“What do you mean by ‘our’ house?” she interrupted with a raised brow.
“Now isn’t the time. Stop playing games. I don’t have the time or energy right now.”
Her lips trembled, new tears creating a trail down her face. It pierced my heart to see her broken. Once the light of my life, she seemed to be just as shattered as I was. On top of that, I’d just made it worse with my tone.
When she finished protesting, I carefully scooped her up, holding her tightly against my chest. Her weak hands pounded lightly on my chest, twisting to get out of my hold. Any other time, it would have been funny.
With a small gasp of pain, she shimmied into the front seat of my truck and put the seatbelt on carefully.
“I’m going to stop and get some pain meds for you. Then we can get you home. Do I need to worry about you running off when I am inside?”
“No, I’m too tired. Ask me tomorrow.”
I chuckled, waiting for the next smart ass remark, but it never came. She used to have them lined up in the arsenal. Now, the silence strangled me.
“Sam, what are you trying to do?”
“Trying to have a conversation. I dunno. Maybe break the ice a little, I guess,” I replied, starting up the engine and reversing out of the area. “Stop your head from gushing blood. Any of the three in no particular order.”
“Stop trying.”
The defeat in her tone was evident, and my shoulders deflated, staring straight ahead, and driving silently until the pharmacy came into view. She could ask me a million times, and I would never stop. It was deserved, and she had every right to be furious.
Tonight was about getting her back in a warm bed, though, safe and out of the cold. If that meant I wouldn’t say another word to her until she was ready, I wouldn’t.
This was going to be harder than I thought.
Chapter 4
LUCY
The aspirin must’ve worked pretty damn well if I was out as soon as I’d hit the pillow. It was morning now, and the sun was bright against the half-closed blinds that faced the bed.
Once the adrenaline wore off last night, my body turned to jello, and I had no fight left in me. All I knew was that Sam was home, and I had to fight the urge to throw my arms around him and sob. I wanted to, but how would that make me look? I’d just left Jack. It was almost too calculated, and the town was small. Were there whispers that Sam had been home?
I still couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that he thought it was a good idea not only to come pick me up, but allow that to be the first time we had seen each other in years.
I needed to find out how long he’d been home, and why he hadn’t come to explain why he fucked me and disappeared the next day like I meant nothing.
Should I even care?
It was a stupid yet realistic question. He looked the same as the last time I saw him. The only difference was that his arms were bigger, and the veins bulged every time he flexed his muscles. His hair was still short, and he had thick facial hair versus the growing stubble I’d grown to know. Most importantly,he was quiet. We’d only had that one conversation where I was a bit harsh, but the whiplash of seeing him again, coupled with the stress of the crash, had completely knocked me off my feet. I wasn’t myself, and maybe he deserved an apology.
Peeling the covers back from my body, I gasped at the sight. Deep purple welts coated my legs, and my ripped-up hands had clean bandages.
My head.
That was cleaned up, too, with a soft cotton pad and medical-grade tape over it. Guilt riddled my chest. He took care of me last night, and I had told him to stop trying. When my feet hit the floor, my body threatened to fall, my legs unsteady beneath me. After a few tries, though, I was out the door and heading down the stairs. As I approached the kitchen, a low sizzle could be heard among laughter and the sound of flesh on flesh.
A small smile spread across my face as the pair came into view. They acted like they didn’t have a care in the world, but it was Marco with the scorching laughter, pouring coffee into three cups that sat neatly lined up on the counter. I wondered if my brother had ever noticed the way Sam tensed when he was touched, or that he’d been zoned out, staring at something out the window as he meticulously scrubbed at a plate.
Our eyes met when he looked up from the dishes. Sam smiled, but it didn’t reach the eyes that were locked on my form.
All the hidden feelings I’d harbored came crashing to the surface, and I needed to come clean about them if we were all going to stay here, inhabiting the place together.
Back in college, Sam was one of the most popular guys. He’d had it all, and everybody had wanted to be him. Captain of the basketball team, amazing grades, and a best friend who would take a bullet for him.
Then there was me.
