Navy's Sons: Bullied by Quadruplet Stepbrothers novel Chapter 23

20.You’re being gentle

Jace picks up the tweezer and crouches in front of me. His jaw tightens as he leans in and studies the wound again. I feel his breath against my shoulder before the cold metal touches my skin.

“This might hurt,” he mutters.

No shit.

I grip the edge of the mattress and hold my breath as he begins to pull the glass out. The largest shard comes first. I bite down hard on the inside of my cheek, refusing to make a sound. Pain shoots through my arm like fire, but I stay still. He doesn’t flinch or make a comment. His hands stay steady, and his face is all focus. I’ve never seen him like this. It’s almost as if I am staring at a completely different person.

He sets the bloody shard on a towel atıd leans back in for the smaller fragments. Each one stings like hell, but I swallow all my whimpers. Water drips down my spine as he cleans around the wound. He wipes away the blood carefully. His fingers brush my skin again and again, and every time they do, I feel like my body forgets how to breathe.

“You’re being… gentle,” I say, surprised by how steady my voice sounds.

“Would you prefer it if I’m a bit harsh instead?” he taunts as he continues to elean my wound after plucking out every last glass fragments.

“I’m just surprised that you can actually appear like a decent person. You don’t usually act like you care,” I reply, trying to sound as casual as possible.

Jace lets out a sharp breath. “You’re bleeding all over my floor. That’s hard to ignore.” His voice is dry, but there’s something underneath it. Something too quiet to name.

I shift slightly to look at him, just enough that our faces are closer than I expect. He doesn’t move away. His hand stays on my back, fingers splayed across my spine. My shoulder is still bare between us.

“You should learn to stop running away from us, so you don’t get hurt like this,” he whispers.

“Well, that’s easier said than done, especially when you’re the ones I’m running from.”

“Why?” he asks, inching closer until his lips are only a breath away from mine. “Do we look like monsters to you that you have the need to run away every chance you get? That you keep on combing through the restricted part of the library to break the mate bond even after we have warned you about it? Even if it might cost your life?”

“B-Because…” I hesitate, then whisper the truth. “Because you scare me.”

There it is. I may have changed a lot now but inside, I am still the same ugly fat duckling of Silver Hills High. It’s an identity I cannot fully abandon… and naturally the fear that comes with it still remains.

Instead of being surprised, Jace raises a brow and chuckles. He freaking laughs as if I just cracked a hilarious joke. He tilts his head and cups my chin, making my lips part.

“You’re scared?” he muses, his mouth curving into the familiar wickedness I’m so familiar with. “Baby, we haven’t even done anything scary… yet.” He leans in slightly until his lips are brushing against my ear. “But keep pushing our buttons and maybe we’ll give you a reason.”

I can’t tell if it’s a threat or a joke. Maybe it’s both. I don’t know which would be worse. He’s a jerk. And I hate that my heart is hammering like this for a jerk like him.

He smirks at me one last time before he grabs the bandage and starts wrapping my shoulder. His touch is firm again, more clinical now, but still careful not to press too hard. I watch him finish the last loop and pin the gauze down like he’s done this a thousand times. Surprisingly, the pain that I am feeling earlier fades into something bearable. I no longer flinch with every little movement.

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