Page 7 of Blame It On the Secret Santa

“It’s Percocet,” she explained quietly as the doctor waited.

I popped it in my mouth and swallowed, thankful to finally have something to help with the pain.

“Do you need a note to excuse you from work?” the doctor asked, pulling out his pen and reaching into his coat pocket.

“No, that’s okay. Thank you.” I forced a smile but didn’t bother to tell him that I would be returning to work tomorrow. If anything, I could ask Bruce to let me work the front registers so I would have minimal walking to do. I needed the hours and wasn’t willing to sacrifice them just because my butt hurt.

“Alright, well, you’re all set to go. Rest, ice, and pain medication as needed. If it doesn’t start to feel better in a few days, be sure to get in with your doctor.” He handed Sean the discharge papers.

“Thank you. I will.”

I waited until he left before attempting to get off of the bed.

“Here, let me help you,” Sean offered, holding his hand out.

“I don’t need your help.” I swatted him away, refusing to take his hand as I got down and made sure I was steady before attempting to leave. He had been my ride to the hospital, but I had no problem calling someone to come pick me up. “Thank you for bringing me, but your work here is now done.”

I went to reach for my phone that was sitting on the table and my eyes widened with disbelief as he grabbed it and shoved it in his pocket before I could.

“What the hell are you doing? Give me my phone.” I held my hand out and glared at him as I waited.

“No.”

“Are we back on that again?” I muttered, tilting my head to the side.

“Yes. I’m not giving you your phone until I have you safely in my car and take you home. You can fight me all you want, but if you remember correctly, I always win.”

“I don’t want you to take me home. I want you to leave me alone and go away.”

“No can do, Cass.”

His eyes locked with mine as he held my gaze, a feeling deep inside running through me at the memories.

“Can you please stop being such an ass about this? Just give me my phone so I can call someone to come pick me up. Like I’ve said, you’ve done your part by getting me here, so now you can leave and be on your merry way.” I waved my hand to shoo him away.

“Nope. I don’t think so. I’m taking you home, one way or another, Cassidy. No matter how much you try to fight me on it.”

I tried my best to suppress the growl that started to rise in my throat from my annoyance with him. If he was going to insist on taking care of me, I was going to go out of my way to make it as much of a hassle for him as possible. Maybe if I showed him just how much of a pain in the ass I could be, he would stop and leave me alone.

“Fine,” I said with a heavy sigh. “Let’s go.”

I tried to lead the way, but his hand on my elbow as he guided me out of the hospital only further irritated me. It wasn’t just because of how he was acting—like he had some sort of say in anything regarding me or that he thought he was in control. It was more so because of the stupid tingle I felt down my spine from his touch.

By the time I got situated in his back seat, I was thankful for the strong pain reliever they had given me because sitting on my butt hurt. I tried to lean to the side and take as much pressure off of it as possible, but it wasn’t helping.

“Do you want to give me your address, or should I just drive around town asking people if they know where you live?” Sean asked, meeting my eyes in the rearview mirror.

“I have some stops I need to make on the way,” I grunted, frustrated with not being able to get comfortable.

“Okay. Where to first?”

His lack of being frustrated about me asking him to take me places really got on my nerves. If anything, he almost seemedexcitedto spend time with me and didn’t care that I was asking him to chauffeur me. Not to worry, I would quickly change that and make him regret wanting to do the nice thing.

“Coffee.”

“Is Sugarplum Lattes okay?”

I nodded, slowly pushing a breath out through my mouth as I tried not to cry out in pain. I could feel Sean watching me as he put the car in drive and slowly made his way into traffic.

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