Page 18 of Reconciling the Consequences

Johnny pulled away from her and her legs fell open as he slowly pulled out his fingers. “Are you OK?” he asked.

Her eyes were squeezed tight as she breathed through the pain. “Yeah.” She groaned. “I will be.”

He sighed, but she didn’t see his expression as he laid down next to her and gingerly gathered her in his arms.

Karawokeupthenext morning feeling sore and groggy. She hated waking in the middle of the night—it messed with her schedule too much, and she often ended up feeling lethargic and nauseous the next day, neither of which she could afford to feel today: her appointment to get her stitches out was at noon.

She rolled over and felt for Johnny, but his side of the bed was cold. After he’d gone down on her and gotten her off, she’d tried to repay his attention, but he wouldn’t have it, not after she had hurt her ribs mid-orgasm.

She hadn’t argued with him, but she almost wished she had. Maybe she would have slept better after that. Instead, she slept fitfully.

She slowly rolled over to the side of the bed and sat up. Her pain levels were mildly tolerable if she were going to stay home today, but she had that appointment and would have to walk into the office.

She wondered how she was getting there. She assumed Johnny would take her, but she wished she could drive herself, but with her wrist and pain pills, she knew it would be a while before that would be possible. She’d still have to ask him where her SUV was, if it was at her house or not. Maybe he could have a prospect drop it by here if it was still in her garage.

She was dutifully ignoring the fact that she had practically moved in with him. Them? That was another question on her mind: Where the hell were her boys? She was going to give them both so much hell when they got back. After the bullshit about learning to communicate better, they had left her without a goodbye.

She shook her head. She needed to wash her face and get dressed, take some pain pills, and eat breakfast. In that order. Then she would look for Johnny and ask about her phone and laptop, her men, and her SUV.

Thirty minutes later, Kara was cleaned up and dressed and had taken her pills found something to eat in the kitchen. Johnny was nowhere to be found, though, and neither were her cell phone or laptop. Kara ventured down to the lower level of the house.

The basement was fully renovated, not that she’d expected anything else from a man who owned his own construction company. Tall ceilings, light gray walls with lots of white trim, and gray wood-grained vinyl flooring gave it a clean and modern look.

She followed the rhythmic beat of music blasting from down the hall. It steadily grew louder as she walked toward it. She passed several closed doors, only briefly wondering what was behind them. She was on a mission and wouldn’t be distracted. She pushed through the double doors at the end of the hall and stumbled into a full-on gym.

Holy Life TimeFitness. Her mouth dropped open as she looked around the room. A wall of mirrors on one side made the space look bigger than it was, but it was still pretty large. On one side were two rows of cardio equipment, with two of everything, Treadmills, incumbent bikes, stationary bikes, ellipticals, and stair-steppers.

On the other side of the room were the typical weight machines you’d expect to find as well as weight benches and free weights. There was a stack of yoga mats and racks of medicine balls and kettlebells too.

She could not wait to get the all clear from her doctor and get back to working out again.

It took her a moment to locate Johnny. He was standing in front of the wall of mirrors, shirtless and sweaty, doing bicep curls. She felt her mouth drop open as she watched not only the muscles in his arms bulge but also the muscles along his back ripple with each curl.

Goddamn, he’s trying to kill me. He had cut his hair too; it was freshly buzzed close to his skull, and his beard had been trimmed up again. She narrowed her eyes at him.Funny, I just used his hair last night to grip his head, and today he cut it.He really did know how to get under her skin.

She chose not to say anything as she leaned against the wall and watched him while she caught her breath and rested her knee. From across the room, she admired the lights shining off his glistening skin. Colorful ink ran down both arms and over his shoulders, across his chest, and down his abs and back.

The first time she had seen him shirtless she had been in awe. The man was clearly dedicated to keeping in shape. She loved how his tattoos told stories of his life in the Marines, the club, and growing up in Mourningside. She’d spent hours tracing his ink with her fingers and tongue the last time the four of them had spent a weekend in bed together.

That weekend felt like a lifetime ago.

The last couple days were the longest time she’d spent one-on-one with him ever. Their relationship was still relatively new, and they were still getting to know one another. It wasn’t fair that they had the added weight of the drama that clung to them, the mistrust from both sides.

“You gonna stand there all day?” Johnny asked, not even glancing her way.

She shrugged a shoulder. “Maybe.”

“Too bad. Your appointment is at noon,” he told her, as if she hadn’t already known.

She frowned though, wondering exactly how he knew.

“I read your discharge papers.”

Her frown deepened as she stared at him. He continued to surprise her, all the fucking shit he thought of, how he took care of everything and her in the process. It blew her mind. She’d never dated someone so attentive or thoughtful before, not before Kevin or Derrick or Johnny.

“So stitches today, follow-up next Monday. Then physical therapy once you’re cleared by the doc.” He summarized, still not looking at her, his eyes remaining on the mirror in front of him. He didn’t miss a single repetition while he spoke, alternating arms.

She nodded slowly. It sounded so simple. In reality, though, she remained in a lot of pain. She still needed to figure out how to walk and bathe and basically take care of herself on her own. As much as she wanted her independence, she would have to rely on him for a while longer.

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