Uprising by Shelly Crane Read Free Book Online Page B

a bit, ok? That’s not too hot is it?” I ask pressing my hand to it making him wince again.
    “It’s fine. Thanks, Sherry. I feel like such a whiner.”
    “No, you’re not! This body is breakable, Ryan. It takes time to heal. Rest is the best thing for it. You’ll feel better in no time, if you’ll let me help you. Just don’t wait to ask if you need something, ok?”
    He nods and heads back to the commons room. Mrs. Trudy is dishing out portions on plates and Kay is putting ice in glasses. I help with silverware and everyone lines up. We eat and then people start to head into their own rooms.
    After checking on Ryan and giving him another quick but deep massage, for which he swore worked wonders, and then replacing the heating rice sock with an ice pack, I catch Jeff to see how things went today.
    “It went great. No problems or hitches. We got everything on the list and then some. We’ll do the same thing next week. It was pretty cold out though. Really cold.”
    Jeff also explained who went with who and where before turning in for the night.
     
    Later that night, I had a steamy encounter with Merrick, which he totally instigated by continually kissing and nipping the nape of my neck. He knows how it drives me crazy.
    He is sound asleep now and snoring that little barely there wisp of a snore he does. I can’t sleep. I slept too long on my nap and am now wide awake. I try to creep easily out of the covers, Merrick’s arm tightening protectively over me. I pat his arm and manage to slide out. I grab his shirt and throw it on along with my sleep pants and pad my bare feet to the kitchen.
    Cain is already there and makes me jump as I see him move in the shadows, leaning against the counter with his hip. He looked restless. His hair was tousled from a fit with a pillow and his t-shirt and flannel pants were wrinkled.
    “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you,” he said, drinking what looks to be a glass of milk.
    “It’s ok. Can’t sleep?” I ask grabbing a glass for myself.
    “Nah. I haven’t really slept good in years. You either?”
    “Well some of us had nothing to do today so, I slept the day away with Lily,” I said laughing.
    “Well, that’s makes it ok then,” he said smiling widely.
    “I guess. It just doesn’t seem fair that I’m always stuck here being useless.”
    “The men are supposed to go out and bring home the bacon, right?” he said with a wispy laugh.
    “Yeah, but this isn’t about women, Kay and Laura went. It’s about me. I’m short and have a tendency to get into trouble so people think I’m gonna break or something and won’t let me do anything.”
    “You should be happy about that,” he said softly. “You have people to take care of you, who look after you. A lot of people don’t these days.”
    “True.” I sighed. “You’re right. How did it go today?”
    “Great. This crew you got here is a hoot, for sure. Especially Jeff and Miguel. Bunch of characters. But they’re great.”
    “Yeah, they are. I love them like my own family,” I have no idea why I admitted it to him but I did.
    “I can see that. I’m really glad I met you.”
    His eyes were so sincere I looked away.
    “Yeah. Me too,” I answered softly and fumbled for something else to say.
    “Thanks for inviting us to come down here. It’ll be good for Pap and Maggie to be around other people. I was beginning to wonder who was gonna shoot who first,” he said laughing and I did too.
    “No problem. We love it when new people come. It’s like Christmas. We spend half our efforts trying to work it out for others to be able to come live with us. I’m sure Jeff showed you the halls. Those are his babies.” I laugh but we both still at a noise.
    This scratching noise. Cain must hear it too because he cocks his head to the side. Then a whimpering. It’s muffled but seems to be coming from outside. We normally don’t hear much from outside. We look at each other.
    “What is that?” I ask, setting