Page 56 of Wilde Abandon
Their opposite schedules didn’t seem to bother Fox.Though, like her, he voiced the desire to spend more time together.
Unfortunately, it was Friday night at the bar, and they didn’t close until two a.m.Which meant she wouldn’t get to Fox’s place until well after three.
He wasn’t here tonight.Fox, Dean, and Max planned to stay in and play some video game.Max was headed back to Boston on Sunday, so they wanted some bro time.
She loved that they were so close.
She’d made it a point to get to know Dean and Max better.Dean was—
Lost in thought, she miscalculated the distance between a customer and the pool table—specifically Josh with the stick, about to take a shot—and got jabbed in the ribs.The dude next to her tried to grab her as she stumbled, but all he did was upend the tray she was carrying.The whole thing fell from her hand, crashing to the polished cement floor.Her feet got tangled up together and she went down, catching the side of her head on a wood stool.
Pain blasted through her skull.
She saw the next disaster coming but couldn’t stop her momentum as she slipped in the spilled beer and landed in the pile of broken glass and booze.Glass punctured her calf and thigh as she landed on her hip.She instinctively put her hand out to catch herself.Her palm and finger got sliced too.
“Fuck!”Josh spun and dropped the stick and lunged for her before her head hit the floor.He grabbed her hand and pulled her up to sitting.
Blood poured down her hand and dribbled down her leg.Mostly because there were two huge chunks of glass from the broken beer mugs embedded in her skin.
The crowd gathered around her.A chorus of “Are you all right?”came from multiple people.
Josh squatted in front of her.“I’m sorry.I didn’t see you there.”
“Not your fault.Totally mine.”
“I should have checked behind me before I went for the shot.”He ran his hand over the back of his neck, his eyes filled with remorse as he swore again.
She met his concerned eyes.“It was an accident on both our parts.”
He scrunched his lips and grabbed the napkins someone held out to her.He pressed them to the side of her head, making her wholly aware of the cut and goose egg swelling just inside her hairline.
His thumb brushed along her cheek.
She flinched back from the intimate touch.
He frowned, his eyes narrowing.“You’re going to need some serious stitches for all this.”
Jax and Lyric pushed their way through the crowd around her.
Lyric held several clean towels.“Melody!Oh God!”She nudged Josh out of the way and bent close, replacing the soaked, bloody napkins at her head with one of the towels.
Melody winced, then looked at Jax.“I dropped something,” she teased, trying to erase the look of horror from his face.
“Damnit, Mel, this is bad.”
“It’s just some cuts.”
“There’s two chunks of glass sticking out of you.”
It had been a long time since she’d broken anything.Hazard of the job, especially with a packed crowd.Still, this was on her.She should have been paying better attention.
She looked up at her flustered sister.At nearly nine at night, the kitchen would be closing soon.“Can you drive me to the ER?”
“I’ll take you,” Josh cut in.“This was my fault.Lyric’s working.I’ll take you.”
Melody held Lyric’s gaze.“I want you.”She barely glanced at Josh before saying, “She’s family,” hoping that explained things to Josh without her having to say she didn’t want him taking care of her.
Lyric pulled the cloth away, winced, then pressed it back over the wound.“Of course I’ll take you.Can you stand?”