by Roni Loren
She occupied herself with stomping the stray ants that had fallen onto the floor, while Keats washed off the last of the little demons. She rubbed the back of her neck, trying to fight off the tension, and heard a long sigh from Keats. “You okay?”
“Well, they didn’t get to the no-fly zone, so there’s that.”
“Can you tell if you have a lot of bites? They’re poisonous and too many can be serious and maybe you need a doctor and maybe—”
The curtain shifted, cutting her off, and Keats stuck his head out, a half smile on his dripping wet face. “All I need right now is a towel.”
“Oh, right, sure.” She opened the cabinet below the sink and handed him a fresh towel.
She turned to leave, but he was already stepping out of the shower before she got there. The towel was secured around his waist, but everything else was bare. A flash of desire stabbed her.
“I . . .” she said, searching for something to say and trying to keep her eyes on his face instead of on the smooth muscles of his chest and those tattoos that currently looked very wet and lickable. Stop it. “I think I have some cortisone cream around here. You’re probably going to need it.”
Keeping one hand holding the towel, he used the other to take the rubber band out of his wet hair. “Georgia—”
But before he could say anything more, there were heavy footsteps on the stairs and someone else calling her name. Her heart leapt against her ribs, and she stepped out into the hallway. Colby was trundling up the stairs, his features pinched with worry. When he saw Georgia, his fierce expression relaxed. “Jesus, I saw the door wide open and a broken glass and both of you were gone. I got worried. What—”
Of course, Keats took that moment to step out of the bathroom in his half-naked, still-wet ensemble. Colby’s eyes went wide.
And everything came crashing down around Georgia.
EIGHT
“What the hell?” Colby didn’t know what to make of finding Keats sopping wet and mostly naked in Georgia’s hallway. He hadn’t been gone that long. The guy couldn’t work that fast, especially with someone as standoffish as Georgia. And if he’d managed to—
“Georgia,” Keats said, his worried voice breaking through the theories racing around in Colby’s head. “Are you okay?”
Colby followed Keats’s gaze. Georgia had backed up against the wall, her eyes were closed, and her chest was moving at a way-too-rapid rate.
Keats put a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Georgia?”
She flinched at the touch and shrank back farther again, her palms pressing against the wall behind her. Keats moved his hand away, giving her space.
Colby inched closer. “Georgia, hey, sweetheart, it’s okay. Are you having an asthma attack?”
She shook her head, a quick, darting movement. Her eyes remained tightly shut.
Keats sent Colby a what-the-fuck-do-we-do look, and Colby’s training kicked in. “Keats, run downstairs and see if you can find a paper bag, something for her to breathe into. She’s hyperventilating.”
“Right.” Keats snapped into action and jogged past Colby.
Sweat had broken out on Georgia’s skin, and her chest continued to heave. Colby had dealt with this a few times before—recently, with a submissive trainee at The Ranch who turned out to be claustrophobic in restraints. “Georgia, I need you to try to slow your breathing if you can. Are you having a panic attack?”
A quick, tight nod. Her fingers curled against the wall.
“Okay, it’s all right,” he said, trying to keep his voice calm and even for her. “Keats is going to get something to help, but I want you to listen to me and try to take a deep, slow breath. You’re okay. You’re safe. Panic can’t hurt you.”
To her credit, she gave it a shot. He saw her puff up for it. But she was too far gone, and her breaths turned even more rapid. Tears slipped down her cheeks. Then she swayed on her feet, and he realized she was going down. He lunged forward and got his hands on her before she collapsed to the floor.
Her eyelids fluttered open, then shut again. She was still conscious, not deadweight in his arms, but she was probably dizzy as shit from the lack of air and the panic. “It’s all right. I’ve got you.”
He got his arms situated beneath her back and knees and lifted her against his chest. Keats charged up the stairs with an empty pharmacy bag. “Oh shit, did she pass out?”
