Page 45 of Charmed and Alarmed

“Very romantic. Are you ever going to stop calling me that, by the way?” She yawns, and I close my eyes, too, allowing myself to relax for the first time since I saw her crumple in pain from across the room.

One of the machines beside the bed beeps, and indistinguishable voices sound from out in the hall.

“Never.”

18

LENORA

In the end, I’m out of work for a week and a half.

Holden wouldn’t hear of me going back to Sophie and Honor’s apartment. Instead, he took my key from my purse at the end of the hospital bed and asked,“What are you going to do, chase me?”when I objected.

Thankfully, he was still gone getting my stuff when Dad turned up.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, hovering beside the bed with a pinched expression, as if he was forcing himself to hold back his furious, hypocritical lecture about inappropriate relationships until he’d assured himself I wasn’t in agonizing pain.

“Okay,” I told him. “I’m sorry. That you had to find out that way.”

Dad seemed to lose whatever was left of his ability to stand at that point, and slumped into the chair beside the bed, looking miserable. “Len, there’s a lot you don’t know about Holden. This isn’t just his age. Don’t worry, your sister established that I don’t have the right to object to that.”

I smiled slightly. “I know enough. Mom complains we don’t visit, then gets wine-drunk and regales us with tales of her sexcapades when we do.”

This earned me a grimace, but Dad stayed silent, waiting for me to explain.

So, I did. “It probably sounds really stupid, but ballet was my whole life. It’s the only thing I wanted to do for so long, and then I couldn’t anymore, and I kind of forgot that it might be possible for other things to make me happy. Holden… Holden reminded me, Dad. I still don’t know what I’m going to do, for the record, but I’m kind of excited to figure it out.”

Apparently unwilling to concede that my relationship with Holden might have any redeeming qualities at all, he changed the subject to my recovery. He didn’t leave until I got a text from Holden, letting me know he was on his way back to the hospital and asking if I wanted a coffee that didn’t originate in a vending machine.

The days following this surgery have been nothing like the last ones. I’m not holed up alone in Sophie’s bedroom, snarling at anyone who dares enter and lamenting my lost career. It sucks, yes, but I’ve done it before and while I really hope I don’t have to do it again, I know I can handle it.

Holden stayed home with me for the first few days, until I was off the heavier painkillers and could get around on my crutches without the threat of falling. He brought me snacks on the couch and had a timer on his phone for my meds, the model of the supportive, devoted partner.

Then, because word reached him that his team had taken advantage of his absence to rent a margarita machine, he went back to work. And, miraculously, I was okay. The physical pain was there, but I didn’t feel myself slipping into the depression that lingered for months after my initial injury. It was a nuisance more than anything else, but I was cheerful enough, enjoying the warm, brightly lit living room, with bi-hourly texts from Holden during the day and lots of cuddling at night.

After ten days, though, I’ve had enough.

“Tomorrow,” I insist, glaring at Holden, who has spent the past half hour trying to talk me into staying home for another weekor two. “I can’t just sit at home until I’m back to where I was before. That could be months.”

His eyebrows lift slightly, and he glances over at me, a smirk curving his handsome face. “Home, huh?”

I feel myself flush. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“You could,” Holden suggests mildly. “Having you here has been great. Why not make it official?”

I let out an incredulous laugh. “Because we’ve been officially together for like a few weeks. You don’t move in with someone you’ve been with for a few weeks.”

His smirk widens into a full smile, making my heart perform its usual flip-flop. “Since when do you give a damn whatother peopledo? Fuck other people. What doyouwant?”

I turn sideways to look at him, and my heart swells as I meet his warm, hopeful gaze.He really wants this.“I’m kind of a pain in the ass.”

“So am I.”

The next objection is a little harder to broach. “Dad hasn’t spoken a word to you since he found out. Are you sure you want to make the situation worse?”

Holden sighs, rubbing a hand over his stubble, which he’s grown in to be more of a beard since I expressed my attraction to them. “I’m not interested in letting anyone other than us dictate the terms of this relationship, Len. If it makes you happy, and it makes me happy, I don’t give a shit what anyone else thinks about it.” Then, as if all this statement wasn’t swoon-worthy enough on its own, he continues, “If you’re not ready, or if you want to date a while longer before we discuss it, I understand. But, just so there are no misunderstandings, I want you here. I’ve been alone for a long fucking time, and now that I’ve found you, I don’t want to waste one goddamn minute not loving you.”

Jeez.Holden-freaking-Ellinger.Who knew?

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