“Agatha’s going to be here in a minute,” he went on like I knew who Agatha was, much less why her being here had anything to do with me.
I made sure my voice was nice and even and not at all strained with a mix of frustration and hurt as I told him, “I don’t know who that is.”
“Robert’s wife.”
That still meant nothing to me.
“She’s a doctor. She’s going to check you out.”
I learned in that moment just how petty I was. I guess I hadn’t been in enough situations in lifetobe hurt or hold a grudge. I guess, just like how I’d thought the Trinity were above basic human shit like bad moods and dislike, I thought I would be the same. That I could be the better person when it always mattered.
I wasn’t.
I wanted to tell him I didn’t need him to do anything for me.
If I flipped him off while I did it, even better.
But I also instantly realized that as petty as I might be, I was more reasonable than that. I didn’t want his help, and I didn’t want to take advantage. But in my situation, it would be dumb not to do what I had to. I’d be out of his hair a lot faster than either one of us had expected. In the long run, this small thing would be no big deal since I wouldn’t be bothering him anymore.
Which was what he wanted.
I could eventually pay him back for the doctor visit too.
Forcing myself to nod even though it was stiff, I took my time getting up, setting Selene’s tablet on the middle of the bed. I hoped she let me borrow it again. I’d tried logging into my bank account, but without my cell phone, I couldn’t verify the security steps to access it, so that was cool. Getting into my email hadn’t been any easier either.
Until I got my phone, I wouldn’t be able to leave.
“Thank you,” I said as I made eye contact with him lingering at the door.
He said nothing.
“Do I need to go downstairs or…?”
“She can come up here and give you some privacy.”
Pressing my lips together, I nodded.
He watched me, the crease in his brow a stubborn line that confirmed my mood wasn’t the only one that hadn’t gotten better. Whatever had crawled up his ass had built a little home with a pool and wasn’t planning on going anywhere anytime soon. Had I done something wrong? Had someone else done something and it just happened to trickle down to me?
Does it matter, Gracie?He’d made it perfectly clear that he thought I was a hassle he didn’t want or need. To be fair, I understood. Hadn’t I wished he’d landed on someone else’s property? I’d taken care of two people I loved, and not once had they felt like an inconvenience, but that was because my life had revolved around theirs. I had loved them. Adored them. They had been my world.
And when you care about people, doing things for them was an honor.
The Defender didn’t love me. He’d let me hold his hand out of pity. He’d originally offered to help me because he thought he owed me.
I was a responsibility, not an option. Someone had wanted him to find me because of some ancestor that gave me stomachaches. I didn’t owe that person anything either.
Alex hadn’t wanted to meet me in the first place.
If I’d learned anything in all the romance books I’d ever read, it was that you wanted someone to pick you.
But I could pick myself, and that’s what I was going to do.
“Okay. Whatever is easier,” I said to him.
Those purple eyes stayed on me.
“Thank you for calling her.”
