Keeley's Fight (The Protectors Series) (5 page)

“P…Probably not,” she answered with chattering teeth and a sigh of relief that he didn’t push her for answers.

“Can I see your arm? I need to know how bad the damage is please,” he pleaded.

She looked at him with those gorgeous crystal blue eyes of hers searching his, for what he wasn’t sure, but he hoped she found what she needed. Seemingly pleased with her assessment, she held out her left arm and he sucked in a breath. It was bruising from her wrist all the way up her arm to the sleeve of her t-shirt, where it met the elbow.

“Butterfly, what happened?” Nate asked shocked that she was still moving it without screaming in pain. He didn’t think it was broken, but he still wanted Ty to take a look at it to be sure. He had been the medic on their missions overseas.

“I was walking home and slipped in a puddle and fell, the bruising is just from hitting the ground so hard. It doesn’t hurts so much anymore Nathaniel.” She cried so softly that if he wasn’t watching, he wouldn’t have known that she was.

“It’ll be ok Butterfly, we’ll get you all fixed up in no time,” he promised her. Nate loved that she called him Nathaniel. It came out so naturally making his cock go steel hard again. He was so screwed. This tiny waif of a woman had gotten him wrapped around her little finger so fast his head should be spinning, but he found that he quite enjoyed it. Smiling, he turned when he heard the door to the room open and in walked Ty and their Aunt Joy.

“Oh dear God in heavens girl, look at that arm! Let my Ty here check it out, and you’ll be good in no time at all. He was a medic in the Marines you know. One of the best there was, too!” Aunt Joy boasted proudly.

“Aunty… She doesn’t need to hear my life story just yet,” Ty told her with a slight blush tingeing his tanned cheeks.

Keeley had jumped when his aunt had first started talking, but she seemed to calm down once she saw that Ty was with her. It gave Nate hope. They might have only known her for a very short time, but he was glad she was starting to grow more comfortable with them.

“It’s ok Tyler, I don’t mind,” she told them as she gave the world’s smallest smile, but man alive did it ever transform her entire face. She had a slight blush on her cheeks, matching Ty’s, and there was a little twinkle in her eyes like she enjoyed how proud their aunt was of their accomplishments as she bragged about them.

“Can I see your arm sweet thing, it looks like it hurts something fierce. What happened?” Ty asked her as he knelt down in front of her.

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Keeley held out
her arm for Tyler to look at, trying to hide the pain she felt but knew she failed miserably when she saw their Aunt Joy’s face, and the tears the nice woman was trying not to let fall on her behalf. It was weird for her, she’d never had anyone so upset over her injuries that they wanted to cry for her. “Keeley?” Tyler asked softly.

Getting back to the moment, she finally remembered he’d asked her a question. “Oh, I hurt it falling on the walk home this morning; tripped in a puddle. I landed on it when I hit the pavement, but the bruising’s not so bad.” She whispered that last part to herself more than anything.

“Are you sure, darlin’?” Tyler asked her this a little hesitantly, like he knew there was more to it, to her, than that.

“Yes, I am sure. It wasn’t like the other times.” Putting her head down, she tried to avoid their stares, sure that they were looking at her like she was some charity case. She gasped in shock as Nathaniel put his hand under her chin and lifted her head up to look him in the eyes, as Tyler started probing her arm. Sucking in a sharp breath at the pain his probing caused, she watched Nathaniel as questions formed in his beautiful brown eyes that looked just like melted chocolate. She could get lost in those them so easily. “What?” She asked him.

“Those other times?” He asked her.

Keeley felt everything freeze around her as she realized what she said. A panic started to form in her chest. It was like a vise had her lungs in their grip, and just started to squeeze. She started to hyperventilate when Nathaniel picked her up and sat her on his lap, facing Tyler. He held both of her cheeks in his hands while Nathaniel rubbed his hands up and down the tops of her thighs, and whispered in her ear. “Everything will be ok my sweet, sweet Butterfly, nothing bad will happen to you again,” he promised her as he kissed her right behind the ear. Oh, how she wanted to believe in that promise so badly.

“Darlin’, look at me,” Tyler told her, bringing her attention back to him. “It’s going to be alright. You don’t have to tell us anything yet, but we hope that when you’re comfortable enough with us you will. And baby, I can’t tell you how much I look forward to that day you really start to trust us, ’cause you can guarandamntee that we will always be two people you can count on.” Tyler ended that beautiful statement by giving her the softest kiss imaginable. Her first kiss, too. It was soft and sweet and over far too quickly.

“Hey, don’t forget me, too! And your folks, they already love this girl like their own. So you boys tread carefully.” They all chuckled at Aunt Joy’s outburst. Then Keeley suddenly realized what she said.

Slightly confused, she asked, “How do your parents know me?”

“Uh, well, you see… Ma and the Dads came into your restaurant one night, about a month ago, after they got back from a trip.” Nathaniel stumbled out his answer.

Tyler continued where he left off. “Ma has been nagging us for the last two weeks to go in and try out the awesome pancakes, ’cause we’re both suckers for a good pancake. Anyway, Ma and the Dads have been really persistent about us going, and it had to be at a certain time, too. So when we came in that night, we knew pretty quickly that it wasn’t the pancakes that were so great about that crappy ass place, it was you.”

