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Glancing back up, Ryn was staring at me. Tears began to fill her eyes as she started chewing on her bottom lip. “Yeah. Yeah you were.”
The nurse behind me giggled.
The ache in my chest grew more as I stared into her eyes. “I promise to make it up to you, baby.” Giving Ryn a small smile, I kissed her quickly on the lips, stepped away and shut the door.
“You understood all the discharge instructions?”
I nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll make sure she follows through with all of it.”
Giving me a wink, she said, “Good luck. We all got an earful about you from Ryn.”
Rolling my eyes, I turned and headed to the driver’s side of my truck. My heart was breaking for Ryn, but at the same time, I was overjoyed that I would get to take care of her for a few days and there was nothing she could do about it. If there was one thing I knew about Ryn, she didn’t do well with pain. Any kind of pain.
I had hardly slept at all last night. After getting back to my house, I carried Ryn to the master bedroom that was downstairs. I stripped her of her clothes and put one of my T-shirts on her. Tucking her in, I made my way back to the living room to sleep on one of the sofas.
I heard something fall in the kitchen. Then I heard, “Shit,” coming from Ryn, and quickly sat up. Reaching for my shirt, I slipped it over my head and walked toward the kitchen. Ryn was attempting to make breakfast. When she turned and saw me, I had to suck in a breath. Tears were rolling down her face.
I quickly walked up to her and placed my hands on the sides of her face. “Ryn, did you hurt yourself?”
She slowly shook her head. “No.”
“What’s wrong?” I asked as I wiped her tears away.
“I’m starving, I have a terrible hangover and . . . and . . . I don’t know where you put my pain medicine.”
Reaching down, I lifted her up into my arms. Ryn wrapped her arms around me and buried her face. “I feel like such a baby.”
“No, you’ve had a lot happen in the last twelve hours, sweetheart.” Sitting her down, I covered her up with the blanket I used last night. “Let me go get your pain meds and some ice.”
Walking into the master bedroom, I grabbed the pills that I had set on the side table last night. Ryn must have forgotten I told her they were there. When I walked back into the living room, Ryn had the blanket up to her nose, inhaling its smell. Smiling, I felt a bit of hope that Ryn had missed me as much as I missed her. I found myself smelling her shirt last night as I held it and watched her sleep.
I started walking back into the living room. “I had them next to the bed.”
Ryn quickly dropped the blanket and looked at me. Her smile about dropped me to the floor. Reaching out she took the pills from me. “Let me go get you some water.”
Turning, I attempted to calm my heartbeat and get my breathing settled. Knowing that Ryn was in pain was tearing me apart. I’d give anything to take her pain away. Anything.
Grabbing a towel, I opened the freezer and took out some ice. Wrapping it in the towel, I took a bottled water out of the refrigerator. I assessed what food I had. Biscuits, jelly, some fruit.
Shit. I needed to get her some real food. Setting the towel and water down, I rubbed my hands up and down my face. Reaching for the phone, I hit speed dial one as I grabbed the towel and water and walked back toward the living room.
The pain on Ryn’s face made my heart hurt. Handing her the bottled water, I sat on the coffee table.
“Hi, I’d like to place a to go order for delivery. Yes. Two egg, bacon, cheese, and potato breakfast tacos. Can you make sure the bacon is in strips and not cut up? Great.”
Ryn looked at me and smiled. Giving her my panty-melting smile back, I winked. Her mouth opened slightly and she quickly licked her lips before looking away.
“Then we’ll take two carne asada tacos, a Dr. Pepper and a root beer. Oh, and make sure you send green sauce with that please.”
After giving the girl over the phone my address, I hung up and set the phone next to me. “I have some peaches. Do you want me to cut one up for you?”
Ryn began chewing on her lower lip. “Tristan, you don’t have to be doing this.”
Pulling my head back in surprise, I looked at her. “Doing what?”
Her eyes looked away from me. “Taking care of me. I’m sure I’ll be fine in a few days. I’m just glad I didn’t break my ankle.”
Smiling, I reached for her hand. It wasn’t lost on me how her whole body shuddered. “Ryn, I want to take care of you.” Grinning, I squeezed her hand. She gave me a shy grin back. We sat there and stared at each other until the sound of her cell phone snapped us out of the trance.
“Where’s my purse?”
Standing, I walked over to the dining room table and grabbed her purse. Handing it back to her, she quickly dug around and pulled out her phone.
Clearing her throat she said, “Hello?”
