AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Thanks, Ben.”
“But with the bruise that’s already showing, she’s going to have a nasty shiner tomorrow. So, put a cold compress on the area and pain relievers. And rest. Lots of it.”
“Copy that, doc,” I nodded, and thankfully, Ben didn’t linger. When he stood from the couch and gathered his things, I lay on the soft suede material of the sofa as my eyes drifted shut.
“You give me a call whenever something comes up, okay? And if you want to talk, you’ve got my number.”
“I appreciate it, man.”
“Thank you, Ben,” I called, my body hidden from his sight but I raised a hand and waved. They chuckled.
“See you around, Reagan. Hopefully not in the hospital.” With that, Ben entered the elevator and was off to his family.
Before sleep finally consumed me, I felt Matthew’s hands on my shoulder prying me awake.
“Let’s get you to bed.”
***
When we finally settled in the bed, I noticed in a vague way that Matthew slept with a pair of pajama bottoms on while his chest was bare.
I lay my head on his stomach, my arms outstretched around his torso. And we lay there in complete, comfortable silence, our heartbeats synchronized.
“I don’t think I can face them again, Matthew,” I admitted, breaking the silence. There were no more tears left to cry, and even if there were I had decided not to cry over my family ever again.
“You don’t have to,” he replied, his fingers dancing against the skin of my shoulders. “Not right now, at least.”
“I thought I was going to die when Ryan threw that punch.” My voice shook when I said the word.
“Me, too,” he sighed. “When I saw you fall, Reagan, I thought you’d be another person Ryan was going to steal from me. The world stopped for a moment.”
“I’m not going to leave you, Matthew,” I promised. “I know you wanted things to be purely physical between us—“
“I don’t,” he interrupted. “At least not anymore. When Ryan demanded that you go back home, I thought you were going to say yes. And I thought I wouldn’t have the chance to tell you how I feel about you.”
“What do you feel, Matthew?”
“That you were never just collateral, Reagan. And you never should have been after what I did to Ryan. What I said to you, about how I hated him more than I’ll ever like you, that’s not true either. Because my hatred for Ryan is nothing compared to how much I love you.”
“You love me?” I raised my head from his chest to meet his eyes, and I smirked at his words before leaning my ear against his chest again. A pool of something warm swarmed my belly.
“I do. And I should have noticed it sooner. But when we fought, I realized how I hated not seeing you. Clair said I was sulking. Jesus. I love the way you stand up for your truth, how you didn’t give a shit about what people think of you.”
“When you said those things about my brother when you pissed me off, I told myself that it shouldn’t have bothered me. I shouldn’t care what you thought or how you felt about my family. But I did. And that was when I knew it was something deeper than us just sleeping together.”
“It infuriated me that you were mad at me at that time,” Matthew said, chuckling to himself at the truths we were blabbering out. “And usually, I didn’t give a shit. I spent twenty minutes deciding on what Starbucks coffee you’d like. I almost wanted to call Ryan and ask. But I asked the person behind the counter instead.”
“Twenty minutes?” I gasped, laughing, imagining Matthew staring at the menu board wondering what I wanted. And it made me giggle just thinking that he thought of me while he waited in line. “I’m not picky about Starbucks, you know. But don’t worry, I’m growing on the one you get.”
“How about let’s never fight again over something so stupid?”
“Let’s never fight again. Period. And never leave me, okay?”
“What about the staff?” I asked.
“What about the staff?” he countered.
“Well, I’m sure they heard about what happened tonight. And you surprised Clair when you told them I was your fiancée. I should probably return this–”
