Hulk is my patient and I need to remember that before I cross a line I shouldn’t. No matter how tempting it might be.
I don’t even blinkat the naked man in front of me. Does he think he’s going to shock me? At least he’s nice to look at; not like the wrinkly old men that are trying to do it for shock value, or even just because they don’t care. Not to mention, none of them are as well-defined as this man right here.
Wow. Alright, I’m not completely oblivious to the hotness that is this man, even when he gives me a bland stare, and turns to give me a view of his perfectly muscular backside. Damn, I have this weird urge to grab him and sink my teeth into him. Despite being starved and tortured, it doesn’t look like he’s lost much muscle mass. If any.
I’m pretty sure I saw he has an eight-pack and not just a six. Damn. That takes a lot of hard work and dedication at the gym, which apparently this man has. I’m also not much of atattoo girl, but Hulk has some nice ink that seems to give him a rougher edge, but it’s all superficial. He’s not squeaky clean, but I wouldn’t put him as hard.
Desire thrums. I’ve been trying to ignore this attraction to Hulk, but he keeps pulling me back in.
“If you want to stand there and ogle me, why don’t you come on in here and give me a hand, angel,” he suggests loudly over the spray. The spray he’s just standing in front of and soaking in. Thank you for clear glass that’s just starting to steam over. I can’t see the goods much anymore, but with how tall he is, I can still see his face turned up to the spray. He doesn’t even look over at me, his eyes closed.
“I’m mostly marvelling how they found a shower that can fit you,” I quip, not moving from my spot.
“We’ve got a few tall brothers, and when we bought this place, we made sure that no one would have a problem,” he responds absently. “Fucking annoying to always have to bend down to shower like I did in our old clubhouse.”
“Hmmm, yeah that would be hard on the neck and joints,” I agree. Especially if he has a woman pressed up against the wall as he…
No! No, I can’t think about that right now. Get a grip Avery.
“I’m not going to fall in here, angel, you don’t have to stay in here,” he says, finally opening his eyes and glancing over at me.
I lean against the vanity and cross my arms over my chest. “I’m good. And I’m here to make sure that you don’t fall, or get your stitches wet, or get dizzy from the heat of the shower. You sure you’re not a girl?” I tease him lightly. “From the temperature in here and the steam, you’re approaching boiling, and that’s just about what I like. Well, most girls,” I add when his eyes continue to watch me.
“You sure you’re not here to get another look at the goods?” He reaches for his shampoo and I hear him grunt as he lifts his arms to scrub it into his hair.
“You good?” I ask, straightening. Shit, did he pull his stitches?
“The bandage is tight,” he grumbles. “Makes this shit kind of hard to do, but I got it.”
“That’s why you can shower and not worry about them getting wet. Try to make sure that you’re washing forward and not back toward it though just in case.”
He turns his head to glare at me, suds coating his hair and the top of his forehead. His eyes and face are still bruised from the beatings he took, but they’re already starting to look better than they were, and they don’t detract from how good he looks.
Damn it, no I shouldn’t be noticing that. I focus on giving him my best nurse stare back.
“If you’re going to order me around then maybe you should come in here and do it for me,” he says pointedly.
“If you’re trying to get a look at my goods, big guy, you’re going to have to do better than that,” I reply instantly, giving him a dry smile. Though it’s not like I haven’t thought about it in the last few days. Not that I’ll ever admit that. “Now hurry up before I prune in here from the steam. As it is, my hair is going to be a frizzy mess and I’ll look like some sort of ugly internet cat.”
“I got a good enough view when you hauled up your shirt and gave me the ear piece,” he answers with a wink before he turns his head back to the spray. “And your hair is fine. Just put all that girly shit in it that you girls always have.”
I don’t remember doing that, but I don’t correct him. Why bother correcting a man who was suffering from a terrible fever from infection at the time? And if he did, it’s not like I was naked. A small part of me wonders what he thinks of what he saw, but I push that aside. I’m not an insecure teenager. I’m notskinny, but I like how I look and if he doesn’t, then fuck him. “Thank you for the hair advice,” I drawl sarcastically, focusing back on him. “I’d never have thought of that on my own.”
“You’re welcome, angel,” he replies, working in some more shampoo into his hair. “Fucking hell, this feels good,” he sighs when I don’t respond to that. “Nothing better than feeling clean after all that.”
“I can imagine. And you’re right, you stank, but I tried to give you as much of a sponge bath as I could.”
He’s quiet for a moment. “Thank you, Avery, really, I appreciate it,” he says seriously, turning to look at me quickly as I see him soaping himself behind the steam. A part of me wishes that there was nothing in the way so I could see the whole process, but that’s probably crossing all kinds of lines. “For not only getting me out of there but helping out Medic to get me cleaned up and through the worst of the fever and infection. And especially for risking yourself and your siblings to help me. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to repay you for that.”
I shift uncomfortably. I don’t do well with compliments or praise. “It’s fine,” I assure him awkwardly. “Honestly, without your club I don’t know what we would do. I was thinking of sending the kids away, but I have no one to send them to. Most of the people I know have kids of their own and I didn’t want to get them involved in this, or have their kids targeted. I wasn’t even sure it was a good idea to send them here either, but it was a gamble that paid off.”
“We’ll keep you all safe,” he promises with such sincerity that I can’t help but believe him. He angles himself to wash, and I fight the urge to stare. Instead, I focus on his face, seeing him watching me. “Tell me about yourself. How did you end up caring for your siblings?”
“That’s a long story for another time.” I sigh. I also hate revisiting the whole situation that got us into this situation in thefirst place. I need to move on, and rehashing it all the time isn’t going to make that possible. “Just know that they are definitely better off with me than where they were.”
“I believe it. I haven’t met your brother yet. Sawyer, right?”
“Yeah. He’s been pretty enthralled with learning all he can about biker ways. Isla spends a lot of her time with Rose and Thea, asking all kinds of questions and helping Thea with her hair since her arm isn’t able to go over her head yet.” I grin. “I think Sniper appreciates the help. Thea told me that he tries to be gentle, but a lot of the time he practically pulls the hair out of her head with how hard he brushes and pulls it back.”
