A Shattered Moment (Fractured Lives 1)

“Are you kidding me? I hope you knocked his fucking lights out.”

“See?” Bentley said, looking at me. “Maybe not his lights, but I think I might have loosened a couple teeth,” Bentley answered, holding his fist up like a trophy.

“That’s what I’m talking about, dude,” Chad said, fist bumping

Bentley.

“What else would I expect from a couple of cavemen?”

“Are you kidding? If some guy messes with our girl, it’s our job to set him straight.”

“Our girl?” I parroted, looking at Bentley.

“Bro, get your own girl,” Bentley told him, nudging him out of the way so he could help me roll up my jeans. “Hand me my kit.”

“I didn’t mean we were both dating Mac. I just meant that as your friend, if I saw some asshat knock her down, I’d make sure he was also on the ground,” Chad said, handing Bentley a first-aid kit that put any others I’d seen to shame.

“Trust me. He means well,” Bentley said, working my jeans to midcalf. They refused to go any higher since they were skinny jeans. They happened to be my favorite pair, but at the moment I hated them. “This isn’t working. You’re going to have to take them off.”

Chad, who had resumed his game, turned his head so suddenly to look at us, I was afraid he was going to get whiplash.

“I’m not taking my jeans off in front of you two.”

“I won’t peek,” Chad piped in with a wolfish grin on his face.

“I didn’t mean for you to strip down completely. Trust me, when that happens, Chad will not be with us. I was going to suggest you put on a pair of my sweats. That way I can get to your knees better.”

“Okay. I guess I can do that.”

Chad offered to help me with the sweats when Bentley came back out to the living room with them. Bentley glared at him. “Out,” he said, pointing toward Chad’s room.

“I’m not your fucking dog,” Chad grumbled, picking up his Red Bull and heading for his room.

I smiled as he stomped away, leaving an awkward silence. I was perfectly capable of hobbling into the sweats, but Bentley wasn’t making any movement to leave. This was not how I’d pictured taking my pants off in front of him. Not that I’d given it a lot of thought. Okay, I’d given it significant thought, but the scenario did not involve dried blood on both knees.

“I can do it,” I said as Bentley kneeled on the floor in front of me and placed his hands on the hips of my jeans. I wasn’t ready for him to see my leg. I knew if our relationship progressed, he was bound to see the numerous scars that ran from my knee all the way up to my thigh, but I wasn’t quite ready for that yet.

He studied me intently, reading my face. “Trust me.”

His finger found the snap of my jeans. I gripped his hand, terrified of what he would think when he saw my leg.

“Mac, it’s okay. Trust me,” he repeated. His words melted something inside me. The air around us felt like it had been sucked from the room like a vacuum. What shouldn’t have been hot had suddenly become the most erotic experience of my life.

I sucked in a breath as his fingers grazed my lower stomach just above my panties. He popped my button open and carefully lowered my zipper. Luckily, he kept his head down because if he would have looked up, my eyes would have given away my secret yearning. As it was, my fingers itched to comb through his hair and pull him close to the sensitive skin that his fingers were currently tormenting. I balled my hands into fists, letting my nails dig into my palms. It was slightly embarrassing to be fantasizing about his mouth on my stomach when he was trying to help me. It was another kind of help I was looking for now.

He tugged slowly on my jeans. I was so wound up I wanted to shout at him to hurry. I closed my eyes, lifting my hips as he guided the hem of my jeans down until they rested at my feet. Every nerve in my body was at full charge as goose bumps covered my arms. The backs of his fingers stroked against my legs. I bit off a moan. All of this was so foreign. I felt almost sick from the scattered sensations shooting through me. Was this what arousal felt like?

I opened my eyes, expecting to still see his head down, but he was studying me intently. His eyes were dark as coal. My tongue wet my lips as my body felt ready and aware. My leg was now the farthest thing from my mind.

I watched him slide his hands lightly over my stomach, which tightened in response. The movement didn’t go unnoticed as the tips of Bentley’s fingers toyed with my panties, letting me know I only had to say the word and they would come off, too. I dragged my lip nervously into my mouth. My eyes flickered to his hands, which had set me on fire. I didn’t have to ask what he was thinking. The intensity of his stare made it clear he was as hot as I was.

His lips lowered to my skin, kissing the soft barely visible peach fuzz on my stomach. A sigh that turned into a moan left my lips when his tongue glided down just under the top of my panties. His hands gripped my hips at the sound. My hands moved of their own accord, weaving through his hair and pulling him closer. The ache between my legs I’d been trying to ignore became persistent as I raised my hips off the couch to give him what we both wanted.

“Are you decent yet?” Chad called out. His voice was like a bucket of ice-cold water being dumped over my head. Even though he was still in his room, I tried to jerk my pants up, but Bentley’s face prevented my movement. He looked up, smirking at me.

“Not funny,” I muttered, blushing for the millionth time of the evening. I wouldn’t have admitted it, but I was glad for the interruption. I wasn’t sure how things had escalated so rapidly. A few more unsupervised minutes and I wasn’t sure how far we would have gone. When Zach and I did the deed, it had been planned for months. There was nothing spur of the moment about it.

“Very true. It’s not funny, but at the moment, short of locking Chad in his room, humor is the only thing keeping me sane,” he said, sliding my jeans off my feet. I had gotten so worked up in the moment that I forgot I was lying there with my scar out in the open. I could have turned Bentley away, but it somehow felt wrong after the intensity of what had just happened. His eyes lingered, not on my scarred leg, but on the Wonder Woman panties that barely covered me.