Page 26 of GOAT

Abbie was strong, and the hell she’d endured and her recovery over the past few days were proof of that. She didn’t give up easily, and she fought with everything she had.

She was goddamn perfect for me, and I’d been stupid to ever think otherwise.

“You promise you’ll be in the room with me?” she finally asked, turning her head to look at me.

I nodded. “I’m not letting anyone that close to you without me present,” I reminded her. “Not again. Not ever fucking again.”

A small smile tilted her lips, and then she drew in a deep breath through her nose before slowly releasing it from between her lips. “Okay,” she said quietly. “Let’s get this over with.”

I pushed open my door before sliding out of the truck and rounding the hood to help her down. With our fingers laced together, I led her across the parking lot and into the building. I stood by her side as she filled out the paperwork as a new patient, and I paid the upfront cost, nodding my head when the receptionist informed us we would receive a bill in the mail for anything extra.

When we sat down, Abbie’s leg began to bounce, too jittery to be able to sit still. Without a word, I grasped her hips and lifted her into my lap, pulling her back to rest against my chest. Immediately, she relaxed, her fingers curling into my leather cut. I pressed a kiss to her temple. “Better?”

“Mhm,” she hummed, tucking her head beneath my chin. “Doctors have always freaked me out, and it didn’t help that in there—” Her voice abruptly cut off. I squeezed my arms around her, understanding what she didn’t say out loud. She blew out a soft breath. “Growing up, it was just me and Dad. Mom passed away when I was a baby—drunk driver ran her off the road, and her car twisted around a tree. Dad… lost himself. And in his drunken rages, he…” Her voice trailed off. I gritted my teeth.

He hurt her.

“Is he dead?” I rumbled.

She nodded. “Liver failure,” she said quietly. “Died four years ago. I was nineteen. I cremated him and stuck his ashes in a storage unit.” She shrugged. “I didn’t know what else to do with them, and I didn’t want them in my house.”

I ran my hand down her spine. “What made you afraid of doctors?”

“I only ever went to see one when I was too badly hurt to just heal at home. And they always believed Dad’s lies about me hurting myself over me.”

I gritted my teeth. “They’re just as horrible as your father then,” I said quietly.

She nodded just as her name was called. She stood from my lap and reached for my hand, her fingers trembling. I clasped it in mine and led her over to the smiling nurse. “Hi, hun. My name is Jessica. I’ll be your nurse today,” she introduced herself. “Let’s head this way.” We followed her down a hallway to a small area where blood pressure machines, a scale, and other vitals stuff were sitting around. “You can sit here,” she said, patting a chair.

I released Abbie’s hand, letting her sit down, but I rested my hand on her shoulder, digging my fingertips into the soft flesh so she’d still be grounded. I remained silent, listening as Abbie gave the fabricated story we’d all come up with. She didn’t want anyone to know she’d been kidnapped since it would jeopardize everything we’d worked hard to do so far. So, she was going with she was mugged and raped, and she didn’t tell me until she woke up from a flashback and I forced her to tell me what was going on.

The exam went smoothly. Abbie didn’t panic, and she listened to everything the doctor had to say about the healing process. There was some tearing, but it would all heal over time. When she suggested therapy, Abbie quietly informed her I was already on top of it, and she’d already had her first therapy appointment.

“That wasn’t… terrible,” Abbie finally settled on as I backed out of the parking spot.

I chuckled, glancing over at her. “You feeling okay?”

She nodded and reached over, grabbing my hand. I instantly laced our fingers together before bringing our joined hands up to my lips so I could press a kiss to the back of her hand. She relaxed back into her seat. “I want coffee.”

I grinned over at her. “Usual place?”

The smile that lit up her face made my heart clench in my chest. It was the prettiest fucking smile she’d given me since she’d been back with me.

“I like the sound of that… our usual place,” she murmured. “Yeah, Cam. Our usual place.”

I winked at her. “Want a donut, little devil?”

She scoffed. “Still an ass, I see.”

I snorted and squeezed her fingers. “Sweetheart, that’s not ever going to change.”

She grinned at me and leaned over the middle console to press a kiss to my cheek. “I never want it to.”

A loud giggle dragged me out of sleep, and then something clattered to the floor. I frowned, squinting at the red digits on my clock. It was nine in the fucking morning on a Saturday. What the hell?—

“Ace, you’re going to make a mess, and Konnie is going to be mad,” Blu whined.

“Shh. Abbie needs her sleep,” Blakely said, trying to quiet them down.

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