His Choice - Rafe Cameron

9. He Needs Help

Rafe drives off to the side of the road and continues down the dirt road towards the house. He pulls up beside the house and keeps the engine running. 

"You got a first aid kit?"

"I'm sure there's one laying around." At times, JJ has had to stitch up his own wounds from Uncle Luke so I am almost certain that he has medical supplies in the house. 

"You'll need to get some medical tape and tape one band around the top here-" he pinches my two end fingers together in the upper quarter. "And then here." He slides his fingers down mine and pinches again near the spot where you'd place a ring. "Does it hurt when I do that?"

I nod my head. "It kills."

"Then why didn't you say anything?"

"Because you told me to be strong." I say in a manly voice, trying to impersonate him from earlier. 

Rafe laughs at me and shakes his head. He really is beautiful when he laughs. I find myself captivated by the way his eyes close and almost all of his top row of teeth are on display when he genuinely laughs. Especially the way small creases form in his cheeks. I think this is the first time I have seen him truly laugh without sarcasm. 

The smile on his face doesn't last long, because before I know it, it is replaced by a serious expression. 

"Go on, get out before one of the Pogues pop one of my tyres from being in their territory."

"Are you scared?"

He stares at me with a dead pan look. "Scarlett Maybank, when am I ever scared?"

I refrain from saying whenever you're in your father's presence. 

I reach out and place my hand on his arm. "Thank you for clicking my finger back into place. I appreciate your help, Rafe." Nobody else helped me and if it wasn't for him, then there's a high chance that my finger would still be dislocated until somebody got ahold of JJ. 

His head drops down to look at my hand on his arm before slowly looking back up at me. "Yeah, well you owe me now. Don't forget that."

I remove my hand from his arm and reach for the door handle. I jump out of the car and purposely slam the door shut behind me. Despite the windows having a dark tint, I can still slightly see inside the car and I can see Rafe shaking his head at me. When he sees me watching him, he throws his arms up at me. I laugh in response and head inside. 

I keep my eyes focused on the ground while I step up the stairs. That's when I notice a pair of feet waiting on the top step. I look up at JJ who is leaning against the timber railing with a toothpick between his lips. 

"Rafe Cameron gives you a ride twice in one week."

"Well you should be happy that he's not giving me a different kind of ride." I step past him, but he circles his hand around my arm. I stop walking and turn to face him. He lets go of my arm and pulls out the toothpick from his mouth. 

"Promise me you will never say anything like that to me ever again."

I laugh at him. "Come on JJ, you should have seen that one coming from a mile away." 

JJ smiles at me and opens his mouth to say something, but he closes his lips and his smile falters. "What happened to your hand?" He reaches for my hand but I hold it behind my back. That's when JJ tilts his head to the side and then pushes back my hair. He stares at the graze on the side of my forehead. "And your head?"

"I took a dive while playing touch football. It's no big deal."

JJ snaps the toothpick in half with a simple flick of his fingers and drops it onto the floor. "Did he do that to you?"