Page 26 of Call Back

“This isn’t a fling,” he said softly. “But if that’s how you need to define it to give us a chance, I can live with that.” He climbed off the bed and stood in front of me. “No more talk about your scar. You can tell me what happened when you’re ready. Okay?”

I nodded. Stupidly, I didn’t want to give him up yet. “Okay.”

“I’m going to take a shower. Want to join me?” When I hesitated, he added, “I won’t look at your scar.”

“Okay.”

I knew he’d be unable to stop himself, and I was right. It was like telling someone not to look at a train wreck—you just couldn’t help yourself. But I didn’t call him on it. He’d already studied it enough to ask questions I couldn’t answer. What did it matter now? Besides, he became far more concerned with the dark bruises and welts covering my back and the backs of my arms.

“I should have made you go to the hospital,” he said, sounding guilty.

I looked up at him, narrowing my eyes. “Let’s get one thing straight. You will never be able to make me do anything. You might ask and I might agree, but you can’t make me.”

His eyes clouded. “I’m sorry. It was a bad choice of words, but I feel like I didn’t stress how important it was.”

“You made your stance on going to the hospital very clear, and I made mine clear as well. I’m feeling better, and the bruises hurt a lot less.”

The tension between us thickened, and I could tell that Brady was worried he’d say the wrong thing again. I brushed my teeth, put on a pair of pajamas Belinda had sent me, and then climbed back into bed, lying on my side.

Brady climbed in next to me. “I’m sorry,” he whispered in my ear.

It was hard staying angry with him when he was trying to be so considerate. I rolled over to face him. “I’m sorry too.”

He leaned down and brushed his lips lightly against mine. “You can stay here as long as you’d like, but I hope it’s for a very long time.”

I didn’t answer, still unsure of what I was going to do. I had much bigger issues to deal with than my love life.

---