Chapter Fifteen
Now Hayley was really worried. Bad enough Marius had said he was cold. But then he’d become delirious with the blood loss and was professing his love for her.
On the bright side, he was standing on his own two feet and letting her lead him around. She was thankful for the cheap linoleum flooring in her studio. Her rugs, she could take to the laundromat and wash the blood out, no problem. Bloodstains all over the carpets might have been too hard to explain to the landlords.
She put one of Marius’s arms over her shoulders and led him to the bathroom, where she helped him sit on the toilet lid. He looked pale and miserable. She grabbed some towels and held them to his shoulder and thigh. “You’re gonna be just fine,” she said.
Marius focused on her face. “It’s true,” he said.
“Yes. I know it for a fact. These are some bad gashes, but you’re a champ. That was Alec you met, and he’s not a clean fighter. Sorry I distracted you.”
“No,” he said. “What I said before. I love you.”
She felt her cheeks heat up. “Let’s just get you cleaned up.”
Thankfully, Marius was quiet after that. She bandaged his shoulder and thigh, grateful for speedy shifter healing. Tomorrow, the worst of these would be scabbing over, and the others would be nothing more than scars. The initial blood loss had scared her the most.
Once he was wrapped up, she led him to her bed and helped him lean back against the pillows. She got a glass of water from the tap and handed it to him.
“Thanks.” He gulped it down.
“Of course.” Realizing that she was still naked after her shift, she found an old pair of flannel pants and a t-shirt in her dresser, and put them on. Nudity hadn’t seemed important in the slightest when he’d been bleeding out.
“I’m just gonna grab your clothes,” she said, “and close your truck door. I’ll be right back.”
She ran down to the driveway and came back as quickly as possible. He hadn’t budged.
“How are you feeling?” she asked, setting his jeans and the remains of his shirt and shoes next to the door.
“Shitty,” he said with a laugh. “But at least the view and the room service are nice.”
She took the empty glass from him, refilled it, and set it on the nightstand next to him. Then she turned off the lights and walked around to the other side of the bed. She sat on the edge and looked down at him. “Don’t worry, old man,” she said, “I’m not going to ravish you while you’re recuperating.”
“Too bad.” His voice exaggerated his disappointment. In the moonlight coming in through the window, Hayley saw him wince as he turned slightly to face her. “What do you mean ‘old man,’ anyway? I’m not that much older than you.”
“I’m twenty-one. How old are you?”
“Ha. I’m still in my twenties.” He paused, then chuckled. “But barely. I’ll be thirty in January.”
“Yep,” she murmured. Despite his sense of humor, she could tell he was exhausted. The fight and blood loss had done a number on him. “You are an old man.”
“When I’m feeling better, I’ll prove just how young I still am.”
“Can’t wait,” she said, watching his eyes start to close.
Once his breathing was even and he was truly asleep, Hayley pulled back the comforter and climbed into bed beside him. She inched slowly closer until she was on her side, resting one hand on his uninjured shoulder.
What a wonder, to fall asleep beside him, listening to his heartbeat, his rhythmic breathing, feeling his warmth. His dried grass scent filled her nose, and she slept.
*
She woke when it was still dark, but the bed next to her was empty. She sat up. Was he okay? Why had he left?
A second later, she heard the toilet flush, and his shadowed form padded back into the room.
“Did I wake you?” he said quietly. “I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s all right. I woke up on my own. How are you feeling?”
“Good, actually. The worst of it is still knitting together, but nothing’s bleeding anymore.” He paused at her little table on his way back to the bed. “What are these papers for?”
She could see the faint outline of his features as he squinted.
“College application,” she said. “Collecting dust.”
“You’re going off to college?” he asked.
“Don’t sound surprised that I’d want higher learning,” she said, throwing her pillow at him.
He caught it. “Not surprised at all. I’d just hate to…lose you.”
“Well, I’m not going anywhere. That application is for Huntwood Community College.”