Keeley just sat there a little dumbfounded. First, she wondered who their parents were, and then she wondered what was so special about her. She was just nobody with nothing going for her. What could they possibly want with her? She wondered, not really realizing she had said all of that out loud, so they could hear her. She was startled at Joy’s outburst. “Now you listen here young lady, you are somebody to us. And I don’t care how long it takes, you will realize this sooner or later! Got it?!” Joy told her empathically before walking out of the room. She heard Tyler and Nathaniel laughing softly, while she just sat there with her eyes wide and mouth open in shock.

“She’s right, Butterfly. You are most certainly something special to us,” Nathaniel told her.

“Who are your parents? And why do you keep calling me Butterfly?” she asked him, still slightly shocked.

“I call you Butterfly because you remind me of one. Graceful, elegant, unique, gorgeous, vulnerable, and you could fly off the second I look away,” he told her after he put her back on her chair and laid a soft kiss on her lips, like Tyler had. It was so soft that if she hadn’t been watching, she wouldn’t have known he’d done it. It left butterflies in her tummy, leaving a nice little hum of arousal for these two very sweet brothers that she was slowly becoming addicted to. “And your parents?” She asked when he pulled back.

“Amber, Jackson, and Andrew Maxwell. Ma said they come in almost every night,” Tyler told her.

“Oh yes, I know them. Nicest people I’ve met in my whole life. They tip way too big though.” She marveled at that.

“They just wanted to make sure you were taken care of was all,” Tyler told her. “Alright darling, your arm is only sprained and bruised, some ice should help with that and limit yourself when carrying heavy things.”

“But I have to work. I have to find a place to live. I don’t want to go back to that shelter.” She panicked.

“Calm down darlin’, we’ll help you figure something out. First, let’s eat this marvelous meal our aunt made, and worry about the rest later, alright?” Tyler said to her as Aunt Joy brought their lunch for them.

Keeley couldn’t figure them out. People were never this nice to her, like ever. She’d never known such kindness before. Never known what affection was until now. Her parents were always hitting her and talking down to her, but these men and their family were so wonderful to her, and she was a complete stranger to them. She had never been more confused in her life. There has to be a catch.
You’re nobody, Keeley. They want something from you; no one is this nice for nothing.

“Why?” She finally found the courage to ask what she was thinking.

Everyone looked at her slightly confused, not understanding. “What do you mean, why, Butterfly?” Nathaniel asked her. Oh, how she loved that nickname.

“Why are you all being so nice to me? You don’t even know me. People are never this nice without wanting something in return. So I guess my real question should be, why are you being so nice to me and what do you want in return?” Blowing out a much needed breath, she waited. For what she wasn’t sure, yet.

Joy came and sat down beside her, grabbed one of her hands and waited for her to look up, and when she finally did Joy spoke. “I am being nice to you because you are a nice, sweet, young woman whom I suspect has had a pretty shitty life, and I simply want it to get better. And I want to be a part of that better life. Now, what I want from you in exchange for this kindness; which is way too foreign to you for my comfort, by the way…, hmmm.” Keeley held her breath waiting. “What I want from you, is simply for you to be happy. Yes, you have to be happy.” Joy just smiled at her dumbfounded look before kissing her on the cheek and whispering in her ear, “I suspect these boys might have a different answer though.” With a wink at her, and a stern look towards Tyler and Nathaniel, she left them alone once again.

Turning towards the men, she waited for them to talk. Finally, Tyler spoke up. “Darlin’, we’re being nice because it’s what you deserve from everyone you meet. You have done nothing wrong to be treated the way you have been up until now, and I swear if you give me, us, a chance, we’ll prove to you that we can and will take care of you.”

Nathaniel interrupted him and started speaking. “We’ll treat you like the princess that you are. The only thing we want from you is your trust, honesty, happiness, and a chance. We are very attracted to you and want to see where this could lead. So, instead of answering us right now, how about we eat before this food gets cold, yeah?” He squeezed her knee and nudged her towards her plate of what she now realized was one yummy looking, overly large burger and fries, cooked to perfection.

Smiling at them both she said, “I can’t possibly eat all this.”

“Oh, I bet you can Butterfly, give it a go and whatever you can’t eat we’ll take to go, alright?” Nathaniel told her.

Looking at him dubiously, she started with her fries and after the first bite dug in, wholeheartedly. They were the best fries she’d ever had. When she finished those, she looked at the burger thinking she’s not gonna be able to pick it up with her arm hurting so much. Just as she was about to say something, Tyler reached over and cut it in fours so she could grab it with one hand. “Thank you,” Keeley whispered with a small smile, and only feeling slightly embarrassed.

She moaned the minute the burger hit her mouth. She could taste every spice in the meat, the sauce on the bun was fabulous, and there was just enough lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese to make every bite pure perfection. Before she knew it, the meal was gone. Not even realizing she had finished, or that the guys finished before her and had been watching her eat, she felt utterly content and full. She hadn’t felt full in far too long.

“Would y’all like dessert?” Joy asked as she walked in to clear their plates away. “Maybe some coffee, too?” She inquired.

The guys looked at her for an answer. “Yes please, very much. That was the most delicious meal I’ve had in a really long time,” she said shyly.

“Thank you Keeley, it’s always a pleasure to see my food is enjoyed. I’ll be back with coffee and dessert.” Joy winked and left them.

“So about this no home and possibly no job thing, we would like to make you an offer, if you’ll hear us out, please.” Tyler implored.

“Uhm, ok, I’m listening,” she told him.

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