She blows out a breath, a myriad of emotions flashing across her face. “Thank you,” she says, not sounding pleased at all.
I want to say so many things, to reassure her that she’s a grown woman who’s free to make whatever choices she wants, including fucking whoever she wants. But I know it’ll fall on deaf ears. Besides, she told me to stop, and I’ll respect her boundaries. “We should head back to the group and help finish setting up for the night before Rhys loses it and drags us back by our ears like naughty children.”
Ollie snorts out a laugh. “He would do that.”
She slides off the machinery as I pack away my medical bag before the two of us make our way back to the main group.
Most of the work has already been finished, with tents and sleeping areas dotting the warehouse floor. Groups of blankets and sleeping bags are clustered together, with some people already lying in them asleep. Not that I can blame them, since that’s where I’m desperate to be right now.
I find Rhys near the cooking pots, having taken Ollie’s place in watching over the steaming pots of food. Tobias and the woman from before are also there, with Harlow sat beside them, eyes still locked onto the food. A few others are nearby, also hungrily watching the food. Jerri and her group are thankfully on the other side of the warehouse, meaning we might actually get some peace and quiet tonight.
Ollie squeezes my arm affectionately before breaking off to go help them. My eyes want to slip down to watch her perfect ass in those leggings, but I force myself to turn away and walk back to where I left my backpack. Rhys, Alex and Ollie have all placed their bags here alongside mine, and someone has even laid out our sleeping bags for the night.
I half expect to find Alex here since the supplies have already been passed out, but he’s nowhere to be seen. Frowning, I glance around the warehouse, but I still don’t see him.
Where the fuck did he go? I want to talk to him about what he said to Ollie when she told him about what happened the night before.
I shove my med bag back into my backpack and go in search of him. I even ask a couple of people, but no one’s seen him. After half an hour of looking, I’m too tired and hungry to continue, so I drift over to where Ollie and Rhys are.
“Hey,” Ollie says as she hands me a steaming bowl of stew. “Where have you been?”
“Trying to find out where Alex went so I can talk to him.” I give her a meaningful look.
She frowns and glances around. “And you haven’t found him?”
I shake my head and dig into the stew, devouring it in seconds. It’s not the best-tasting thing ever, but it’s food and I’ve barely eaten all day.
“He’s probably on guard duty,” Rhys says as he grabs himself a bowl and sucks it down.
“Guess I’ll have to talk to him tomorrow,” I say, even as my stomach roils, nagging at me that something is wrong. Fuck knows what since he seemed to be in a decent mood earlier. Maybe I’m just being paranoid.
But as the night draws on, there’s still no sign of the burly ex-rugby player, and that nagging feeling only gets worse. Neither Ollie nor Rhys seem bothered, so I force myself to relax. There’s no point worrying about it now, not when there’s nothing I can do about it.
I’ll fix it in the morning. At least I hope I can.
Grumpy Bastard
Theo
Alex still hasn’t turnedup by the time I drag my weary ass to my sleeping bag. Ollie refuses to cuddle with me, her eyes darting to the other people around us as she tells me no. So both of us have to suffer a shit night’s sleep.
And then, because things couldn’t get any more frustrating, we wake to the sounds of screaming and raised voices.
“I told you that wasmine!” someone shouts, their voice bouncing off the metal walls of the warehouse. “Give it back!”
There’s a feminine shriek that threatens to cause my ears to bleed, followed by what sounds like a fight.
What the fuck is going on?
I drag myself from the warm comfort of my sleeping bag to see that I’m not the only one roused by the argument, looking half-asleep. Ollie’s still got red lines across her face from her pillow, strands of her hair brushingagainst her cheeks from where they escaped from her plait. Beside her, Harlow grumbles before burrowing her way into her sleeping bag. Rhys at least looks more alert, although there are heavy bags under his eyes and his hair is a chaotic mess. Alex is the only one missing, and glancing toward the argument, I see why.
He’s in the middle of breaking up a fight between two women. I don’t recognise either of them, and they appear to be fighting over a small wrapper of… something. It’s hard to see between flying clawed hands and incessant tugging between them.
Grunting, Rhys extracts himself from his sleeping bag and strides over. “What’s going on?” he demands as he scowls between the fighting women and Alex.
At his voice, the two women stop their flailing and turn their gazes to him. Alex, having copped a scratch across his cheek, sighs and steps away.
“I came back from guard duty and they were already fighting,” he says, his voice thick with exhaustion.
