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“Didn’t say I was joking.”
I wipe down his cut with a damp cloth and apply some more ointment before grabbing more gauze. Then I set it back down before scowling up at him. “This is looking so much better. I don’t think you need to wrap it up again, see how it does like this for a while. And I could never walk away from someone who needs my help. There, you’re good to go.”
“Thank you, Em.”
The door opens, and Max pops his head inside. “Hey, one of you free to help with some rotters that are stumbling this way? It’s not many, but I’m feeling kind enough to share the fun. Although Buddy makes the best sidekick out of any of you. He does more with one eye than some of you do with two.”
William stands and pulls out his knife before heading for the door. “I’m on it.”
“Don’t let my dog get hurt,” I call out.
“If I would’ve known about the shirtless party, I would have joined in here instead. Let them take the town. This looks more fun.” Max grins and William shoves him through the opening and closes the door behind them.
When they disappear, I move to kneel in front of Griffin, who’s still watching the door. “They’ve got it handled. You’re not allowed to join.”
He turns his gaze on me, and I’m taken back by the longing I see there. He must really want to go out there and fight. “Doctor’s orders?”
I grin up at him. “Princess’s orders.”
His face lights up. “You don’t hate the nickname anymore?”
“It’s growing on me.” I shrug and begin inspecting the stitches. “Though I must say that I’m surprised. I expected you to burst these open.”
“Are you disappointed you don’t get to stab me even harder?”
“A little.”
He reaches down and tickles my ribs, throwing me into a fit of laughter. I end up with my back on the floor and Griffin hovering above me. “Okay, okay, mercy.” Buddy barks and growls from outside, pawing at the door. “You better stop or my dog will break in here and maul you. I don’t think I’ll have enough stitches for that.”
Griffin relents, placing his palms against the floor on either side of my head, and looks down at me. His chest rises and falls with each heavy breath. We’re both panting, and I realize I’m pressing my hands against his bare chest. It’s a nice chest, too. William’s chest was nice to sleep on, and now I wonder how Griffin’s would be. Which is odd, considering that until recently, I thought he resented me.
My hand moves up to trace my favorite scar on the side of his face, and he doesn’t move, doesn’t flinch. He only stares down at me. My chest rises and falls with each breath, less so as my breathing slows back down to a normal rate the longer I look at him like this.
“We’ve got a pretty good thing going here in this town.”
“Yeah,” I agree.
“No dregs, and barely any rotters.”
“Other than those guys in the bar,” I remind him.
“Lots of supplies. Plenty of protection. Shelter. Enough trees to keep the fires going for a few lifetimes.”
“All true.” I draw out the words, wondering where he’s going with this. I keep tracing his scar with the tip of my finger. Back and forth.
“Once everything is over, do you think you could see yourself hanging around here with us?”
My finger stops at the edge of his cheek near his ear. “I have someone waiting for me. A friend I still need to find medicine for, and then get back to and help. She’s still counting on me.”
“She can come, too. We can start our own little colony.”
There it is, the thing I’ve been dreading most. I so badly want to tell him I already have one, and that all three of them can come back with me, but I can’t. They’ll kill them on site and then they’ll kill me for bringing them there. I can’t risk it. Not after the last time I let someone in. The worst part is that I can’t even tell them about it, the rule I stupidly agreed to while we buried our friends.
“It’s an interesting idea,” I hedge.
He breaks eye contact and pulls back, looking down at his side and the thin trickle of blood. “This doesn’t count. Technically, it was your fault.”
“You did that all on your own.” I grin when I sit up to pull out the needle and thread, but swallow hard when he meets me with a challenging look and lays down on the couch, exposing his side to me.
