“Okay.” He reached down, threading his fingers through mine carefully. He brushed his lips over the bruised, achy skin. “It was most definitely a lie.”
A small laugh broke free. “That’s the kind of lie I don’t mind.”
“It’s a tasty lie, huh?” When I nodded, the tension in his shoulders started to ease away, but then I yawned and he stiffened. “You need to sleep.”
Between the pain meds and everything, the allure of sleep was too strong to deny, but I didn’t want to say good-bye to him. I glanced down at our joined hands, to his pinkie that was slightly stained with pink. “Will . . . will you stay with me? As long as they let you?”
His eyes lightened to a silvery gray as his lips tipped up in a lopsided smile. “Baby, I’m all yours if you want me to be.”
Those words seemed to be heavy with meaning, and I felt my chest spasm. “I do.”
Bowing his head, he kissed the center of my hand and then let go. He stood with a fluid grace I envied and walked to the curtain. As he pulled it closed, he glanced over his shoulder and winked at me with a playful grin.
Jase helped me scoot over and then climbed in beside me, his long body barely fitting the bed. The two of us together made it crowded, but I didn’t care. He turned onto his side, so that his head was close to mine.
Like he was dealing with fragile china, he was careful when he laid his hand over my stomach. “Comfortable?”
Despite the dull aches and the fact I was lying in a hospital bed, I was more comfortable than I’d ever been. “Yes.”
“Good.” His eyes met mine and held them with warm intensity that felt a lot like love. “They’d have to pry me out of this damn bed. I’m not going anywhere.”
Thirty
The doctors released me the following afternoon with a prescription of pain meds in case I got any headaches or if the pain became too much, but after sleeping almost the entire night curled up against Jase in the narrow bed, my body felt surprisingly better than the day before. Sure, there were some aches and I was moving at the speed of a three-legged turtle, but I was okay.
I was better than okay. I was alive.
Mom and Dad looked like they wanted to cart me off home as I stepped out into the cold, but I wasn’t going home with them when they left their hotel room later in the week. I was going back to my apartment.
Jase waited patiently by his Jeep, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his jeans as he leaned against the door.
“Honey, I really don’t want to leave you right now.”
I turned to Mom, giving her a hug. “I’m okay. Really. I just want to go back to my place and chill out.”
“With him?” Dad grumbled, eyeing the guy that he’d always welcomed into his home without a single thought.
I sighed. “Yes, with him.”
“Is he your boyfriend now or something?” he asked, and I had no idea how to answer that question, because I wasn’t sure where we were, which did not go unnoticed by my father. A thoughtful look crept across his face. The kind of look bad things sprouted from. “Maybe I need to talk to him again.”
“No,” I said quickly. “You do not need to talk to him. At all.”
Dad looked like he was about to disagree, but Mom placed her hand on his back. “Call us later, okay? Just to check in.”
“I will.” I figured I’d probably only have a couple of hours at the apartment before Cam swung by to check in. I would be facing a lot of impromptu check-ins for a while.
After another round of hugs and tears, they let me go and I joined Jase. He pushed off the Jeep and opened the door for me. “I think your father looks like he wants to take me hunting.” He took hold of my elbow, hoisting me up. “Like a special, scary hunting trip where I’m the game.”
I giggled. “You know, you’re probably not too far off with that assessment.”
“Great.” He closed the door and jogged around the front. Climbing in, he shot me a look. “Your dad used to love me.”
That much was true. “That’s before he suspected there was something between us.”
“Something between us?” he murmured thoughtfully, and I tensed. He didn’t speak again until he pulled out of the hospital parking lot. “There’s definitely something between us.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that, because what I wanted between us was something he’d been unwilling to deal with a few weeks ago, but then there was yesterday and what he’d said before he climbed into bed with me.
Jase reached over, taking my hand, and we didn’t speak on the way back to the apartment. There was something soothing in the silence, and I took the time to gather my thoughts.
He found a parking spot close to the entrance in University Heights, limiting the time in the brisk, cold air since I was sorely underdressed. Cam’s truck was in the lot and as we reached the landing to our level, I could hear Avery’s laughter coming from inside her apartment.
“Do you think he’ll propose soon?” I whispered.