Page 47 of Overstaying His Welcome

Why was I so upset about the changes with Tank? Did it really matter that he’d kept everything from us?

Part of me believed it didn’t. But a bigger part was still bothered.

Even when I rationalized the dangers facing Chance and the fact that he was still closeted, I couldn’t let it go. I felt like an outright asshole.

Hopefully we found something on this Lune guy soon. I definitely needed the distraction.

CHAPTER 14

TANK

You know what’s humbling?

A wheelchair ride through the hospital.

I tried to tell them I could walk out. They smiled at me like I was a silly little kid, then pointed sternly at the seat.

Chance smirked from the doorway, my bag of clothes in hand. He’d gone to his place to get my ID and stuff. It had all still been on the nightstand since I didn’t really think to grab it during my abduction.

I rolled my eyes at the stupid thought. The more the medicine wore off, the grumpier I’d become.

Thankfully, everyone around me didn’t seem to mind. They’d all been happy to tease me and make sure I knew I wasn’t in charge with all this.

Granted, it was rather obvious. The damage to my body wasn’t life threatening, but I sure wasn’t in the position to do much. Not until I took more time to heal.

Once I got over the embarrassment of the ride to the car, I started to think in terms of logistics. There were so many parts to everything. I’d always been the one to lead the charge. Being bedridden wouldn’t change that responsibility.

“Stop thinking about work,” Chance said when he climbed in behind the wheel.

I was kind of shocked he bothered to drive me. I figured Takeshi would be the one to get us back to the office. Instead, my friend got in the backseat and buckled himself in like this was nothing.

“You can’t tell me not to think about it.”

“Yes, I can. You need to rest. It’s not good for you to stress over it. The team has everything handled. They’ll come to you if they have something to discuss.”

Turning from his penetrating gaze, I looked out the window. I watched as we left the hospital and made our way to the NightShade offices.

The city looked the same as it always did, yet it felt different. In a matter of days, everything I knew flipped on its head.

Chance told his father and my team about us. He resisted his father’s efforts to break us up. I’d been abducted, beaten, and discarded outside of the hospital. My team now knew more about my past than they ever had.

I felt as if someone had broken me open, then poured out all the fractured pierces of my soul for all to see.

As if he could read my mind, Chance’s hand wrapped around mine. He didn’t look my way. There was no need to though. Just his touch helped.

It grounded me enough to stop the thoughts that wouldn’t let up.

When we reached the office, Archie was waiting downstairs with a grin. He greeted his husband, then waved casually to me. It was as if this was any other day. Like I wasn’t hobbling out of the car towards the elevator to take me to the recovery room.

“Everything is all ready,” he said as we all climbed in the small space. Takeshi held my bag as Chance supported my weight with his arm around my back.

I loved the way it felt to be in his arms, yet I also hated he had to do so much just to get me inside. It felt like things weren’t balanced. Like I’d somehow let him down.

When the elevator doors opened, the first thing I saw brought a grin to my face. Jared was there with a box of doughnuts and a smile. It felt normal. As if nothing was amiss.

I appreciated the little guy for that more than I could say.

“Tell me you’re hungry. These are still hot, and I might have strained my groin trying to get back here in time when the guys said you’d be here today,” he rushed to say when I stepped forward.

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