Page 57 of Wicked Love

“And how do you feel, Joe?”

“I’m in love with you. I can’t picture my life without you in it. Permanently. The last few weeks we spent together, they solidified the feeling. My feelings. Grace, I’ll be yours for as long as you’ll have me. I thought I would lose you tonight. Life is too short to not go after what you desire.”

A fresh batch of tears welled in her eyes. “Good, because I’m already yours. Always have been. My heart is yours. And you’re mine, Joe Crawford. All of you.”

Her lips brushed against mine, taking their time.

My entire body vibrated, and I deepened the kiss. This, us, was the only thing that made sense tonight.

Clarissa’s voice acted like a cold shower. "Stop. Both of you. This is disgusting. Joe, remove your filthy mouth from my daughter’s. And I don’t know what drug you two used, but you can't date your sister. It’s illegal. And wrong. For the love of God, please stop kissing. It's troubling. You both need professional help. Philip, say something."

“Dad?”

My father came out of his wife’s shadow and neared me.

“When did you get here?” I asked, noticing the wrinkle etching his forehead. Dad had his concerned face on. The same one he sported back when my mother had been diagnosed with cancer.

“Just about now. Clarissa called me, but I was already in town. How are you doing, son?”

I swallowed the rock stuck in my throat. “I’ll survive.”

“Joe, your hands. How bad?” My dad inspected the bandages.

I was glad he couldn’t see the extent of the damage underneath right now.

“Your hands?” Grace echoed. “Oh no. How have I not noticed them?” She kissed me. “I’m so sorry. I can’t believe you hurt your hands. Are they burned?”

My heart swelled with emotions I wished I did not feel. “Yep.” I cleared my throat. “Palms and fingers.”

Her eyes brimmed with tears, and it fractured my heart as worry painted her face.

“Baby, don’t cry. It’s gonna be okay. Don’t worry about me.”

She nodded, and I prayed I could believe my own words too.

Inside, though, I was coiled tight.

Now that some of the adrenaline had left me, I hurt everywhere. And I feared my hands would never be the same again.

The medication they injected me with couldn’t numb the full intensity of the pain radiating through my fingers and arms. If I could still feel my hands, perhaps the burns weren’t that extensive, and there would be no nerve damage. A guy could only hope.

I focused all my attention on my father. “Not sure which degree. It’s better you can’t see it. It doesn’t look good. I’ll try to not panic until I see the doctors.”

“I’m so sorry,” Grace cried against my side.

“We’ll get you the best care. I swear.” Dad watched the firefighters at work. “Anyone can tell me what happened here?” he asked.

Grace stood upright and wiped her tears. “Mom arrived unannounced, and I refused to talk to her. Joe took it upon himself to deal with her. I heard them going at it outside, and I wanted to put a stop to their fight. When I reached the last step, the Christmas tree fell by the fireplace and caught fire. DH…huh, our kitten…got scared and started running around all over the furniture. He tripped over the bottle of wine on the table. The alcohol dripped to the floor, and soon the table caught fire too. Before I could react, the entire place was burning down. I tried to pull the tree away from the fireplace, but it was too late. Flames surrounded me. I had no way of escaping, so I went back upstairs. Then I remembered DH would be afraid, so I called him until he figured out it was safer for him to come with me than stay downstairs and risk getting burned alive. When I went back up, I couldn’t see a thing. Smoke blinded me. It took me forever to reach the bedroom window, and that’s when I saw Joe on that tree. Coming to my rescue.”

“Enough.” We all turned to face Clarissa. “Everyone is safe, the house is gone, blah blah blah. What I wanna know is why you two were eating each other’s faces just now?”

No one said a word. Grace moved closer to me, her fingers combing my hair back as I lay on that stretcher.

“Philip? Aren’t you gonna say something? After all, it’s your son we’re talking about.”

My father eyed his wife, then shrugged.

“All I'm seeing right now is two young people who have fallen madly in love with each other. I don't see why it should matter. Grace is smart enough to make her own choices. And knowing my son, I’m pretty confident to say he never touched her before she turned eighteen.” My father locked eyes with me. “Please tell me I’m right.”