Page 60 of Last Chance Love

“Well, we both know emotions are complicated things, especially given our history,” I said with a snort, taking a sip of coffee that I was officially going to have to get for my cabin.

“True, and I still haven’t processed everything that’s happened in the past twenty-four hours. One minute, I was fine, my normal self, and now I’m dealing with the fact that I had a building fall on me…part of one.”

“Yeah, Mona ispissedabout that. The foreman she had in charge is going to be in hot water if she doesn’t find a ditch to roll him in.”

“She takes her job seriously, so she expects everyone else to as well,” he said thoughtfully as if it had just occurred to him. “Doesn’t explain why she gives me shit, though. I take my job seriously.”

The explanation he was looking for was sitting in the mind of the person right across from him, and he either didn’t know or didn’t want to address it. I had warned Mona to be careful talking to me and hoped he hadn’t heard too much of our conversation. Mona hadn’t been thrilled with me either, considering Leon and I had only reconnected for a couple of weeks, and then he got injured.

Thankfully, there was someone more at fault than me, so instead, she had done what Mona did, and taken an opportunity when it was given. I wondered what her expression would look like if she knew what her new plan had caused. Then again, knowing Mona, she probably wouldn’t give a shit if I helped him by being his friend or his lover, whatever got the best results.

ButIdidn’t feel that way, not about Leon. I’d only agreed to her little deception plan because it felt like the only way to genuinely help Leon. I also genuinely wanted to kiss him, touch him, lay down with him, and rediscover things we’d probably thought long gone and buried. I hated that the secret I had to keep from him was the same thing that would leave me questioning every little thing I did with him when I had a moment.

“I don’t want to rush things, you know?” he said, glancing at me and smiling. “Once upon a time, we agreed to take things slow, which worked best for us then. And I think it will work for us now. We only just became friends?—”

“I understand,” I told him because I did understand, just like when we were sixteen. “I wasn’t trying to push or rush anything.”

“I know.”

“I just wanted to do it.”

“I also know that,” he said with a grin. “You’ll notice I wanted it too.”

I smiled at him, feeling the tension inside me bleeding out rapidly. “I did, in fact, notice it.”

“Plus,” he said slowly with a grin. “I’m not sure I wanted that to continue when I’m basically an invalid.”

“You’re not an invalid,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“I’m certainly not strong and capable of doing stuff on my own. Any argument I might have had about not needing help died when I walked here. That was torture,” he said with a chuckle. “So, for multiple reasons, I’m glad you’re here.”

“I’d say I’m glad to be here, but I think we’ve had enough cheesy sentimentality for one day,” I said with a snort.

“Good point. We should probably see about getting some food that doesn’t involve me making a spectacle of myself,” he said with a sigh. “And I imagine I’m under close watch for a bit.”

“Yes,” I said with a smirk. “I’ll be crashing here. But there won’t be any bed sharing, so I’ll take a cot because I do not need a decent bed.”

“We’ll see about that,” he said, leaning back in his seat.

Oh, this was going to be fun.

LEON

“Elliot!” I barked, leaning against the fence post. “Get off the barn. You’re supposed to clean it, not climb it like a monkey!” He shouted something back that I couldn’t make out, and I frowned at Reno in confusion, who was standing closer than I was.

Reno rolled his eyes. “He said…you know what? Hold on. Elliot! Get your stupid ass down before you break something. If anyone is going to break something on you, it’s going to be me! Stop giving Leon a hard time when he’s a cripple.”

“I’m not a…” I stopped as Elliot gave a loud laugh and began climbing down the outside of the barn he’d been scaling. I honestly had no idea what had prompted him to get up there in the first place since I couldn’t see an animal, which was his typical lure for stupid decisions, or something interesting, which…well, he had a lot of lures for his stupid decisions.

“We don’t use cripple anymore,” Reed said as he sat in the shade, flipping through a new book he’d grabbed from the library. “And even if we did, he needs another week or two before he can do more than just stand around.”

After the past week of being unable to do that, it was a godsend. It was fantastic to have Reed around. Fantastic and a little weird, but sitting in my cabin all day would drive me nuts. After three days, he’d finally decided I could handle a walk, only for me to realize I would need breaks, which were as annoying as walking was painful.

Now, though, I could walk and stand around without feeling like my bones were grinding against each other. It was just a general ache that swung between being annoying and stopping me from going too hard on myself. Of course, I also had my own personal reminder with me at all times. It was nice when I needed company but not so great when I knew he was watching me closely to ensure I didn’t ‘overdo it.’

“You guys take the fun out of everything, you know that?” Elliot asked as he made it back to us.

“That’s us, the fun suckers,” Reno grumbled, shoving a pitchfork toward Elliot. “Now help me clean up all this shit before I make you do it by hand.”

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