Page 40 of Rook

“Then I’m in,” she said, shooting me a smile before making her way to the door.

The weird thing was that I was sad to see her go.

And excited for her to return.

That seemed like it could get sticky quickly.

But it was too late to turn back now.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Tessa

It was three nights and three mornings of Rook tossing and turning, then waking up aching and grumbling before, finally, he found himself called across the street to talk to one of the guys, allowing me the chance to grab my stuff and get on the couch before him.

I was feeling pretty victorious until my own body tried to adjust to the hard cushions that made my hips, knees, and shoulders almost immediately start to ache.

But, hey, it was my turn to suffer.

At least I didn’t have a trick back to worry about.

I had no idea how long I tossed and turned before sleep finally claimed me.

But the next thing I knew, I was dreaming of being lifted into someone’s strong, but gentle arms, being hugged against their firm chest that smelled a lot like Rook’s spicy cologne that always—

My eyes shot open.

And I was looking right into his eyes.

“Nice try, babe,” he said, maneuvering around the coffee table.

“Put me back down,” I demanded, wondering how he wasn’t doubled over in pain while carrying my extra weight.

“I will. On the bed. Where we agreed you would be sleeping.”

“You agreed. I wanted us to rotate.”

“Sometimes, we don’t get what we want.”

“Rook, your back has been killing you every morning.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re going to cause some sort of serious damage.”

“Don’t worry about me—,” he started as he folded forward to lower me down.

It was right then that his back decided to give out.

I dropped down.

Then he fell on top of me.

Both of us let out a grunt.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Rook growled, his breath panting out of him.

This was another of those ‘I told you so’ moments. But the man was clearly in a lot of pain. I wasn’t going to rub it in.

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