‘Of course you do.’
‘And I can sew stitches.’
‘Of course you can.How do we do this?’
‘Can you pull your underwear up a bit, please,’ Lachlan says, monotone and polite.He more clearly sees the jagged little tear, relieved it didn’t nick anything serious, but it definitely needs stitches.‘OK, this won’t take long.I just need you to sit very still.’
‘Mkay, no problem.’
‘Slow your breathing way down.’
‘Right, sure.’
‘Your heart’s jackrabbiting.’
‘Is it?’
‘I can see it in the hollow of your throat.’
Jules snorts, giggling.‘That wassoweirdly sexy.The hollow of my throat, Bodyguard?You’re outrageous sometimes.’
‘Focus, Jules.Nice slow breaths for me, yeah?’
‘OK sure.’He breathes slow and deep.
‘This is gonna hurt.’
‘Please, it can’t be as bad as actually catching it on the—ow!’Lachlan sterilises the wound and Jules flinches hard.‘Fuckme.That stings so bad, ahh!’
‘Sorry,’ Lachlan says, threading the needle.Second time in twenty-four hours he’s having to use a needle on him.‘Slow your heart now, yeah?’
‘OK.Slow.’Jules settles back in the seat.‘Slow heart.’
‘Good.’Lachlan is highly aware of his proximity to Jules in this way, but there’s no getting around it.Jules’ inner thigh is sticky with blood, a light smattering of soft hair dusting the sunless skin.The wound is small but jagged.‘This is awkward for both of us, so I’ll be as quick as I can.’
‘It’s not awkward for me,’ Jules hums, sounds like he has his eyes closed.Lachlan starts sewing the stitches and Jules tenses up but stays quiet, breathing slow.‘I can’t believe I had sex.’
‘While I’m thrilled for you,’ Lachlan says, pushing needle through skin, ‘could we maybe not talk about that while I’m sewing up your inner thigh?’
Jules giggles.‘You’re sosnippysometimes.I love it.’
Lachlan rolls his eyes and continues.It’s definitely going to scar but the medical he had today allowed for him to keep his underwear on so it shouldbe possible to keep secret.‘I’m glad you had fun.’
‘I did.People love me, Bodyguard.It’s crazy.They were begging for my number.I felt like Cinderella.’
‘Does that make me the pumpkin?’
‘No, you can be the mouse.’Jules flinches when Lachlan pulls the string tight.‘Ahh, fuck, that hurts!’
‘I know, I’m sorry.Hold onto me if—’
Jules’ hand slips into his hair, gripping.
Lachlanfreezes.‘Maybe not like that,’ he says, voice hoarse.
‘It really, really hurts.’
‘OK, fine.’He huffs a breath and stitches the small wound efficiently.When he’s done, he has to bite the string to cut it which means his nose brushes against Jules’ inner thigh.
