Page 26 of Fury
“Are you okay?” Archie asked her.
“I’m—”
Archie leveled a hard look at Davis. “What happened?”
Cradling her hand in his, Davis glanced at her friend. Did a double take when he realizedhewas the one Archie was targeting. “It’s called an accident.”
Archie jutted his chin. “You sure?”
“What’s your problem?” Davis demanded.
“Hey, you’re the one who has the problem,” Archie countered.
Davis turned back to working on Hollyn’s hand. “One I’d like to get rid of,” he said under his breath.
“What’s that?”
“Step off, Twerp.” Davis scowled as he held Hollyn’s wound closed while the liquid dried. It didn’t escape her that her blood coated his skin.
Fury growled. It was enough to push Archie farther away from the dog.
Not enough, however, to stop him from more snarky comments. “Not happening, GI Joe.”
Seriously! Why were these two always at each other’s throats? “Okay!” She tried to stop them.
Davis placed a nonstick pad on the dried stitches and started covering her hand with self-adherent wrap. Softly, Hollyn noted. Even though he was upset—evidenced by the firm set of his jaw and twitch of his cheek muscle—he was still being gentle with her.
“You military types are all the same,” Archie snapped. “Only thing you know how to do is shoot, kill, and injure.”
“Archie!” Wow. Where had that come from?
He ignored her. “We’re”—he motioned between himself and Hollyn—“trying tohelphumanity.”
“What would the world do without you?” Davis’s words were coated in thick sarcasm.
Hollyn nearly rolled her eyes. She’d never seen Archie act this way—or Davis, for that matter. “Guys, come on!”
Both men looked at her.
“Just—stop, okay?” Annoyed, she looked up at Archie. “A bowl fell and a piece of it got stuck in my hand. Davis was helping me. Not hurting me.”
Why was she even explaining this? They were acting like children. While Davis hadn’t started this, he also hadn’t let it go. Not that it surprised her.
When Davis slid an arm around Hollyn to help her up, she thought Archie might launch himself across the kitchen. She gripped Davis’s solid shoulder with her good hand as he stood. Felt him tense. Didn’t miss the way her heart fluttered again being pressed against him but quickly pushed the feeling away when he released her. Missed his touch when his hand slid from her waist.
No matter how much her heart still wished he were the one, he didn’t feel that way about her. And even if he did, she was dangerous. The people she loved always ended up dead.
“Let’s just go over the project, all right?” Hollyn hoped Archie could see the plea in her eyes for him to give it a rest.
He looked between her and Davis before his shoulders dropped and he nodded. “Yeah, okay. Sorry, Hollyn.”
An apology for her. But not Davis.
She tugged at the loose apron knot at her back with one hand and set the garment on the counter. “I’m just going to clean this up first.” She moved toward the pantry for the broom, but Davis caught her arm.
“I’ll do it. You two . . . do what you need to.” It looked like the words were physically painful for him to say.
If looks could kill, Archie would be dead a thousand ways already. Bandaged hand up against her chest to lessen the throbbing pain, Hollyn didn’t waste time walking toward her friend. She needed to get him out of here before he started running his mouth again.