Page 57 of I Can't Even

“Ouch is right,” he murmured. “It hurt like a bitch and had to be one of the worst feelings I’ve ever experienced.”

“And the swelling?” I asked.

“Has gotten worse with my uptick of use over the last two weeks or so. So, the doctor said he’d prescribe me some steroids to help with the swelling.” He sighed. “I’ll take it before bed with my other sleep medication.”

“Why do you take sleep medication?” I kept asking questions.

“Because I sleep like fucking shit. It takes me hours to drift off. Then, when I do finally fall asleep, I wake up about twenty times. Doctor prescribed me sleep meds about a year ago and it’s been nice as fuck to finally be able to sleep through the night. This stuff doesn’t make me sleepy or anything when I wake up, no matter what time of night. It’s the best I’ve found.”

I glanced at the packaging for it, too, then set it back down on the counter next to a half-empty water bottle.

“Do you want to watch a movie?” I asked, leaning my hips against the counter.

We’d just finished having sex.

I’d cleaned myself out as best as I could using toilet paper.

Who knew having sex without a condom was so dang messy?

Now, fully sated, it was time for dinner and a movie to finish out my day off.

I was exhausted.

Today, when Gable and I had found that rage room after a quick lunch, I’d thought it was going to be a fun way to pass the time.

I hadn’t realized how much rage I had stored up in me, nor did I realize that it’d be so much fun to destroy things.

I stayed there for an hour and a half destroying everything I could, and only stopped when a sexy voice asked if I wanted him to pay for another hour, or if I’d gotten the release I needed.

When I’d turned to find Quaid standing there, I realized there was only one way to release the rest of what I needed, and we’d need to find a bedroom to do that.

So, we’d gone home with Auden, saying goodbye to Gable when we did, and he’d driven us to Quaid’s place.

“I’ll have to order something, because I’m too tired to scrounge up anything besides cereal, and I have no cereal.” He laughed as he pulled me to him. “You okay?”

“Am I okay physically or emotionally?” I wondered. “I’m fine. I’m sad that another girl was taken. I’m horrified that he tried to contact me again. I’m thinking I have a lot to thank you for.”

He tilted his head, his eyes intense, as he said, “What do you mean?”

“If you hadn’t interrupted all of my dates as you did, I wouldn’t have seen what I was missing,” I explained. “I wouldn’t be with you right now, not wanting another date with another man.”

He ran his finger down my nose before saying, “I had a thought today.”

“Oh yeah?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he said. “Want to know what it was?”

“Of course I want to know what it was.” I snorted, rolling my eyes so hard my brain hurt.

He let me go and stepped back before saying, “How would you feel if you never went on another first date again?”

I felt my belly warm. “I mean, I want to at least go on one more first date.”

His brows rose. “With me?”

I turned and walked away from him, going to the kitchen where he kept a to-go menu of nearly every single restaurant within a ten-minute drive of his new place.

“Of course, with you, silly,” I said. “We haven’t been on one.”

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