“She also has appointment availability tomorrow afternoon. A spot at five-thirty,” he points out.
I stretch, glance at the couches and sleeping bags out here, and nod. “Second priority is us getting a place with more than onebedroom if we’re keeping this shit up. I hate going back to my place to get clothes.”
Dimitri sneers, mutters that he’s taking the couch tonight, and that’s the end of it from him. While he gets ready for bed, Knox stops me. “I can take her tonight, Jax.”
As much as I want to remind him what happened today, I don’t. “I have it down to a science.”
“You still have to sleep,” he insists.
“I’ll wake up the second she screams anyway. I’m sorry if she keeps waking you. We’re working on it,” I reply.
Knox studies me for a long time. “Try to sleep for more than a few broken hours tonight, man. You’re going to start looking worse than our girl.”
HOPE
I zoned out today. I woke up tired, walked around work as a zombie, and now I can’t even grasp what the guys are telling me as we take the wrong turn home.
“What do you mean we’re going somewhere? We’re supposed to be going home,” I point out.
Knox rubs my knee. I try to cool the flinch that feels natural. His other arm is around my shoulders in the back seat. I feel like he’s keeping me in place as much as the seatbelt. Even as I want to push him away, the light way his fingers massage my shoulder keep me in place.
“We’ll go home, but we have an important mission first,” Knox says evenly. “Dimitri is driving, which means you’re going to accept it.”
“Maybe,” I snort.
He smirks at my sass. “Not maybe. You are.”
“You’re going to make me?”
Something passes across his eyes, but Jaxon answers. “Yes, we’re going to make you. We’ll fill out the paperwork, carry you into the office, and make sure you sit there and do what you need to do.”
Something eats at me. It’s more than nerves. I don’t like how cagey they’re being about where we’re going. They didn’t tell me that we weren’t going home until we were walking out of the gym ten minutes ago.
“I just want to go to sleep,” I argue. “I can get some nighttime cold and flu. That’ll keep me from waking up.”
“Not a better option,” Jaxon says.
He’s not the only one that looks tired today. Dimitri still vibrates some kind of annoyance that feels like it’s going to stab anyone who gets too close. Knox looks like he’s been worn down and dragged out.
“None of us want you trapped in your nightmares, sweetheart,” Knox says. “And we’re definitely not going down the self-medication rabbit hole.”
“So you don’t want things to be easier for you, got it,” I bait.
“If I wanted to manhandle you into sleeping, I could and would. There are plenty of better ways to make you tired,” Knox argues.
His fingers stroke along my throat, but I have a feeling that he would back down the second I took him up on the offer. Not that it matters, because I still end up getting out of the car on my own when we park.
My guys flank me. Jaxon focuses on me, Knox glances around, Dimitri charges ahead. This must be what it’s like to have a security team. Or to be a prisoner. I know if I try to go back to the car or slip away, they’ll grab me and carry me in.
A part of me is tempted to try it. I want something normal from them. Not Jaxon holding me at night and making me feel like he’s the only thing keeping me together. Not Knox giving me longing looks, as if he’s dying to touch me, hold me, tease me, but can’t. Dimitri’s silence is deafening.
“Don’t think about it,” Knox says, grabbing my hand, not my wrist. “This is something we worked hard on for you.”
My brow furrows. “Worked hard on… what?”
“Welcome to Palmer and Grant Counseling,” I hear as we walk through double doors.
“Appointment for Hope Harbaugh at five thirty,” Dimitri says simply.
