Page 96 of Love Collided

“It’s the only thing in this place worth moving out when I go.”

“You know, you won’t need any of your fancy lawyer suits or clothes at my place.”

“Yeah, but I have to figure out my law school exams now, so I better bring something nice just in case.”

“The doctor did say to take the week off. I think that includes law school.

“Ihaveto spend a week doing nothing but bothering you? I can’t wait. Now come help me pack before I pass out from pain meds and exhaustion.”

TWENTY-SIX

CHASE

Scout fussedthe entire ride home and up to the apartment, treating me like I might collapse, or suddenly break another bone.

“Scout, I’m still able to walk. I think you’re one step away from attempting to carry me up these steps.”

“Do you need carried?” She asked, her worried eyes looking over my legs.

“You’ve got to be a foot shorter than me, if not more. How the hell do you think you are carrying me up two flights of stairs?”

“I can figure it out.” She moved like she might actually try to put me on her back, but I threw an arm around her instead.

“You are something else, Hellcat. Relax, my legs are fine, besides a few bruises.”

She nodded, but kept fussing about it more until I sat back on the couch, groaning as my back screamed once in pain before I could finally relax. Soon she was setting me up with a drink, food, and then getting herself curled up on the opposite side of the loveseat from me, all tucked in under a giant blanket.

“You don’t have to wait on me, Scout. I’m functional.”

Her lips pursed into a tight smile. “I know, but I can still help.”

“Not if you're doing it because you feel guilty.”

The door slammed open, the few filing in and spreading out around the living room with food as they put on a movie.

Scout never responded, but I think she moved the smallest amount closer to me. If anyone else noticed, they didn’t say a word, and I was grateful.

I needed Scout near me tonight, and I was struggling to care if anyone else knew that.

The movie played for a while before I pulled at Scout’s blanket, and the confusion on her face was cute. The furrowed brows made me take the first real breath I had since I left her apartment yesterday.

The entire time she was gone from the hospital, I worried that she would be mad at me. That somehow Jesse would spin this into a different story, and I would be the villain of it. I thought she would end up hating me somehow. But she didn’t.

Instead, she defended me, and then came to take care of me.

“Come on, give me some of that. I’m cold,” I whispered. No one would think twice about it besides Scout, who by now knew that I definitely didn’t need a blanket.

She relented, throwing the blanket my way and moving closer so it would cover us both. She wasn’t close enough to touch me, but I could feel her inches away, so close I could touch her.

My hand moved across the couch until I slid over her thigh. Her thighs stiffened under my fingers, the thin material of her pajama pants leaving little to nothing between us. Her lips parted the smallest amount until she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth.

Her eyes went wide again as she looked around the room, and then quickly back to the TV.

I moved further down, finding the edge of her underwear and following it until my hand was between her thighs. Her hipsbucked up and mouth dropped open as I brushed against her clit.

She gasped a little too loud, and I laughed under my breath.

“Movie scaring you?”

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