When Rivals Fall (Bayshore Rivals 1)

Our girl.

???

When we arrive at the mansion I’m alert enough to walk by myself, but Banks being overbearing insists on carrying me.

“You’re not even wearing shoes,” he points out and I look down at me feet, my toes wiggling freely. I guess he’s right, still I don’t want to be a damsel in distress. I may have almost died, but my legs still work.

Oliver walks ahead and unlocks the door for us. Walking inside, Sullivan switches on lights as we go. It’s strange to be alone with all three of them, almost intimate, like we’re in our own secret little world where we don’t have to hate each other.

“Alright, I’m going to go and get out of these wet clothes and into the shower. I’ll be out in a little bit,” Oliver says, before disappearing up the stairs. As soon as he’s out of sight I feel it, this strange tug at my heart. Like being away from him is losing a piece of my soul.

Something clicks in my brain then. He saved my life. He jumped into the ocean in the middle of the night and somehow found me, pulling me out.

Thinking it once doesn’t quite hit home, so I let it run through my head again.

He saved my life.

Oliver saved my life. My mind is still reeling from this revelation as Banks and Sullivan take me upstairs and into the bathroom attached to one of the guest bedrooms.

I watch Sullivan turn on the water and pour some bath soap into it, while Banks sits down on the edge of the tub, still cradling me to his chest, wrapped up in a blanket like a newborn baby. I watch the water fall into the huge corner tub, the bubbles building little cloud like mountains as it fills up. When it’s about half way full, Banks starts to peel the blanket back.

“What are you doing?” I gasp, grabbing onto the blanket like it’s my protective barrier. I kinda guess it is since it’s the only thing shielding me from their eyes.

“You gonna take a bath with the blanket around you?” Banks asks, his thick brow raised curiously.

Shaking my head, I feel my cheeks start to heat. “No. I can take a bath on my own though.”

Banks exchanges a disbelieving look with Sullivan before shaking his head. “I don’t think you should be alone right now.”

Clenching my jaw, I say, “I told you. I didn’t try to kill myself. Someone pushed me. I’m not making this up. I swear. Someone pushed me right over the edge. One minute I was standing there and the next I was in the water.”

“Did you see who it was?” Sullivan asks, his gaze colliding with Banks’. It’s almost like they’re communicating in some strange brother way, and whatever they’re thinking or saying they don’t want me to know.

Even stranger is Sullivan’s reaction, it’s like he believes me.

“No. I was holding onto the railing looking out onto the water and someone just shoved me from behind. I didn’t hear or see anyone coming.”

Remembering it makes me shiver. Who would want to hurt me? No one other than the Bishops, but the brothers didn’t do it, they saved me.

“Either way, you almost died tonight, you shouldn’t be alone right now. Let me help you into the tub and then we’ll just sit down on the floor to keep you company.”

Biting my bottom lip, I contemplate it. I guess they’ve already seen me naked, Sullivan was holding me under the blanket, and I let him feel me up the other night, so there is really no reason to be shy now.

“Okay, but don’t look…I mean, at me… again,” I say suddenly feeling self-conscious. I’m not anything spectacular to look at, nothing like the girls they were with tonight. My hips flare out, and my thighs are a little thick, my boobs are pretty stellar or at least I’ve been told. I’m short, with hair the color of sunshine but I’m nothing special and yet, Banks and Sullivan are staring at me like I am.

Banks helps me stand up and frees me from the blanket. My cheeks feel like they are on fire as soon as the fabric is pulled away. As promised neither of them look directly at me as I step into the bath on shaky legs. Never in my life did I think I would be in this situation. The Bishop Brothers are supposed to be my enemies and yet here they are caring for me.

Banks places his hands on my arms to steady me until I’m submerged in the tub. The hot water soothes my sore muscles immediately and I sink down into the bubbly water with a soft moan.

“Your back is bruised a little bit. I can put some arnica cream on it when you get out if you want me to?” Sullivan asks, as he and Banks take a seat on the floor next to the tub. I’m not sure what arnica cream is, but anything that he wants to rub on me right now sounds good. My entire body is one big aching mess.