Page 53 of Wrecked By a Devil

“Only because it’s true,” he leans back his head against the wall, the muscles in his neck strained.

I wrap up the treatment by applying a thick layer of antibacterial ointment and placing a fresh, clean pad over the wound, securely taping down the edges with medical tape.

“All done,” my voice is barely a whisper when I speak again, yet it sounds incredibly loud in the quiet room. “For the second time,” I tease.

“Thanks, Riley,” he mumbles, a weak smile on his face.

“Just give me a sec to clean all of this up,” I return my attention to the bloody mess I’ve made out of my room.

“You seem to hate blood a little too much for a future paramedic.”

“It’s not the blood that I hate,” I say but I don’t allow myself to finish that sentence. Seeing Zeke bleeding tonight made me realize how much I care about him.

By the time I finish cleaning up and return my attention to him, Zeke has already fallen asleep in my bed. The sight warms my heart in ways I can’t even name.

He came to me tonight, and he feels safe enough in my room to fall asleep when he’s vulnerable.

The thought makes my heart ache and I’m worried that if I continue staring at him deep asleep on my sheets a minute longer, I might melt entirely. I glance at the closed bedroom door, hearing the distant, muffled sound of the TV from the living room where Lexi and Elena are still watching something. They’re clueless about what’s happening in here, and somehow that realization excites me.

The air in the room feels charged and my own body is suddenly aching from the leftover adrenaline. The thought of trying to sneak out to the living room couch later when my roommates go to sleep, feels impossible. And if I’m being entirely honest, I don’t want to leave him.

“Whatever,” I slide in right next to him in the small bed.

There is no way to avoid him and when my shoulder brushes against his uninjured side, the sudden, intense heat radiating from his skin makes my breath catch. I lie completely still on my side, staring at the dark silhouette of his jawline in the shadows. He smells like iron and antiseptic, yet at the same time he somehow still smells like him.

He shifts slightly in his sleep, but he doesn’t wake up. His breathing remains steady, a slow, warm puff of air that I can feel against my forehead as I close my eyes. I match the rhythm of my breathing to his, letting the darkness finally take over.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Ezekiel

The heavy throb on my injured side is the first thing that drags me out of sleep. It’s a dull, burning ache, annoying enough to wake me up.

I blink against the morning light coming from the small window. The bed is too small, the sheets are tangled around my legs and when I shift, the familiar scent of the pillow hits me.

Vanilla and clean skin… Riley.

But she isn’t next to me and for a moment I wonder if she might have decided to sleep on the sofa. I can’t remember anything that happened after she cleaned my wound last night, but I’m pretty sure that I felt a warm body sleeping next to me.

The sound of rushing water echoes from bathroom across the hallway, and the thought of Riley in the shower suddenly awakesmore than just my mind. My dick twitches immediately and I have to force myself to think about anything else.

“Fuck it,” I jump out of bed, a little wobbly, but when my bare feet hit the floorboards, I chose to focus on the cold spreading through my entire body. My pants are still on and I don’t bother looking for a shirt, I just follow the sound coming from the bathroom and the steam rolling out from underneath the bathroom door.

“Riley?” I knock once, remembering she lives with two roommates. The last thing I want is to walk in on one of them thinking it’s Riley.

“I’ll be out in just a sec!” She shouts from the other side of the door and that’s enough for me to turn the handle and step inside the small, vapor-filled room. Through the frosted glass of the shower, I can see the blur of her silhouette under the spray.

“Maybe I can just come in instead,” I grin as I slide the glass door open and the thick, hot steam hits my bare chest instantly.

“Zeke?” Riley’s eyes go wide as she wipes the water from her face. “You shouldn’t be moving around, your wound…”

“I’m fine, I know you used a waterproof bandage,” I cut her off, stepping over the ledge and right into the heat of the shower with her. The hot water hits my back as I lock my eyes on her hers. “Don’t worry so much about me.”

“Mia called me earlier,” she hesitates, her back pressed against the tiled wall as the water streams down her hair. “She told me everything, Zeke.”

I step closer, crowding her space until the heat radiating off her body mixes with the steam. “What exactly did she say?”

“How you jumped in front of the bullet to protect her,” Riley’s voice is shaking slightly, but her gaze never leaves mine. She reaches out, her wet hand hovering just an inch away from my bandage, not wanting to hurt me. “She told me she sent you away to get treated and gave the police a version you agreed on of what happened. The police took her statement and asked her to look at the dead man before they took away the body. She did not recognize him. You saved my best friend’s life, Zeke. She’s alive because of you.”