Savage Vandal (82 Street Vandals #1) - Heather Long Page 0,83

it on, and the shows from the beginning cracked me up ’cause they were still using pagers. There was an episode still playing, but I forgot all about it when Vaughn half turned toward me and then suddenly whipped his shirt off and rubbed at his face.

I’d turned off the light switch when I’d decided Freddie had forgotten about me. The light from the television still played over the ripple of muscle Vaughn bared. Since he was half turned away, I was free to ogle. Not that I should’ve been, but he had this habit of losing his shirts around me.

“I didn’t know you were in here,” he said in that melodious, panty-melting voice of his, and I sighed. Right. Not my room. Not invited.

“Freddie was gonna get me food, but I wanted to go down and watch television, but I’m assuming whatever dragged Jasper away meant that I shouldn’t be down there ’cause he stashed me in here.”

He cut a look over his shoulder at me. It was a quick one, and the flickering light seemed to turn his eyes into twin shadows. “The door was locked.” Before I could comment or defend that, he shook his head. “Fucking Freddie. It’s fine, Dove. You make yourself comfortable. I’m going to shower, and then I’m going to get you food.”

“I don’t have to intrude…”

He waved me back to my seat as he strode past me, but the distinct smell of copper and sweat rolled off him as he passed. The sweat I’d expect, but the copper was almost too thick. I twisted in the seat and caught sight of his arm just as the door closed.

His blood-streaked arm.

Heart clenching, I faced the television again.

The swift way he’d removed his shirt. How he’d turned his back—kept it to me. That didn’t mean he’d done something, but maybe something had been done to him. I worried at a bit of a hangnail on my thumb and glanced at the television as the water cut on in the bathroom.

The rumble through the pipes reminded me of my room. It came out cold and took a minute to get warmer. The show had segued to commercials, and I glanced at the bathroom again. If it were me and I was bleeding and hurt, Vaughn would help. But he also hadn’t asked for any help.

I twisted his shirt in my hands and then tried to focus on the advertisement for sinus medication. The list of things that it could cause included a stroke. Yeah, that was comforting.

“Just go knock on the door,” I told myself. If he was really hurt, I could go get one of the others or Doc.

A little kernel of hope burst inside of me. Doc had been there earlier. Before I danced. He’d said he would help, then they’d all left. But it seemed ages ago. The next commercial was for dog food, and I shoved out of the comfy pillow chair. My muscles protested. I’d stiffened up in the time since I’d just lounged in here.

I was probably dehydrated too. That was a problem for later Emersyn. I was capable of going down to get stuff for Vaughn if he needed it too. I knocked on the door.

It was a timid as fuck little knock, and I rolled my eyes at myself. How was he supposed to hear it over the sound of the water in the shower?

Blowing out a breath, I raised my hand for a second knock and then…

You know what? Fuck it. They’d all marched in and out of my bathroom, bedroom, and everything else. At this point, they’d probably all seen me naked at one point or another. I’d been wearing Vaughn’s shirt, for fuck’s sake.

Turnabout was fair play.

I’d take that truth to my grave. Twisting the knob, I opened the door. The light made me squint, and the wash of steamy air hit me. The first thing I saw were his discarded clothes on the back of the toilet. The yellow, sleeveless tank top poking out from beneath his jeans was streaked in orange. The coppery scent was still there, but faded beneath the scent of rich musky soap that was intensely familiar.

The water splashing drew my attention, and it was the first time I realized that Vaughn’s shower curtain was clear vinyl and the full outline of his back tapering down to his bare ass was visible where he leaned with one hand against the tile wall as the water spilled over him. All