford to be injured, but I couldn’t work with this pain, and if my skin was blistering, I did need to go.
“Can’t you treat me here?” I mumbled.
“Nope. Try to keep the burn from touching your clothes. Come on.”
I glanced around the back room and found myself frozen in place. It was a mess. The oven door was still open, pastries on the floor, the rack stuck in place. Flour was everywhere. It looked like a tornado had torn through here.
“Evie.”
I swallowed down the tears. My cheeks were on fire as I followed Matthew out the front, avoiding eye contact with Austin and Nick. They were side by side, filling up boxes of baked goods for customers.
“We’re going,” Matthew told them both. “We’ll call June and Avery?—”
“I already did,” Austin said. “Should I call your parents, Evie?”
“God no,” I breathed out. Loved my mom and dad so much, but they’d just stress me out.
“Okay. June and Avery will be over in five.” I could feel him looking at me, but if I looked back right now, I’d crack open like a dropped egg.
“We’ve got this,” Nick said. “Don’t worry, Evie.”
Matthew’s hand settled on my lower back and he guided me out of the bakery without another word. I sniffled as he opened the passenger door to his car and got in. He leaned in as more tears blurred my vision.
“I can buckle,” I cried. “I can do it.”
