I twisted the handle and pushed the door open to find Aimee sitting in her bathtub, fully clothed, her knees pulled up to her chest. Her face was blotchy and streaked with mascara, her blue eyes wide and terrified. The sight of her like that—my fierce,confident Aimee reduced to this—made something protective and furious surge through me.
“Hey,” I said softly, shaking Troy off my back so I could step into the bathroom. “I’ve got you.”
She practically launched herself at me, arms wrapping around my neck as I caught her. Her whole body trembled against mine, and I could feel the dampness of her tears soaking into my shirt. She was warm and soft and fit perfectly in my arms, and I lifted her easily against me, burying my face in her hair, breathing in the citrus scent of her shampoo as my racing heart calmed.
“You’re not hurt?”
“No. I panicked and threw my phone at them and sprinted to the bathroom. There were so many,” she whispered against my shoulder. “They were everywhere, Rhett. In the box, on the floor—I think one went under my couch—then the pounding on the door started—”
“Let’s get you out of here,” I said, holding her tighter. “Then we can figure out the rest. Troy, can you check the hallway?”
Troy, who was still hovering in the bathroom doorway looking like he might bolt at any second, nodded jerkily. “If I see one, I’m not responsible for my actions.”
“Just make sure the path to the front door is clear,” I said.
He disappeared, and I heard him making weird hissing noises.
“What is he doing?” Aimee whispered.
A smile twitched around my lips. “I have no fucking clue. Turns out our Troy has a snake phobia.”
She blinked. “I’m sorry. Maybe you’d better go help him? I just… I need a minute.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about, Aims. I’m going to carry you out of here,” I said, shifting to get a better hold on her.
“I can walk. I’m not an invalid,” she said, a little of the fire coming back into her eyes.
I cradled her closer. “Let me have this, Aims. Not ready to let you go yet.”
She huffed out a breath, then nodded against my neck, and I scooped her up properly, one arm under her knees and the other around her back.
“Clear!” Troy called from somewhere near the front door, his voice pitched higher than normal. “But move fast because I think I heard something in the kitchen!”
I carried Aimee out of the bathroom, moving as quickly as I could without jostling her. She kept her face buried against my shoulder, her breath ghosting across my collarbone as sheshuddered against me. I caught a glimpse of a bigger snake disappearing behind her entertainment center as we passed and sped up.
Troy was holding the front door open, his eyes scanning the floor like a soldier in a minefield. “Go, go, go!” he urged, and I didn’t need to be told twice.
Troy slammed Aimee’s door and rushed ahead of us to unlock our apartment, and I carried Aimee inside, kicking the door shut behind us with my foot. Only then did she lift her head, looking around our space with wild eyes.
“Did any follow us?”
“No snakes,” I assured her, but Troy was already on his hands and knees, checking under our couch.
“Can’t be too careful,” he muttered, army-crawling across our floor to peer under the entertainment center. “They’re sneaky little bastards.”
There was a plaintive meow from the other room. “Troy, stop hunting for snakes and let the kittens out of the kennel.”
Troy popped up. “Right! Kittens are predators. I’ll train them to do the snake hunting.”
I shifted Aimee in my arms and headed for our couch, settling down with her still in my lap. She curled into me, her tremblingstarting to ease slightly now that we were in a snake-free zone. I rubbed her back in slow circles, the way my mom used to do when I was scared as a kid, slowly becoming aware of the soft curve of her breasts against my chest and the press of her firmly muscled thighs against my own.
“Checking the windows!” Troy announced from across the room as he reappeared with two bouncy kittens trailing behind him. Fuck, that was cute. Cheeto attacked his leg as he methodically checked each latch to make sure it was secure, muttering something about possible gaps for infiltration.
“Troy, I don’t think snakes can climb seven stories,” I pointed out.
“You don’t know that!” He moved to check the kitchen window.
Aimee hugged me tight, then leaned in and kissed my cheek. “Go help Troy.”