“Cool,” he said. Bringing Hayley’s pillow with him, he climbed back into bed and stacked her pillow on top of his own.
“Hey, give that back,” she said.
He grinned at her, his teeth white in the moonlight. “You threw it at me. It’s mine now.”
“Hardly.” She tried to yank it back, but his hold was too strong.
“What do you want to study?” he asked.
She stopped tugging on her pillow. “Education. To become a teacher.”
He was quiet.
Hayley could guess what he was thinking. “Go ahead and say it, I’d make a shitty teacher.”
“No, not that,” he said, lying back on the pillows and gazing at her. “I was just wondering why. You didn’t sound excited at all just now when you said it. And from what I know of you, it seems an odd fit. But hell, Hayley, whatever you wanted to do, you know I’d encourage you. But I am curious why.”
She sat with her legs crossed, facing him. “I showed my parents that I was the worst sort of trouble, just before they died. Ever since, we’ve been running, and I haven’t been able to show anyone—my brothers or myself—that I’m responsible. Teaching? That sounds pretty damn responsible.”
“What sort of trouble?” he asked. “Does it have to do with crashing Will’s truck?”
She grumbled, wishing she’d never shared that truth over dinner last week. “Yeah. It was stupid. There was a party with some of my friends from high school. I wanted to go, but my parents wouldn’t let me, you know how that goes. So I waited until everyone was asleep. But I lived in a family full of cats, for fuck’s sake. Their ears were too good. Will’s truck was the farthest from the house, so I took that one, rolling it down the drive to the highway. It was snowing that night, but I didn’t care. I went to the party, and on my way back, I skidded and crashed into a tree. I was bruised up but healed fast. Will’s truck didn’t make it. But the worst part was that I’d sneaked behind their backs.”
She took a deep breath and looked at Marius. He nodded thoughtfully, but didn’t say anything. Inside, she was thinking of the worst of it—her parents’ faces, shutting down in disapproval. No, worse—disappointment.
“Because of that, they wouldn’t let me fight when the Clausens came,” she continued. “And because I couldn’t fight, they wanted Jackson to protect me. So that was two fewer fighters. And, as you’ve probably guessed by now, we lost that war.”
Marius hesitated, then rested one of his massive, warm hands on Hayley’s knee. “I’m really sorry,” he said. He took a deep breath and then added, “Do you know for sure that they wouldn’t let you fight because of the car accident? How do you know it wasn’t just that they wanted to protect you, the youngest?”
She stared at him. The thought had never crossed her mind. “I guess I don’t know that. I’d—I’d have to ask Will and Jackson.”
“Maybe you should, then.” He cleared his throat. “My mom, she was a teacher, and she loved it. She died when I was pretty little, but I remember her telling my dad she wouldn’t trade her job for anything. But she also said something else I’ll never forget—that if she didn’t absolutely love it, she wouldn’t be able to stand it. There are other jobs that require responsibility, you know?”
Hayley didn’t have a response. He was making so much sense.
“Sorry,” he said, looking away. “You can tell me to shove my advice up my ass. I know you’re not asking for help.”
“No.” She covered his hand with her own. “I’m just thinking it over. I hate the idea of being a teacher, but I had some belief in my head that it was the only thing to prove myself. But…you’re saying something out loud that’s been bothering me inside all along. Why teaching? Why not something else?”
“Exactly.”
“I could…I could get my general contractor’s license.”
“That, I can easily see you doing.”
“Me, too.” The images filled her mind. She’d be outdoors, creating things. Buildings. Forming homes from scratch. Renovating old homes and making them new again. She lay down on her side and leaned forward, kissing Marius on the cheek. “Thank you. I’m still gonna fill out that application, but it’s going to say some different things about my areas of study.”
“I’m glad,” he said.
Then she yanked her pillow from under his head. He fell back with his eyes wide in shock, then growled playfully and reached for the pillow. Hayley held it behind her, but his arms surrounded her, reaching for it.
It put his body just in line with hers.