Chapter 27

Daniel

“ W here the fuck are you guys?”

My heart thundered in my chest as I sat up in bed. The blanket pooled around my waist as Nacho hopped from the bed. He ran and hid in the corner at the sudden noise. Shit, had I really slept with a cat in bed all night and it hadn’t bothered me?

The shifting of the mattress had my heart pounding even harder. Oh, shit. My eyes widened as I pulled my knees up to my chest. The bedroom door slammed open and there in the doorway stood Joe. A smirk pulled across his face as he spotted us.

“Well, isn’t this cute? It’s like I called it or something. It was only a matter of time before the two of you fucked it out.”

“Out!”

I jumped at the shout Shawn gave. Joe looked between the two of us before he shrugged and shut the door. Why did I feel like I was about to have a heart attack? It wasn’t normal for your chest to hurt so badly and to lack the ability to pull in a proper breath.

“Daniel?”

My eyes dropped to the man next to me in bed. Why did I want his presence to make me feel better? Instead, it only made the panic rise. This was so fucked. I’d let him into my body just last night and now someone knew. No. This couldn’t happen. This couldn’t be real. Shawn wasn’t someone that I trusted or even entertained the idea of ever getting along with.

“I...” The words died. My throat clogged as the emotions rose to the surface. Why the hell did my eyes burn so badly? Was I about to cry? Holy fuck. What a goddamn mess.

It wasn’t like I had to actually say anything. Shawn got the message, and he slid from the sheets. As much as I wanted to admire the way he looked without clothes, I couldn’t. This was so beyond wrong and now someone knew. I’d let someone in when I shouldn’t have.

There was a strange sense of loss that washed over me when Shawn pulled a pair of boxers up his legs. This morning should have been different. I should have been able to appreciate what happened last night, to bask in the fact I’d finally gotten what I’d always wanted, but instead, all I wanted to do was run. Shawn didn’t appear to judge me for my panic, but I couldn’t calm down and he wasn’t doing anything to reassure me. Was this okay? Would we be okay?

He took one step toward me, and I couldn’t handle it. I did the stupidest thing I could have possibly done at the moment.

“Out.”

“What?”

“I—I need...” I swallowed, my throat much too dry as my eyes watered once more. “I need some space for a moment.”

Shawn rolled his shoulders, looking around the room for a moment and letting out a sigh. “I get it. Panicking isn’t going to help right now, but this is my room.”

He was right; it wasn’t fair to kick him out of his own space. Shit, I was a mess. Why couldn’t I move? If I could get back to my room and gather my thoughts, maybe this wouldn’t be the end of the world. Joe was an ass sometimes with his teasing, but if we asked him not to say anything, I was sure he wouldn’t.

Oh, fuck. If Joe was here, that meant everyone else wasn’t that far behind. When it had stopped snowing yesterday, I hadn’t realized that it meant that they could clear the pass and that our friends could finally join us.

My body finally unfroze. I sprang from the bed, but holy fuck, did my body ache. My legs were shaky as I stood, pain shooting up my spine as I stared wide-eyed at Shawn.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

Why the hell did he have to care? It would be easier if he didn’t, but God, I wanted to fall into him and let him take care of me. To hold me and comfort me and tell me that what I was feeling was all normal.

When I continued to say nothing, he rushed to my side, urging me to sit back on the bed. Good fucking lord, was my ass tender! I winced through the pain, but tried my best not to show it. It was a failed effort, because, of course, Shawn noticed. Why wouldn’t he?

“Shit, Daniel. Take it easy. Was I too rough on you?” He forced me to lie back on the bed before disappearing to the bathroom and coming back with a rag. He pressed it between my legs and the cool fabric felt strange, but not unwelcome.

We sat in silence for a few moments before he cleared his throat. “Why don’t you sit here and rest for a bit? I’ll go talk to Joe.”