I motioned that I was going to take a shower and then turned and headed to the stairs.
Halfway up, I heard her say, “Hey, Dodge, no everything is fine. I’m sorry I didn’t get back in touch yesterday.”
Knowing she was talking to that fucker had me balling up my fists. I’d like to pound his face into the ground. I slowly made my way up the stairs but stopped at the top. Ryn had lowered her voice some.
“Honestly, I’m perfectly fine. I just need some time like I said. I have a lot to . . . think about it. Yes. No! No, I don’t think you should try and come back down here. I may actually leave earlier.”
I smiled hearing her tell him not to come back down, but then that smile quickly vanished when she said she might be leaving early. Fuck. How can I convince her to stay and how do I convince her to stay here with me?
“Take care of the club, Dodge. I’ll be fine. I’ve got some work I need to catch up on so I’m going to take advantage of the peace and quiet and catch up on some emails and things.”
I started to turn to head to my room. Ryn laughed, but still kept her voice down. “No, I’m going to just enjoy sitting on the deck, maybe go for a run.”
A run? How in the hell does she think she is going to run with a . . .
Then it hit me. She wasn’t telling him she was hurt. Grinning from ear to ear, I made my way to the shower. Operation: Win Ryn Back had officially begun.
WHEN DODGE MENTIONED HEADING BACK to South Padre, I had to control myself. I about yelled out no in my panicked state. I definitely didn’t want him knowing I sprained my ankle. He would have dropped everything to come back down and that was the last thing I wanted. Not when I was sitting in the middle of Tristan’s living room and he was giving me one hundred percent of his attention.
Dodge was on the other end of the phone talking to someone at his club. “Just leave the delivery at the back door; I’ll take care of it.”
Closing my eyes, I did the one thing I wasn’t totally sure I should be doing. “Dodge, we’ll talk when I get back to Austin. Right now I just need some time to clear my head.”
“Ryn, baby, you know I care about you. If you want to take this relationship further, I’m totally in all the way.”
Letting out a breath, I whispered, “I know. I’m just not sure where I see us going.”
Silence. “Ryn, I’m falling for you. You have to see that.”
Dropping my head back against the sofa, I shook it slowly. Fuck me. Why do I have the wrong guy wanting to make a future together? “I do. I just don’t want to rush into something because I’m trying to forget someone else. I like being with you, Dodge, it’s fun and there are no expectations. Can we just keep it like that at least until after the holidays?” Hearing his frustration over the phone, he whispered, “Yeah,
baby. I’ll talk to you when you get back.”
“Okay, talk to you soon.”
Hanging up I felt a bit of pressure removed. Dodge was just supposed to be my rebound fuck buddy. Then it changed to just my fuck buddy. I liked it that way. I had no expectations of him having to romance me. We were just having fun. I had to admit I enjoyed his company, but he didn’t make me feel alive like Tristan did. His touch didn’t cause my stomach to drop. His smile didn’t melt my insides completely.
Turning, I glanced toward the stairs. Tristan could be unbelievably sweet when he wanted to. I’d never let him know I heard him talking to me last night when he came in to check on me. Tristan whispered how he wished he could take the pain away and I almost called out to him when he began to leave.
Looking straight ahead, I admitted to myself what I had been so desperately trying to push away.
I was still in love with Tristan and I didn’t want to get over him.
Ugh. I wanted him so damn much. It was all I dreamt about.
Even after him admitting he had slept with Sierra, I still wanted him. I was beginning to think I would forever want Tristan Williams. Not only did I want him in my bed, but I also wanted him in my heart.
What in the hell is that smell?
Looking around, I lifted my shirt I had slipped back on this morning. Pulling my head back quickly, I gagged.
“Ohmygod . . . I stink like a bar!” I needed to take a shower. I not only smelled like a bar, but I never took a shower after I went for my run yesterday morning.
Instantly feeling yucky, I went to stand. The pain medicine they had me on was strong and I felt dizzy. Attempting to move, I made it nowhere.
Shit. Did the hospital give me crutches?
Then the doorbell rang. I remembered the tacos Tristan had ordered and my stomach growled. Running down the stairs in nothing but sleeping pants, Tristan called out, “Don’t move, Ryn! I’ve got it.”
Standing there with my mouth hanging open, I reached up to make sure I wasn’t drooling. Tristan stood at the door dressed in nothing but a pair of cotton pants that hung on his hips, so low I was sure one small move and I’d see his ass. His back muscles flexed as he moved and I let out a soft moan.
