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“Shut up,” Stone whispered with no real heat.
“Listen, I’ll see what I can do about getting you out of here early, but you won’t be able to stay at your place by yourself. You’ll need someone to stay with you or maybe he could stay with one of you until he’s back on his feet,” Jolene said to his sisters.
“No fucking way,” Stone growled. There was no way that he’d move in with either of his sisters. They were both newlyweds and having to sit around their house to watch wedded bliss in action wasn’t going to happen.
“Why not?” Lulah asked.
“Because I’m not going to sit around and watch either of my sisters make out with their new husbands. You are both kind of gross when it comes to PDA and all that shit. You really need to learn boundaries when family is around.”
“You know that having family is new to both of us, Stone,” Bobbie reminded, making him feel like an ass for even bringing it up. “We’re all trying to find our way here, and if I’ve done anything to make you feel uncomfortable, I’m sorry.” He hated seeing the insecurity in his sister’s eyes. He had only just found the two of them, and Bobbie was right, they were just getting to know each other. The last thing he ever wanted to do was make either of his sisters feel bad about being happy. They all deserved to find some happiness after what their father did to the three of them and their mothers.
“No, I’m the one who’s sorry, Bobbie. I shouldn’t have said that. You’re right, we are just getting to know each other and you have every right to be happy. I’m just grumpy and pretty set in my ways. I don’t want to leave my house. I have everything already set up for my recovery.”
Jolene barked out her laugh and he looked at her across the room. “That’s complete bullshit,” she accused.
“What the hell do you mean by that?” he asked.
“I mean, your place is disgusting and you could barely take care of yourself,” she insisted. She was really starting to get on his nerves, tattling to his sisters at every turn. He stared Jo down, but she didn’t seem intimidated by him at all.
“The way I see it, you have two choices here, brother,” Lulah said, her hands firmly on her hips as if she was about to give him a lecture. If he wasn’t so pissed off, he’d find the whole scene amusing.
“Oh, and what two choices do I have?” he asked.
“You can either come home with one of us, or you can stay here,” she said. Shit, he didn’t like either of those options.
“Actually, there is another option,” Jolene said. “I could move into his place with him for the next few weeks, and help out. It’s covered under his insurance, and it might help him get on his feet faster. I’ll be there to work on his physical therapy with him and get him up and moving sooner.”
“Oh, that would be great,” Bobbie insisted. He wasn’t seeing anything about this situation as being “great,” but there was no way that he’d contradict his sister. They both seemed to have made up their minds and if he wanted to get out of the hospital anytime soon, he was going to have to concede just a bit. Jo staying with him seemed like a good compromise. Plus, it would be nice to have her there to help him around his place and help get him back to duty sooner.
“What do you say, Stone?” Lulah asked.
“Fine, if that’s the only way that I’ll get to go home sooner, I’ll take Jo’s offer. I have a spare room,” he said.
“Great. I’ll go talk to the doctors and get everything all arranged. I know that they’ll want to keep you here for twenty-four hours so that they can give you your antibiotics through your IV. But after that, I’m thinking that they’ll let me take you back to your place.”
“Twenty-four hours,” he grumbled, “that’s forever.”
“No, it’s not,” Jo said, “and, it will give me time to pack some things and tidy up your place.”
“We really appreciate you doing this. I’m sure that your husband or boyfriend will be upset that you have to stay with Stone for so long,” Lulah said.
“Smooth, sis,” he mumbled. She giggled and Jolene looked between the two of them as though they had lost their minds. He had to agree, both of his sisters were crazy.
“Oh, I’m not married or dating anyone. My brother lives with me right now. He moved in after he caught his girlfriend cheating on him—poor Jacob.”
“That’s awful,” Bobbie said. “You’re a good sister for taking him in.”
“Thanks, but don’t think too highly of me. I’m looking forward to spending some time away from home, so what does that say about me?” she asked.
“You’re still a good sister,” Lulah insisted. “Maybe while you’re away, he’ll find someone else or decide to move out.”
“Fingers crossed,” Jo teased, crossing her fingers. “As for you, I’ll work on getting you out of here as soon as possible. Can I get a key to your place? I’d like to clean up a bit before getting you back home.”
“You’re going to clean my house?” Stone asked. The last thing he wanted was for his hot physical therapist to clean up his pigsty of a house. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I do if you want me to stay there. Plus, I’ll probably rearrange a few things to make it easier for you to get around,” Jo said. He handed her over his keys, knowing that there would be no winning any argument he might have—not with the three of them there to gang up on him.
Jolene took the keys and grabbed her bag. “I’ll be back in a few hours to check on you. Call if you need anything. It was good to meet you both,” she said nodding to his sisters.