“Not yet, but we need to get her lying down.” He held her tight to him, but her body was still jerking with the quick breaths.
Keats hurried past him and pulled open the first door in the hall. But it was a linen closet. “We need a couch or a bed.”
Keats swung open the next door, revealing a small guest room. “In here.”
Good. That’d be better than invading her personal space in her master bedroom. But when he carried her in and saw a set of binoculars on a small table next to the window and a small bullet vibrator, he realized he’d seriously failed on the personal space issue. This wasn’t just a guest room, this was the room—the one she watched him from. A twist of desire went with that image, his libido having no decency when it came to appropriate time and place to get fired up. But he ignored it and focused on the task at hand. Georgia needed to lie down and get her breath back. He’d worry about the awkwardness this might cause later.
The bed was made, so he laid her atop the mint green comforter, and Keats put the bag up against her mouth.
“Breathe, it’s going to be okay. We’ve got you,” Keats said, brushing her hair off her damp forehead in a tender gesture.
Georgia exhaled into the bag and blinked her eyes open long enough to give Keats a grateful look.
Colby frowned, a kick of jealousy going through him. Jealousy and something else. Watching the two of them share a little moment, Keats half dressed and Georgia lying in bed, had his thoughts going in a dangerous direction again. He shoved the thoughts aside. Clearly, it’d been too long since he’d had someone in his bed. His brain was in one-track mode.
Focus.
The sound of the crinkling bag was the only noise for a few minutes, but to Colby’s relief, Georgia’s breathing started to regulate. “That’s it.”
When the breaths became long and steady, Keats left the room for a minute. He came back wearing a fluffy purple robe and carrying a wet washcloth. He kneeled next to the bed and wiped Georgia’s cheeks and forehead with gentle swipes, then folded the cloth and put it over her eyes.
Keats gave Colby a pointed look, then cocked his head toward the table. Colby didn’t waste a second. He slid away from the bed and discreetly tucked the vibrator into the half-open drawer of the side table. He eased it closed, hoping Georgia would think that was where she’d left it. He had a feeling she’d be mortified if she knew what they’d seen.
He stepped back toward the bed just as she was lowering the bag and pulling the towel away. Her dark eyes were clearer than they had been, but the set of her mouth was weary, like all her energy had been sapped. “I think I’m okay now.”
Colby reached out and gave her hand a squeeze. “Glad to hear it.”
She slowly pushed up onto her elbows. Her gaze skittered over to the table behind Colby. Worry flared there in her eyes, but when she looked back to him and apparently read no awareness on his face, she relaxed a bit. He could almost hear her thoughts. Phew, he hasn’t seen them yet.
She glanced at Keats. Her lips curved into a shaky smile when she saw him in her robe. “That’s a good look for you.”
Keats peered down at his purple ensemble and grinned. “I was having trouble keeping that towel on. I didn’t want to make you hyperventilate again. Or traumatize Colby.”
Colby snorted and she smirked. “That scary?”
“No, that impressive,” he said solemnly.
Georgia pressed her hand to her forehead and shook her head. “Shameless.”
Georgia peeked over at Colby and reached for his hand. “Thank you for catching me. They usually don’t make me that dizzy. Everything in my vision flipped upside down.”
He brought her hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss to the top of it. “Happy to help. Do you get those often?”
Her gaze slid away, but she nodded.
“I’m sorry if I startled you coming up the stairs. I thought something was wrong. I didn’t realize what—well, I still don’t know what was going on.”
“Ants,” Keats supplied. “A shit-ton of red ants attacked me in the yard. I must’ve kneeled in a pile. Georgia hustled me up here before the damn things could eat me alive. But they were all over my clothes so I had to strip them off.”
“Oh.”
“And I’m sorry about . . . all of this,” Georgia said, sitting up in the bed. “It wasn’t that you startled me. It’s just”—her jaw twitched and she looked down at her hands—“I don’t let people inside my house. I have . . . issues with that. I didn’t think about it when Keats needed help, but when that part was over and you came up the stairs, it all hit me.”
