Lost and Found Read Free

limbs.
    He came out of the small and steamy room wrapped only in a towel. The tease.
    "You suck." It was a simple statement, but he stopped and gaped at me as if I had
     just finished screaming a long string of curse words at him.
    "What did you say?"
    He was still staring at me, his eyes wide, his hair plastered to his head, water dripping
     from his ears onto his shoulders. The towel was low enough for me to see his hipbones
     and that oh, so pleasant happy trail of soft, dark hair that led down south.
    "I said you suck . You come out of the shower practically naked, smelling all delicious and I'm expected
     to just lie here, ignoring you? You suck ." I stuck my lower lip out in a pout.
    Connor blinked and laughed before glancing at the open bedroom door. "I'm sure I could
     think of a few ways to keep you awake. But, Winchester is bringing the others by any
     minute. That could be awkward." He winked at me and pulled his towel off in a swift
     move, flipping it at the foot of the bed.
    I gawked at the perfect curves of his naked backside while he fumbled around in the
     dresser, pulling out various pieces of clothing. By the time he was dressed, wearing
     clean jeans, and a tight black t-shirt, I was absolutely seething at the fact that
     I couldn't launch myself across the room at him and drag him beneath the sheets.
     
    ***
     
    After the others took turns coming in and out of the room to spend time with Riley,
     Winchester finally gave her the go ahead to sleep a quarter past midnight. But Connor
     stayed up well into the early morning hours watching her carefully; leaning close
     to her face to make sure her breathing sounded normal. His elbows were sore from the
     way he propped himself up to keep an eye on her but he ignored it. A couple of times
     he stroked the bandage on the right side of her face that covered most of her cheek
     and jaw.
    When his arms couldn't hold him up anymore, he fluffed his pillows so he was angled
     up enough to see her face while he rested on his side. He kept playing the accident
     over in his mind. It drove him crazy that he didn't know what went wrong. One minute
     she was fine riding ahead of him on Sunrise Highway with the ends of her long, blonde
     hair streaming out behind her. He looked away for just a second. Just a second...
     And she was flying off the bike, toward the guardrail. His stomach knotted at the
     memory of seeing her sprawled out on the pavement, not moving.
    He rolled onto his back and draped am arm over his face, blocking out the subtle glow
     of moonlight that streamed in through the open windows. This plan of hers was stupid.
     He needed to figure out a way to convince her to change her mind. At this rate, she
     was going to kill herself before they even got to Los Angeles.

CHAPTER two
     
    The strong smell of caffeinated coffee woke me. For one brief moment, I forgot about
     the beating my body took the day before until I tried to push up off the bed just
     like any other morning. My weak arms shook from the weight of my upper body and I
     fell back onto the mattress with a groan. My entire body felt like one gigantic bruise.
     There wasn't any one place that didn't hurt. Even brushing my hair off my forehead
     caused a painful tingle along my scalp.
    After settling back against the mound of pillows that were propped around me the night
     before, I angled my body in a way where I could watch Connor. He must have been up
     late if my clumsy stirring didn't wake him. His mouth was parted slightly so I could
     hear his breathing as he inhaled and exhaled in his sleep. I watched his body rise
     and fall a few more times until Kris quietly came to the open doorway with a tray
     in her hands.
    I brought my hand up quickly to keep her quiet before I whispered, " Sshh. He's asleep."
    She nodded and set the tray down on top of the dresser and crossed the room. Her thick
     hair was just below her shoulders now and the length seemed to be pulling some of
     her frizzy