FEAR

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

Devon pulled me into his arms, squeezing a little too hard. I flinched and pulled away. I knew I hurt his feelings the moment I looked into his eyes, but before I could say anything my dad decided to intervene.

"Chelsea will show you to the rooms." He said to the guys. "I'll come check on you in a little bit baby." Dad gave me a quick kiss and went back into the study to work from home.

The guys followed me up the stairs, each one more sluggish with each step. I led two guys to each spare room. When I got to Nate's room, Todd looked up at me. "What happened to you?" He asked. Devon and he were the last ones to get a room.

"It doesn't matter. We can talk when we all wake up." I gave him a shy smile and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll see you in a little while."

I was at Jay's door when Devon stopped me. "I should have told you I was coming."

"No. It's OK. I don't mind, really." I told him. I was happy to see him, although scared at what might happen between us. Devon and I always worked well with each other. We got each other more than anyone else. It was going to be hard having him here but I was still delighted. Kaylee would be ecstatic.

"It's not OK. The moment I hugged you, you flinched. I know I didn't imagine it. Look, I'll stay out of the way, I promise."

"Oh no Dev. Please don't put too much thought into that. You just squeezed me a little too hard." I lifted my shirt with my good hand enough to give him a good look of the bandage that wrapped around my rib cage.

"What happened?"

"It doesn't matter. I'll see you in a little bit. Jay won't mind if you bunk with him although I know you'd rather bunk with Nate." I gave him a sheepish smile. Before I walked to my room, I stood on my tip toes and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek.

Kaylee woke up as I shut the door to my room. I could still feel Devon's soft stubble on my lips. If only I had the courage to kiss him on the lips. I was too afraid though. He might not even like me in that way anymore.

I walked into Kaylee's room and checked her temperature. She was still warm. We walked downstairs to warm up some milk so she could go back to sleep.

Once we were back in my room, I lay down with Kaylee and together we fell back to sleep. Being comforted by my baby girl made all the pain go away for a little while. It would have been even better if the little girl lying next to me wasn't sick.

I woke up to the sound of boys talking. They weren't being loud but when Kaylee slept with me, I was a light sleeper.

"She looks just like her." I heard Todd say.

"Those are my girls." Devon said.

"Um dude, she broke up with you. She's technically not your girl anymore."

"She'll always be my girl."

The door squeaked as another person came in. "Hey guys." Jay said louder than the two of them. "Man, her room can hold a lot of guys." He laughed.

Apparently, the whole herd of football players were camped out in my room. I was taken aback at how quiet they all could be.

"She's been sleeping for hours." Jordon stated.

"Yeah. Poor girl hasn't gotten much sleep. Her nightmares are awful when she has no one to sleep with."

"Why?" Todd asked.

"She hasn't been able to take her pills for a week. Now it'll be even longer where she got shot."

"Say what?" Devon replied.