“I can’t believe you said that. I was sure you’d be calling for his balls on a silver platter.”
“And those are words no man wants to come home to,” Jed says with a grin as he comes in from work and bends down to kiss his fiancée.
“Just saying,” my friend says in her own defence before leaping up to follow her fiancé upstairs. “Two minutes.”
I know she is upstairs filling Jed in on the reason for my presence and to make sure he’s okay with me being here, invading their space. Sarah has a spare key to my flat so there is no reason why I can’t go home, but I am scared to, scared of being on my own tonight which makes me really pathetic I know. Except the bigger problem is I am more scared that Mason will turn up, but why would he do that, to silence me, or seduce me?
Sarah is back in probably only five minutes wearing a huge grin.
“Jed’s in the shower,” she explains. “Do you want to stay over tonight, get those painkillers out of your system and let me look after you?”
Relief washes over me just before tears. “Please, I just don’t want to be alone, sorry,” I say with a few more tears.
“No problem. Why don’t I go to yours and grab some overnight things?”
“Thanks.” I smile.
“Hey, this is not as selfless as it might seem, you get to prepare bolognaise while I’m gone.” She grins, hugging me before she leaves.
I am in the kitchen preparing the bolognaise when Jed appears looking as striking as ever in a pair of figure hugging dark blue jeans and a stark white t-shirt. Jed is a little taller than Sarah, but about four times as wide and has several tattoos that make him look hard, but the truth is that he is quite possibly the gentlest man I have ever known.
“You okay there, Olive Oil?” he asks using his own pet name for me that I used to hate but now I know it’s used with affection I have embraced it.
“You do know that I am as far removed from Olive Oil as any woman could be, don’t you? You know with all this arse and these boobs?” I prod my own behind and boobs.
“Very nice too.” He grins and reaches over me to grab a handful of parmesan cheese I’ve just grated.
I smack his arm with my bad hand and wince.
“What the fuck have you done?” He spins me around to examine the damage.
I feel embarrassed to be explaining this to Jed, to anyone other than Sarah, having to admit that I punched someone in anger.
“I may have punched someone, a man, the one I met the other night, who is now kind of paying my wages.”
Jed’s eyes widen until they’re like saucers. “No way! Why? Did he do something because if he did, I will punch him for you?”
He really is like the big brother I wish I’d had. I wish I still had.
“Something?”
“Like force himself on you?” He sounds traumatised for me.
“No. I am ashamed to say I had already shagged him,” I admit, embarrassed again.
Jed opens and closes his mouth several times before settling with shut and no words.
“Yeah, I know, shocker. I was shocked anyway. But he was a bit of knob suggesting that I was a slapper for shagging him and then became smug and arrogant, so I punched him. It really, really hurt.”
“It looks like it did.” He frowns. “Let me get you some ice and then you should rest it, I’ll finish off,” he offers gesturing to dinner.
“Thanks, oh and I may have hurt it a second time when I pushed the palm of my hand into the solar plexus of a security guard.”
Again, Jed is speechless.
“Long story.” I accept the ice pack Jed gives me wrapped in a cloth.
Chapter 7
