“Yes,” he said simply, and let Jordyn hook his arm around her shoulders while Jamie did the same on the other side.
“Thanks, Jordyn,” Jamie told her as they led Steve towards the stairs. “What about his shirt?” he asked, looking over his shoulder where it lay on the asphalt when they started to climb.
“Don’t worry about it. I still have a few extras upstairs,” she told him, her eyes moving slowly over Steve’s well-muscled form before she fixed her eyes ahead of herself. She swallowed hard and looked at the steps. She was still mad at him, but holy hell, he had her name tattooed on him now, and it was hard not to look, even trying to navigate three flights of stairs. Not to mention her judgement really wasn’t the best this early in the morning. A shirtless Steve was just adding to her earlier confusion at Alex’s change of personality.
That had been a trick, though. He’d shown her his truth when he tried to get her to come back to him in the parking lot. This wasn’t a trick, of course. But it was confusing all the same.
“I love you,” Steve blurted out, completely catching Jordyn by surprise when they got to her door. She turned toward him, wide-eyed, to see him looking at her with a smile. “I love you,” he said again, reaching out toward her and tangling a hand in her hair before he sagged against the wall.
Jordyn swallowed hard and moved to unlock the door. “Steve...” she sighed, biting her lip, but Steve was already talking again. She opened the door and walked inside, Steve talking and walking in behind her.
“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” Steve was saying, talking to Jamie. “And smart; do you know how smart she is? Always figuring things out. I bet she could have set a VCR clock if she wanted. Hey, does anyone still use VCRs?” he asked as he weaved into her apartment. “She’s nice, so nice, and she cares...about everyone.” His voice was getting less focused as he moved into the living room with Jamie’s help. “She took me home to meet her parents.”
“I know, buddy,” Jamie replied. “I know.” He eased Steve onto the couch. With a sigh, Steve fell back onto it. “I love her. She’s my home,” he said, drawing a pillow to his chest. “She’s my home.” He turned onto his side, his eyes closing. “Fucking car crash.”
The last of the words were softly uttered, more of a slur than anything, but Jordyn heard them all the same.
“What?” Jordyn asked, her eyes moving to Jamie, but Steve interrupted whatever Jamie was about to say. His voice was soft, and Jordyn knew he was almost asleep. “Mom, Dad, Abby, all gone. Gone. No home.”
“Shit,” Jamie groaned, tossing one of the throws Jordyn kept stacked in the living room on top of Steve. “Hey, Stevie boy. It’s okay.”
“No home, except for Jordyn. My girl....” Steve’s voice trailed off, and then he relaxed, and Jordyn saw that he was asleep.
“Jamie?” she asked, seeing the pained look on the other man’s face. “What did Steve mean about a crash?”
“I want to tell you, Jordyn.” He crossed his arms, looking down at Steve. “But it isn’t my story to tell. It’s Steve’s, and he should be the one to tell you. I know he will. Probably in the morning.”
“Okay.” She nodded, motioning toward the other couch. “Do you need anything?”
He stretched his arms over his head and looked at the couch. “Naw, I’m good. Are you okay with Steve sleeping it off here? I can stay and get him out of here in the morning,” he said, moving to take a seat on the couch.
Jordyn opened her mouth to say ‘no’, but she stopped because the question of the crash still hung in the air. She wanted to know what Steve had been talking about and Jamie said he would tell her in the morning. Would he do that if Jamie were here waiting to take him home?
Maybe. Maybe not.
“No, no, um, he can stay, it’s okay,” she told him, not willing to take the chance. She gave him a reassuring smile and clasped her hands in front of her. “Uh, you can go on home, too.”
“Are you sure?” Jamie asked with a raised eyebrow. “I’m fine staying the night.”
“Yeah, it’s okay. I think Steve and I have a lot to talk about, you know, alone.”
“All right, just text me if you need me to come back,” Jamie said as she walked him to the door.
“You got it,” she assured him and was surprised when Jamie winked at her and kissed her cheek.
“Go easy on him, yeah? He really does love you,” he told her, stepping out of her apartment.
“I know,” she said, her heart pounding fast because she knew it was true. No one’s best friend told someone this kind of information without it being true. “I will,” she told him, “you know, go easy on him.”
When Jordyn turned and walked back into the darkened apartment, she flicked on a lamp in the living room and stood, watching Steve sleep. The pillow he had grabbed earlier was still in his arms. With a sigh, she slumped down into the loveseat across from Steve and watched him. She’d missed having him close by, and even though he was passed out, she didn’t want to leave the room.
“I am being such a creep right now,” she murmured, but she didn’t care. She pulled her legs up under her, settling back into the couch. She’d missed him. She loved him. He loved her. If that meant her being a little creepy at having him back and watching him sleep, then she was going to do it with no regrets.
She smiled, leaning her chin against her hand. He was just as beautiful as she remembered. She almost laughed, thinking back to the ridiculous scene he had made standing on Jamie’s car, how she had gone sliding out of Alex’s car window, and him practically stripping in the parking lot.
They were a mess.
Shaking her head, she pulled the blanket beside her over her legs and leaned her head against the arm of the loveseat. She wanted to be there when he woke up, but she also felt exhausted from the day’s work. If she just took a quick nap, she was convinced that she would be able to do exactly what she wanted, so she rested her head on the loveseat’s arm and closed her eyes, fully intending to wake up again in fifteen minutes. But she didn’t just sleep for fifteen minutes or even twenty-five minutes. She slept well into the next morning, and when she awoke, she was in her bed with a body curled around hers.
