I had some toast for breakfast and guzzled about two litres of water. I also popped a few painkillers to try and ease the massive headache I had. Christ, what a mess I had gotten myself in. I resisted the urge to call Serena or Blake; they didn’t need this shit dumped on them. I would deal with this myself.
My day took another dip in the crappy direction when I walked outside to go to work. Someone had slashed all the tyres on J’s Jeep. Fuck! Not what we needed! I called for a taxi and then called a mechanic to come and organise the replacement of all the tyres. J did not need to know about this; I would sort it out before he ever found out it had been done.
A couple of hours later, I was at work, my boss not even aware that I had left early yesterday. She hadn’t come in this morning, so I was able to get the shop in order so that she never even realised anything was wrong. At last, something was going my way. My headache was starting to ease, so that was another positive to my morning. At this point, I needed to count all the positives, otherwise I would drown in the negatives.
My senses went into overdrive when I heard the rumbling of a bike. Shit. J.
I took a peek outside, and sure enough, it was J. He cut the engine, yanked his helmet off, and strode into the shop.
“Do you care to tell me why there are men changing tyres on my Jeep?” he snapped.
I met his eyes, refusing to bow under his anger. “Oh, go to hell, J. I was trying to do you a favour.”
“I appreciate that, but why didn’t you call me?”
“It’s obviously because of me that they were slashed, so I wanted to pay for the damage.”
He took a deep breath, holding it in. Then he blew it out on a frustrated exhale. “That’s a problem for me,” he stated, his jaw clenching.
Oh, good god. What was his fucking problem now? “Why?” I maintained my calm.
“Babe, we’re together, are we not?”
“Yes, but - ”
“No buts. We’re together. So, when something like that happens, we handle it together.”
My stomach fluttered, and want pooled there. He had stunned me. “Okay,” I half whispered.
“Good,” he said, and then his features softened. “I’ve got a long day today, but I want us to talk tonight.”
I nodded, the fight gone from me. “Yeah, baby.”
He reached out and curved his arm around my waist, pulling me to him. “I love you,” he murmured, and his lips met mine in a hard kiss.
“I love you too,” I said, and then he was gone.
I watched him go, my thoughts and feelings in turmoil. J had not reacted at all how I thought he would. A glimmer of hope peeked out; maybe there was a chance for us after all.
Chapter 24
Madison
J arrived home after ten that night. I had been sleeping on and off, on the couch, waiting for him. He came into the house and headed straight into the bedroom. I waited silently for him to come back out; I had absolutely no idea where tonight’s conversation was headed.
“You’ve had dinner?” he said, as he came back into the lounge room.
“Yeah. I made you some if you haven’t eaten.”
He smiled at me, and I let that settle over me, and wrap itself around my heart. If we were going to get anywhere tonight, I would need to keep a hold of that. I feared we were in for another tense discussion.
“Thanks, baby. I ate with the boys, so I’ll put it in the fridge for tomorrow,” he said, as he went to the kitchen to take care of it.
I got up and followed him; the need to be near him overwhelming. He turned to me when he heard me enter the kitchen behind him. I stepped into his space, and wrapped my arms around him, inhaling his scent and brushing his neck with my lips.
A groan escaped his lips, and his arms encircled me too. He bent to lay a kiss on my head, and then he murmured, “I was so worried about you yesterday, and relieved when I found out you were okay. But babe, you scared the fuck out of me by drinking.”
I pulled away a little bit so that I could look into his eyes. “I’m so sorry. I think I scared myself too, and I’m so ashamed,” I admitted.
He reached his hand out to my chin, and held it gently; tenderly. “Don’t be ashamed. Okay? You need to move past this and that won’t help you. It was a bad day, and yeah, you didn’t handle it the best. But babe, we all have days like that. It’s how you handle it now, and the next time it happens, that counts. And, I need you to know that I am here for you. I want to be the person you turn to when shit gets real. Can you let me be that for you?”
The tears started falling, and I was helpless to stop them. I nodded, struggling to speak. Finally, the words came. “I thought you were going to leave me,” I said, quietly.
Pain flashed in his eyes. “Fuck, babe. No, that thought hadn’t even crossed my mind. Yeah, I was mad as hell at you, but this, what we’ve got here...this is for-fucking-ever. I love you no matter what you do. It’s unconditional for me.”
I sagged against him at those words; that promise. He would never know how much I needed to hear that, right now. “Thank you.”
“We’re going to have a lot more fights. You know that, right?” he said.