Colby kept hold of her hand, not entirely shocked by the revelation. He’d realized early on that Georgia didn’t like to leave her house. She didn’t even step into his yard. So it wasn’t too far of a stretch to realize her anxiety extended to people coming into her space as well. “I’m really sorry. I would’ve never come inside without permission.”
She shook her head. “It’s okay. This is beyond embarrassing. I hate what this does to me. I mean, normal people can have neighbors over.”
Keats frowned. He probably felt the same way Colby did about the word normal. What the hell was normal? Fuck normal.
“But maybe this was good,” she continued. “Like pulling off a really big Band-Aid. Because look, you’re both still here, and I’m not a panting maniac anymore.”
Colby could think of better ways to turn her into a panting maniac, especially with two guys and a bed—and maybe that vibrator, but he should probably be struck down for having that thought at the moment. “It’s one way to do it. Like guerrilla exposure therapy. The room full of spiders for the arachnophobe.”
She shuddered. “Yeah, I think I’ll just keep my fear of spiders then, thank you very much.”
Keats smiled. “Ditto. And add fire ants to that list. I’ve had enough exposure therapy for one day. A few more minutes with my pants on and I might have lost my ability to father children.”
Colby chuckled. Fire ants in your underwear. Now there was a thought to inspire nightmares. He had a feeling he’d missed the ant version of the Tommy Boy “Bees!” scene when Keats had discovered he was being attacked.
“So,” he said, standing up and putting his hand on the back of Keats’s neck, making sure neither of them turned toward the binoculars. “How about I go grab this guy some clothes and we get out of your hair for a little while so you can rest?”
Georgia rubbed her hands on her jeans in what looked to be a calming gesture before she stood, revealing that maybe she wasn’t as easy-breezy as she was pretending to be. “Yeah, okay. I have rogue ants to clean up anyway.”
“Do you need any help?” Keats asked.
She reached out and squeezed his arm, giving him a warm smile. “No, you both have done enough. Thanks for not making me feel like an idiot.”
When she leaned over and kissed Keats’s cheek, Colby had to fight hard not to show his surprise. It was so un-Georgia-like. But she wasn’t done. She stepped over to Colby, pushed up on her toes, bracing a hand on his shoulder, and gave Colby one, too.
It took everything he had not to put his hands on her and pull her closer, inhale that coconut scent he only got a brief whiff of during the kiss. “Our pleasure, gorgeous.”
They all walked downstairs together, but soon Keats and Colby were back outside. Georgia locked up behind them, and Colby and Keats headed next door to get Keats some clothes. But as soon as they walked into the kitchen, Keats spun around and crossed his arms. The stance might have had a shot at looking tough if not for the purple robe. “Well, that was interesting.”
“That’s one word for it,” Colby said, rolling the tension out of his shoulders. “Thanks for the towel thing, by the way. Saved a potentially awkward situation.”
“No problem. I didn’t want to embarrass her,” he said with a shrug. “Not that she should be embarrassed—I mean, how hot is that? But you know how girls can be. And dude, the binoculars? Does that window . . .”
“It looks into my bedroom.”
“Fuck,” he breathed, putting his hand over his heart. “That’s so damn dirty. I think I’m in love.”
Colby laughed. “She’s not spying on you.”
“An epic tragedy,” he said with a grin. “Maybe we should switch rooms. I’m happy to give her a show.”
Colby leveled him with a look, and Keats laughed.
“No, but seriously, are y’all hooking up?”
Colby leaned against the counter. “At this point, we’re just friends.”
“So that’s why you gave me the eat-shit-and-die look when you saw me walk out of the bathroom?”
Colby smirked. “No, that was my what-the-fuck look, not eat-shit-and-die, there’s a difference. I knew before today that Georgia had some issues with people being in her space. I guess I feel a little protective of her and when I saw you there in her house, practically naked, I had no idea what to think.”
