Winner Takes All

Chapter Twenty Two ✘ Knight In Shining Armour

"I'm fine." He grunts, trying to turn away from me, but I catch the sleeve of his sweater, stopping him.

"Shut the hell up and follow me." I swerve him towards the elevator down the hall, pulling him with me as I go.

The elevator ride to the floor our rooms are in is short and silent. Once the doors slide open, I start walking, and he follows. He doesn't speak and neither do I as I unlock the door to my hotel room, and head to the bathroom.

"Sit." I grumble, closing the lid of the toilet and gesturing at it.

I feel responsible. He did that for me, although I can't fathom why. But I don't have much time to dwell over on that, his lip is still bleeding.

There's a first aid box tucked away under the sink and I pull it out, emptying the contents on the sink counter and picking out what I need to clean his cut.

Jace slumps down on the closed toilet, leaning his head back against the tiled wall, eyes fluttering shut. I take that chance to access him quickly, but there's no other injuries thankfully.

Payton's blood coats Jace's knuckles, and they're bruised from the punches. Blood from his busted lip has run down his chin and neck, and I see his Adam's apple bob as he swallows, exhaling tiredly.

His dimples appear as he sucks out the breath, and I realise he rarely smiles with his dimples. I can barely count on one hand how many times I've seen his dimples make an appearance.

Shoving all the unnecessary thoughts aside from my head, I grab one of the fresh face towels off the rack and run it under warm water, squeezing the excess off in the sink. My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I slide it out to see a text from
Ty and Faith.

Ty: where are u guys? everything okay?

Faith: babe where r u ?? ty told us what happened

I respond to them both saying that I'm with Jace and I'm cleaning up his wounds, and not to worry before slipping my phone back into my pocket and approaching Jace.

He opens his eyes when he senses me come closer, green eyes much calmer now as they watch me intently.

"Stay still or I'll make sure it hurts." I clear my throat, looking him dead in the eye, and I stand directly in front of him, leaning down slightly to clean the blood off his mouth.

The bathroom is eerily quiet as I dab at his mouth gently, my eyes trained on the towel and his mouth, while I can feel his gaze burning holes into my face as he watches me work.

The height difference makes it difficult for me to do it properly, with me standing over him trying not to get too close, and him seated on the toilet.

I almost lose my balance a few times, until Jace's hands snap up, grabbing my hips and pulling me down onto his lap in one quick movement, making me gasp in surprise.

"What the—" I start, my body electrifying at the realization that I'm straddling Jace, my butt firmly placed on his lap. My stomach coils, heat flooding through my skin, right from my toes to my core.

"Just sit, Rivers. Watching you wobble around trying to keep your balance is annoying me." He sighs, leaning his head back against the wall again and closing his eyes. Jace's hands are still firmly on my hips, keeping me locked in place, and his legs strong and firm underneath me.