And now I was one of them.
Chapter21
Paisley
The car ride home from the hospital was silent. Jeremy sulked in the driver’s seat of our SUV, his fingers tapping irritatingly on the steering wheel as the radio played some annoying pop song in the background. I wanted to go home, shower, sleep, wash the day off, and move on like it had never happened. I knew I could be in trouble for disobeying Hansen, and that thought unsettled me more than anything else. I could have been killed, and I could have brought Korbin down with me. It was by a mere stroke of luck both of us were still alive and in one piece.
But being a disappointment to my crew was the worst feeling imaginable, above all else. And furthermore, the worst part was when I thought Korbin and I were about to die. It wasn’t Jeremy I thought of seconds before we fell. It was Hansen.
I sighed and rested my head against the window, wishing we could stop for some painkillers for the ache in my back, but I knew if I brought it up, Jeremy would start bitching again, and I couldn’t bring myself to listen to it. The hospital had offered to fill a prescription for me, but I’d refused, sure that I could handle the pain without them. Apparently, that was easier said than done.
Fuck it. Fuck it all.
Thank God for small favors. Jeremy didn’t say anything more the whole ride back home. He even helped me inside, silent but still brooding, and helped me undress so I could shower under a hot stream of water. I was bruised and sore. My muscles ached from my neck to the bottom of my soles, but not once did I allow a gasp or flinch of pain to escape; I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing that the inevitable had already happened.
After my shower, I pulled on a fluffy bathrobe and went to the kitchen for some wine, but Jeremy was already standing at the counter holding a glass for me. I took it gratefully, the sweet red tingling on the tip of my tongue.
“How are you feeling?” He reached out and touched my cheek. I smiled and leaned my head into his hand. It had been long since he’d been intimate towards me, months since he’d touched me in such a way that wasn’t just because of some marital obligation.
“The shower helped.”
“Good.” Jeremy came around the counter and took me in his arms, pulling me in. Jeremy’s lips rested on my forehead, his hand caressing the back of my head as he trailed a kiss from my nose to my mouth. Our lips met, parting, and he kissed me, sweeping me up in an unyielding kiss for each other, making me yearn for more. I melted into him, inhaling the familiar scent of aftershave mingled with a subtle hint of books, the smell of a college professor.
He grew hard against me, and I reached down and rested my hand on the bulge in his jeans, softly teasing him as he nibbled on my lower lip.
“I love you, Paisley. I want you all to myself. You’re mine.”
I froze, pulling my head back to look at him, eyebrows shooting up in surprise.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“I want you,” he repeated.
“All to yourself? Who do you think you’re sharing me with?”
“Nobody,” he said, but the damage was done. And just like that, my desire for him deflated, and I unraveled myself from his hold.
“What are you insinuating?”
“Let it go, P.” Jeremy stepped away from me and went to the fridge for a beer. I watched him pop the cap off and take a long swallow, eyes on me. He was annoyed again, I could tell, but that was nothing new. I was annoyed, too.
“I don’t think I’m going to,” I said. He stared at me for a moment, eyes searching my face as if trying to decide if this was a fight worth having.
“Fine.” He slammed the bottle down on the countertop. “I’m tired of sharing you with a dozen other guys.”
“Excuse me?”
“The department, Paisley. I saw them all there when I got to the ER; they’re quite a crowd of attractive men. And that one guy, Hansen—your boss; he’s a looker, isn’t he? I mean, no wonder you love your job so much.”
For a moment, I was so shocked at the words coming out of his mouth I couldn’t even react. I stared at him, my mouth slightly open, fists balled and sweaty at my side.
“You’re fucking kidding me, right?”
“Nope.” Jeremy took another drink of beer and wiped his lips with the back of his hand. “I figured that once something like this finally happened, you’d come to your senses and quit. But I guess I was wrong.”
“I can’t even believe what I’m hearing right now.”
“Really? You can’t?” The sarcasm in Jeremy’s voice stung. I wanted to reach out and smack him, shake some sense into him, yell and scream and try to make my voice heard. But I knew it was no use. Nothing had changed; I didn’t think it ever would.
