way closed, so I just eased it open and headed for the bathroom. The apartment was pretty quiet. There was every chance the guys had to go home and deal with things. It took me a minute, but I’d gotten good at going to the bathroom with only one hand to pull my panties down and up—thank God. I never wanted to have to ask the guys for help on that one again.
No thank you.
After, I brushed my teeth and pulled a comb through my hair. My eyes still had bruises, and I looked like slightly warmed-over crap.
Ugh.
I checked the living room, but it was empty save for the cats. Tiddles looked up from his perch on the sofa, but he went back to staring out the windows and I left him to it. There was a note on the fridge.
Went for food and errands. We’ll be back soon.
Okay, so I wasn’t wrong. I grabbed a glass and filled it with water. I was hungry and there weren’t any leftover tacos. The guys had probably decimated anything left and I didn’t feel like fixing anything, so I just headed back to the bedroom.
Maybe I should do homework or text the guys or something, but three things hit me on the way there. One, I was still really freaking tired and I hurt. Two, I had zero idea where my phone was. I probably left it in Jake’s SUV. Third, and most important, Ian was still in my bed.
It wasn’t until I set the glass of water on the nightstand and eased back into the bed that I realized Ian’s eye was open. One eye, the other was mostly swollen shut. I winced, and he reached out a hand to me as I slid back down to the pillows, shifting to shove one under my right wrist before rolling onto his side with a wince of his own. I stared up at him and frowned as I touched two fingers to the puffiness on his cheek.
“I should have gotten you ice.”
“I can get it in a minute,” he told me. “I’d rather have you here.”
A smile pulled at my lips. “I’m glad you’re here, too.”
“Yeah?”
I nodded slowly.
He glanced from me to the room then back. “Where are the guys?”
“Errands. Food. Note on the fridge said they’d be back.” There hadn’t been an actual time on the note, and I was pretty sure it was almost five, based on what the clock on the stove said. “I don’t know when they left.”
“Jake went home at noon,” Ian told me, his deep, melodic voice soothing. “He said he’d be back, but he wanted to make sure he and his mom were okay. She didn’t give him any kind of hell for the fight.”
Relief swarmed through me.
“Don’t know about Arch or Coop, they were both asleep when Jake left.”
I nodded. We hadn’t gone to sleep until after eight in the morning. I couldn’t remember the last time I slept most of the day.
“What about you?” I asked.
“What about me?” He tried to lift his eyebrows, then winced, and I cupped his bruised face gently. He leaned into my palm. “Your hand is cold. That feels good.”
I chuckled. “Usually it’s my feet.”
“No, your feet are usually blocks of ice, but your hands vary some. Right now, cool feels good.”
That was something. “You said Jake wanted to check in with his mom. I was asking about your parents. They didn’t seem mad but…are they really okay with…?”
“Me getting into a fight with a bunch of bullies who wanted to hurt you?”
They’d wanted to hurt him, too, but I just nodded.
“They’re fine. Dad usually gives me his try to talk people down speech or at least try a diplomatic approach first. He didn’t bother. Not after he heard my full statement.” Ian rubbed his bruised cheek against my palm as he gave me a wry grin. “Mom was a little more bloodthirsty, she asked me if I kicked their asses.”
It was hard to picture Sara asking that question or even being bloodthirsty. She was a nurse. Still… “I think the answer to that is yes.”
“Yeah,” he said. “So, they’re good with me. Not thrilled I had to be questioned, but right now, I’m not facing any charges and they say it looks pretty clearly like self-defense. There are more people to be questioned. Archie’s attorney is pretty great.”
“I like ‘im,” I admitted. “He’s done really right by me. Did you know he got a restraining order for