My heart pounded relentlessly against my breast bone as he stared down at me with his perfect face and soft-looking lips. “Calix…”
“Tori,” he murmured, his voice sounding way huskier than I’d ever heard before.
Feet pounded against the ground as Micah’s gruff voice called out, “What’s going on?”
Calix and I both snapped our attention to the two men barely dressed with weapons, storming in.
Nathan’s laughter pierced the room, and Calix quickly pushed up off of me and covered himself with his hands.
“How did that happen?” Nathan howled.
“It’s my fault,” Calix and I said at the same time, and we swung our gazes to each other. “No, it’s mine. I’m sorry!”
Micah joined in with Nathan’s giggle episode, and we groaned.
“I’m sorry for walking in on you.” I ran a hand down my face before getting to my feet. “And for you touching me.”
“No. I’m sorry. I woke up from a night terror drenched in sweat and wanted to wash. I shouldn’t have been so startled I slipped. I apologize for knocking you down. I…actually didn’t mind touching you.”
“We can see that,” Nathan teased him, placing his gun down on the end table with a yawn. “I’m going back to sleep, but just for the record, it’s not fair that you’re that big.”
Calix’s eyes widened, but he didn’t reply.
“Just happy everyone’s fine. Night,” Micah grumbled, running a hand down his face and set his axe on the ground leaning against the end table. He pressed a kiss to my head before heading back to the bedroom.
I arched a brow at Nathan, who shrugged. “Micah’s grumpy when he doesn’t get enough sleep. Night, killer. We’ll be waiting for you.”
“Night,” I whispered as Nathan followed Micah back to bed, and I faced Calix again. I trembled with nervousness and maybe a little excitement from being so close to him. “Do you need help?”
“Um, not help, but you could stay and talk to me.” He stopped covering himself and scratched the back of his neck.
“Of course.” I leaned against the door frame and tried to be respectful by not looking down at his erection as he got back to washing himself. “I’m sorry though, truly.”
“Don’t be.” He blushed.
“Did you want to talk about the night terror? When I have them, it helps to talk about them.”
He shook his head, and his expression darkened. “I was at the hospital when the virus spread. I hunkered down there for ayear and a half before Micah and Nathan found me. I saw someterriblethings that I’d rather forget.”
“Why were you at the hospital?”
He began to lather his leg as he scrunched his face up in a wince. “I bought hospital grade protective gear and cleaning supplies. It was cheaper to buy from the hospital than the company, so I did it every month.”
“That makes sense. I’m sorry you had to be there of all places.”
He switched legs and glanced up to meet my gaze. “Me too. It was a miracle I survived. Believe it or not, but I hid out in themorguewith another guy. We did what we could with what we had. The zombies didn’t stick around after they’d infected what they had thought was everyone in the building, so scavenging was the most difficult thing.”
“What happened with the other guy?”
He glanced down and placed the sudsy wash cloth in the sink before grabbing a clean one and dunking it in the clean water. He ran the wet cloth over his soapy areas to rinse, and we fell into a tense quiet as he rinsed off. When he finished, he dumped the bins in the sink and placed them in the cabinet before spraying them and placing the wash cloths in another bin.
I grabbed a towel off the hook next to the door and handed it to him.
He hesitated for only a split second before taking it and drying off.
Wrapping the towel around his waist, he came closer. “That guy shot himself in the head with a gun we’d taken from the security office. He did it when I was asleep, and I woke up next to him covered in his blood.”
The anguish on his face made my heart twist in my chest. “Holy shit, Calix. That’s a nightmare.”