Our eyes met. I didn’t want him to leave me. As fucked as this morning had become, I wanted him to stay. What the hell was this?

“I’ll be fine.” So much for trying to act like I cared. A look of hurt crossed his face as I took over, holding the rag over my ass. He stood from the bed and looked me up and down. I should have felt more exposed and vulnerable, lying here with nothing on and a rag pressed to my most delicate of places, but I didn’t care anymore. He’d wormed his way in. I should have hated him more for it, but I didn’t.

He left the room without another word. My mind swirled with so many thoughts. Was I being too standoffish? Would Shawn get sick and tired of my hangups because of what happened with Art and Tilly? I knew I needed to let that go, but it was so damn hard. They’d been in my life for so long, and how did you separate something that had shaped such a huge part of who you were?

“ Y ou didn’t kill him with your dick after all.”

Shawn smacked Joe on the back of the head as I came into the kitchen. The food from last night was still on the stove and I lamented that I never got to finish cooking my dinner. Not that it had been a hardship in exchange. The idea of wasting the food didn’t sit well with me. I never went hungry, but there were times when it got tight. The chicken on the stove was enough for two meals... the idea had been a dinner for both Shawn and me. What a damn joke. How long would we both be so distracted by sex? Was that all we were to each other?

“Daniel?”

My gaze snapped to Shawn. His brow was creased with concern as I stood there, not moving. I swallowed around the lump in my throat. It was a dick move not to acknowledge that he was worried about me. I knew that. Fuck, I was messing this all up, but I walked over to the pantry and retrieved a can of tuna. What world was this that I cared more about the fucking cat than the guy who fucked me within an inch of my sanity last night?

“I’m going to feed Nacho,” I explained, holding up the can as I pulled a bowl from the cupboard. The second I pulled the tab of the can, a ball of orange fur came barreling around the corner.

Joe sat at one of the kitchen stools, watching on like this was all a big show. A smile spread across his face as he leaned against the counter. “Fucking awesome. Not only did you two fuck it out, but you got a cat. How domestic.”

Another slap.

“Can you cut it the hell out?” Shawn added a shove to his shoulder for good measure. I shouldn’t have felt impressed that he was standing up for me, but damn, it had felt good as well.

“Jesus, sorry. This is just fucking weird. I’m so used to the two of you being at each other’s throats. Never thought I’d actually see the day one of you ended up down the other’s throat.”

I coughed. God, that had been bad. “Jesus, Joe. Stop while you’re ahead. I’m begging you.”

They both stared at me. It was hard to blame them. It was the first... not tense thing I’d said all morning.

As if some weird spell had been broken, the tension broke. We all started laughing at the absurdity of the situation. By the time we all stopped, my stomach hurt, and things fell into some strange form of normalcy. Shawn pulled food from the fridge and tossed the food out of the skillet from the stove. My gut still twisted at the waste, but I did my best not to dwell. The three of us made breakfast together, preparing eggs, bacon, toast, and coffee.

When we sat down to eat, the need to say something crept up again. When would anyone else be here? Why had Joe come before everyone?

“So... where is everyone?” I asked, biting into a piece of bacon and staring across the kitchen island.

Joe played with his lip ring for a moment before shrugging. “Don’t know. We all agreed that as soon as we got news that the pass was open, we’d head out. Make sure you were still alive and all that shit. Maybe I’m sleeping a lot less than everyone else, but the second they made the announcement on the news, my sister let me borrow her car, and here I am.” He held his arms out to his sides like he was a sight to behold. Joe the showboat. Go figure.

“You didn’t tell anyone else that you were heading out?” Shawn sounded confused.

Joe shrugged. “Not going to lie. There was the tiniest hope I was going to catch you two exactly how I caught you.”

A piece of toast hit the side of Joe’s head. Joe ripped off a piece of bread and tossed it right back at Shawn. A toast fight broke out right there in the kitchen of Shawn’s parents’ cabin and I ended up involved.