“I’m skilled, Colby, but not that skilled. Even I can’t get a girl in bed that fast.”
Colby laughed. “You’re better than you think. She likes you.”
“Maybe, but she watches you. And apparently enjoys the show.” Keats lifted himself to sit on the island, apparently forgetting he only had a robe on or not caring. The flaps fell open, revealing his chest all the way to his navel, where a light trail of hair tracked downward. “Doesn’t matter anyway. She thinks I’m too young.”
Colby pulled his gaze upward and focused on Keats’s face. His libido was already on a hair trigger today; he didn’t need any extra encouragement. He had to keep reminding himself that this was Keats, his former student, a straight guy, and not some submissive at The Ranch trying to get his attention by parading around half naked. “You are too young.”
Keats scoffed. “You’re always going to see me that way, aren’t you? The innocent, helpless student. Well, news flash, Teach. It’s been a long time since you’ve known me. I’m far from helpless and definitely not innocent.”
Colby laced his hands behind his neck and sighed. “Why does it matter how I see you?”
He shrugged, dropping some of the attitude. “I don’t know. It just does.”
“What do you want me to say, Keats?” he asked tiredly. “That you’re a grown-up? That you’re a man? That you’re of fuckable age for my dear neighbor? Fine. You are. But that doesn’t mean you still don’t have a lot to learn.”
Keats leaned back on his hands, preening like a peacock. “Yeah? And what exactly do you think I need to be taught? I haven’t had any complaints from women.”
Colby watched him, half amused by the cockiness. “Being a man has a lot more to it than knowing how to get someone off in bed. And I promise you, at twenty-three, you don’t know how to do that as well as you could either.”
He lifted a brow. “And you do?”
“You have no idea,” Colby said smoothly. “But that’s not the point. If you’re going to chase after women in their thirties, like Georgia, they’re going to want you to have some stability, some discipline in your life. And I’m guessing your current situation doesn’t allow for much of that.”
His jaw tensed and he looked down
at the tie on the robe. “Yeah, well, the job market for a high school dropout doesn’t exactly allow for a lot of stability—unless you run drugs, sell women, or like to suck cock for cash. I’ve heard those career paths pay well.”
Colby gritted his teeth at that image. Thank God Keats hadn’t resorted to those lines of work yet. “I get it. I know how shitty a situation you had growing up. But now you’re an adult. Do you plan to live the rest of your life like you’re doing? Just getting by week to week?”
The defensive mask descended over his features. “Did you forget who you’re talking to? I ran away. This is my fucking life. That bed’s already made.”
“Bullshit. You can always change your direction.” Colby should know. He’d done it.
Keats scoffed. “Right. Let me just dial up that fairy godmother, and she can wave a wand for me.”
“Fine. You want a wand? Here it is,” Colby said, crossing his arms and throwing down the gauntlet. “Come stay with me for a while.”
Keats’s eyes flickered with surprise, and he straightened. “What?”
“You heard me. I have an extra room. Use it.”
“I can’t do that. I’m not that kid looking for his teacher to solve his problems anymore. I don’t want to be your charity case again.”
Colby rubbed the spot between his eyebrows, pressure building there. “Look, Keats, I get the whole pride thing, but pride can birth stupidity. I’m offering help. Take it.”
Keats slid off the counter and pulled his robe more tightly around him, closing off. “I need to get dressed.”
“Keats.”
“Thanks for the offer. But I just want to get some clothes on, get this garden done, and go home. I’ve got shit to take care of,” he said, reaching down to scratch his calf.
Colby knew he’d reached the end of Keats listening to anything he had to say. He’d gone into shutdown mode. Colby glanced down when Keats scratched again, noticing for the first time the red, swelling bumps on Keats’s legs and feet. “Those are getting worse. Are you allergic?”
