Page 8 of Only His

After propping my hurt ankle up on a pillow, he slid off my heels, his hands lingering there for a long moment. I could sense the internal battle he was having, though I had no idea what was running through his mind until he leaned down and pressed a kiss to my foot.

“I’m sorry you got hurt because of me,” he murmured against my skin, his breath causing goosebumps to rise on my legs.

It was on the tip of my tongue to argue that it wasn’t his fault, but it would have been a lie. As surprised and elated as I was by his behavior, I couldn’t help but be a little pissed about his reaction to James and his total lack of reaction tomebefore any of this went down.

“I don’t understand,” I said helplessly, begging him for an explanation with my eyes. “Why are you so mad about James? Do you not want me to be happy?”

“He wouldn’t have made you happy,” he argued. “We both know what you want—whoyou want—and it’s not him.”

Well, that answered that. Confirmation from the man himself that heknewhow I felt about him—he’d probably known for a long time—and he purposely ignored it until I dared to go out with another man. The only reason he was with me was over petty jealousy. As soon as the threat of me being with someone else lifted, he would go back to breaking my heart by calling me ‘kid’ and acting like he didn’t know how I felt.

I couldn’t stand the thought of it. As his touch left my skin and he left the ice pack in his place, I could already feel him withdrawing back into his old ways. He brought the food in without a word and we ate wordlessly while the movie played in the background.

Everything I ate was tasteless. I forced as much down as I could before I turned my upper body toward him on the couch and waited for him to acknowledge me. When he refused to turn away from the screen, I found the strength to say what I knew I needed to say.

“I think you should go.”

That got his attention. He angled his body toward mine, searching my face for… something. I had no idea what he was looking for, but he narrowed his eyes a little as he slowly said, “The movie’s not over.”

With his eyes staring directly into mine, it was a lot harder to force out the words I needed to say. So hard, in fact, that I could feel my eyes beginning to water as I whispered, “I think it is. Please go.”

David waited for any indication I was joking. When a traitorous tear slipped out and ran down my cheek, he let out a heavy sigh and shut his eyes. His blurry form eventually stood and slowly walked to the doorway, pausing briefly to glance back at me.

“Promise me that you’ll call if you need anything.”

“I promise.”

He lingered for another brief moment. I looked back at the screen, staring at the movie blankly as his heavy footsteps faded and the sound of my front door opened and closed.

For the first time, I truly felt like following David was the biggest mistake of my life. With that thought in mind, I pulled the throw blanket off the back of the couch and wrapped it around myself. I laid down as much as I could—mindful of my ankle and the ice pack—and cried silently for what felt like hours until I finally fell asleep.

Chapter 5

“I think you were right. It’s not sprained, just sore from the twist.”

“So you’re feeling better?”

Well, my ankle was feeling better. My heart? Not so much.

“Much better. The ice helped a lot.”

James’s sigh of relief was audible over the phone. “I’m glad to hear that. You sure you’re okay? Because I don’t mind coming over to take a look if you need me to.”

“I’m sure, but thank you.”

“Thankyoufor checking in with me. I was worried.”

He didn’t say it, but the real meaning behind his words was clear. I was grateful he left the ball in my court, and while I didn’t really want to talk about what went down with David, I knew I owed him at least a partial explanation. I figured that getting a man’s perspective on the whole situation might also be a good idea.

“I’m really sorry about David,” I said with a sigh. “He… We… It’s really complicated. I’m kind of in love with him, but he was my father’s best friend for a while until he moved away and I moved out here to be closer to him and it’s just…God, I messed up so badly. I never should have come here.”

James was quiet for a long stretch of time. I think he could hear me breaking down, and he was polite enough to give me a chance to pull myself together before he spoke again.

“He cares about you.”

I couldn’t help it—I snorted. “Yeah, I can tell by the way he calls me ‘kid’ all the time. It’s so obvious.”

James chuckled. “Judging by the things he said to me last night before we almost came to blows, Ireallydon’t think he sees you as a ‘kid’.”

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