AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Playing nice guy until he can slide in. Maybe he has slid in? Maybe she’s experimented with him. Maybe they're fucking on the low. In the back room with the massage table. I bet he puts her up there when no one's looking, locks the door, gets her down into nothing but her cute little sports bra and spreads those thighs.
“This must have really hurt you today,” she whispers, breaking my imaginative thought process, looking up at me, not even hearing Jaden behind her. “You need to get those anti-inflammatories on board.”
It's then I realize I've been grinding my teeth together because of my little daydream.
“Dyl!” Jaden leans out of the office, holding the door frame, looking frantic.
He's jealous of our closeness. Clearly trying to use the old phone call excuse to get her away from me. I see it and find it hilarious. Of course I’m threatening to a guy like him. I’m Lake Decker and he’s Jaden, the runner-up physiotherapist.
“The phone’s for you. It's urgent.”
Urgent my ass. Who gets an urgent call at nine in the morning while working with a football star?Formerfootball star.
She rushes toward Jaden, looking panicked, and brushes past him abruptly. It's almost as if she knows what's on the other end of that call before she picks up the receiver.
7
Dylan
“MissCrawford,he'sdoingit again.” Maureen's annoyed tone floods my ear, and the desire to dent her face is overwhelmingly high.
Shit.I knew what it was the minute I received a call at work. Sisterly instinct, perhaps?
“Well, where is he? Can I talk to him?!” I ask, feigning hysteria. “Try giving him the phone!”
“He's rocking in the corner of the staff room with his hands over his ears.”
God dammit.He's having a meltdown.
“Well, what happened?! What set him off?”
“Miss Crawford, I'm not a psychologist. Or a Doctor. I'm a sales clerk getting paid minimum wage at the local Piggly Wiggly. All I know is to call you.” Her agitated voice is setting me off.
I huff. “I'll be right there.”
I'm a professional. Yes. I am. But this is out of my control. No one else can or would handle this for me. This situation is precisely why I'm his primary caregiver. It's only us. He only has me.
I hang up the phone in the office and reluctantly peer at Jaden, who's still standing in the corner. He's tipping his head, his face sympathetic, insinuating he heard everything.
“Please Jaden. I'll give you my signed Giannis Antetokounmpo hat, or my 2013 Golden State Warriors Finals Championship signed basketball, whatever you want…”
He chuckles, pushing off the wall to approach me. “Stop. Go get him. I'll help Mr. Hotshit finish up.”
I sigh. “Thank you.” Wrapping my arms around his neck, I lean up on my toes, giving him a big hug before grabbing my bag from the locker. “Thank you so much. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.”
I feel guilty. I feel unprofessional. I feel shitty, leaving everyone at the drop of a hat. It's just not a good feeling. But Colin needs me, and I won't let them separate us ever again.
“Don't apologize, Dyl. Shit happens. Just please drive carefully. I know how you get when you're anxious.”
He's referring to the last time I burst out of here for my brother. The time Colin's bus dropped him off at the wrong stop. I was hysterical when he called me saying he was walking along the highway, lost, and didn't know his way to the apartment. So hysterical, I ended up rear-ending a car on the way there. Good times.
I swing my backpack over my shoulder, slipping into my street shoes as I hop out of the office. My eyes connect with Lake's immediately. He's just sitting there on the weightlifting bench, staring at me as if he already knows I’m copping out of the session.
It's not like that. It's not like that at all, but I can't explain that to him.
“Uh...I'm so sorry. I don't normally do this, but…” I nervously brush some of my wild hair off my forehead as I approach him with my keys in hand. “I-I need to go. Jaden is going to finish up with you today.”
His face is blank, but his eyes are questioning me. I feel him mentally processing my sudden departure. I'm being cloaked in his disapproval and the feeling sucks.
