He gestured me to get into the truck. “You’re not going to work. We’re going to the doctor.”
I stared at that handsome face, taking in the fact that he wasn’t trying to avert his eyes or be sneaky or anything like that. He was being serious. “But I don’t need to go to the doctor,” I told him carefully.
“You’re not going to work. Worthless can handle whatever needs to be done.” He motioned inside the truck again. “Let’s go.”
Worthless? Is that what he was referring to Jason as? Because if it was, I could be all about that. Instead of picking at his nickname though, I didn’t move, and he noticed.
And when he noticed, he frowned. “Why you being stubborn? You’re hurting. You were in a wreck—”
“So were you.”
That frown didn’t go anywhere. “I’m not in pain,” he claimed before gesturing toward the inside of the truck once more. “Go to the damn doctor and have them check you out. You could have some other issue later on, and the car insurance won’t cover it if you don’t have a record that you weren’t feeling good from the start,” he explained.
He had a point.
But I knew there was nothing actually wrong with me.
One of those hands went up to his head and he smoothed it over the curve of his skull before letting out a deep breath and saying, calmly, “Get in. Cooper made an appointment for you yesterday for eight in the morning today.”
Mr. Cooper had done that?
I didn’t even need to think about it then. If Mr. Cooper wanted me to go, then… that made this whole thing different. He was only trying to get me to go because he cared about me.
I would have traded anything to have a father who cared about me when I’d been younger. I’d take it now.
“Fine,” I agreed, trying not to sound all put out about it, because I wasn’t, especially now that I knew the entire story. Plus, the only reason I hadn’t gone yesterday was because Jason had almost screwed up, and I didn’t trust leaving him alone. He really was like a little kid I constantly had to babysit, except he wasn’t cute, curious or had the excuse of being a kid.
If he was feeling smug about it, Rip didn’t say anything. What he did do was point at the inside of the truck.
I pointed too, just to give him a hard time. “Give me a boost?”
I didn’t miss his cheek twitching. I also didn’t miss his response, because there wasn’t one. All he did was lower my bag to the ground, come right up behind me, and just straight-up lift me like he had the day before until I could reach the running boards. I got in and watched him put my things on the floor by my feet before going around to the other side and getting in too.
We had barely gotten out of the driveway when Rip asked, “You’re not pissed?”
I glanced at him, taking in the thick ink I could see along the side of his neck that almost looked like… flames? Huh. “What would I be pissed over?”
“The appointment.”
I was pretty sure those were definitely a skull and flames. Kind of artsy looking flames but flames. “No. I would never get mad over someone worrying about me.” The words were barely out of my mouth when I realized how pathetic they sounded.
Oh well.
“You’re sure you don’t need to get checked out just to be on the safe side?” I asked him, just to mess with him.
His snicker wasn’t a surprise at all. “No.”
“You’re sure?”
“I’m sure,” he insisted, the tiniest trace of amusement in his tone.
I smiled only because I knew he wouldn’t see it. “I can call and make an appointment for you if you want,” I kept going.
“Anybody ever told you that you’re a pain in the ass?” he asked, as he kept his attention forward on the drive.
I smirked just as my phone vibrated from my lap. There was a message from my little sister Lily.
Lily:Morning. Got a breakfast shift today. Miss you so much.
