My gaze was fixated on Perish, though. So I saw the way he tensed, how deep his exhale was, how his pupils blew wide.
I was suddenly incredibly thankful that I wasn’t like some of my cousins, who were top-heavy and wore bras pretty much at all times.
The little extra padding in the chest of the romper made it so I didn’t need to have anything on underneath.
And Perish, yeah, Perish was appreciating the sudden near-nakedness.
His hands went to my hips, resting, then sinking in for a second in a way that felt possessive.
He was clearly fighting for control.
I knew the whole club was around.
But I still wanted him not to find it.
A second later, though, he exhaled hard and ran his hands over my midsection in a very medical kind of way, fingers poking in, looking for signs of pain.
“I’m okay,” I repeated.
I heard the thickness in my voice.
The way Perish’s eyes slid closed for a second made me think he heard it too.
But he kept rigid control over himself, poking and prodding until he was satisfied that I wasn’t going to die on him or something.
Then his hands fell to his sides, curled into fists, and he turned and walked away toward the storage cabinets to rummage around for a change of clothes.
I almost laughed when he came back with loose sweats and a comically oversized hoodie.
He set the hoodie on the edge of one of the bunk beds before lowering himself to his knees in front of me.
He ruched up one of the legs to slip it over my foot, then the other.
The material slid up, but before he could fully slip the waistband into place, his head leaned forward, his forehead hitting me just under my navel.
He exhaled hard, warm breath teasing over my skin.
My hand went out automatically, pressing to the back of his neck.
But it was only for a second.
Then he yanked the pants up, turned, and grabbed the top.
He wouldn’t even look directly at me as he pushed my head through and waited for me to slide my arms in.
“Come on. Fallon’s waiting,” he said, moving past me.
I tried to tamp down the disappointment, but it stuck with me the whole way back to the common room.
“She’s okay. Doesn’t even seem to be any bruising.”
That got nods and relaxed shoulders from my cousin and father.
“Should I, uh, not be here for this?” I asked.
Fallon glanced at Perish, waiting for his input.
“Think it might be best if she stays. Seems like she’s part of this, unfortunately.”
