Page 31 of Big Trouble
9
Jack
Fuck, she was something else.
I watched Lo striding back to the bar, my gaze fixed firmly on her ass.
Why did I stand her up? Why didn’t I take her home and carry on making love to her all night?
In those few short moments, she made me feel more alive than I had since the accident.
Actually, since before the accident.
She almost pulled me back from the brink.
Almost.
I thought back to the conversation I’d had with Scarlett at the hospital. I had to stop keeping people at arm’s length, let them help me. If I didn’t, I’d be spiraling deeper down the rabbit hole with no hope of clawing myself back.
I wasn’t easy to be with, I knew that. I’d left this town for a reason and promised myself I’d never return - except for the glorious homecoming when I won the world title, of course.
But now, I was stuck here, at least for a little while. The doctor had been encouraging. I was healing well. I was young. I could be back on the bike in no time, if my inner demons would let me.
All I had to do was keep up with the PT.
With Lo.
There were a couple of choices for me right this second. I could go back into the bar, find Lo, hang out with her some more, try to explain to Maddox, Andre and the others what had happened. Or I could go home. Eat some of Mom’s home cooking, tumble into bed and dream of the hot PT who was on the verge of stealing my heart.
The latter won out.
I eased myself out of the back seat, pretty sure what we’d just done didn’t count as the physical therapy the doctor had suggested. My ankle cracked in protest Hopefully Mom would let me have some painkillers when I got in. I’d only had one whisky after all.
“Jackie-boy, is that you?”
If she called me that one more time, I was going to… “Hey, Mom.” I walked into the kitchen where she was cleaning up.
“There’s mac and cheese in the oven. Should be another few minutes before it’s ready. I made up a big batch this evening, thought Scarlett might appreciate some to freeze.”
Maybe I could be the delivery boy and thank Scarlett for talking some sense into me, albeit rather belatedly. I took a seat at the table.
“Thanks, Mom.”
Before I could even ask, she handed me two pills and a glass of water. Gratefully I swallowed them down. Backseat car sex definitely wasn’t good for my recovery. Although… I grinned.
“What have you been up to today?”
Oh, you know, fixing up a bike, seeing the doctor, screwing my physical therapist.
“I caught up with Maddox. He’s let me take the bike to his garage to work on,” I said instead.
“He’s a good boy. Such a thoughtful thing to do.” Mom busied herself finding me a dish for my pasta. “Gets you socializing again too.”
The thought of Maddox and me working together to get the bike fixed almost made me laugh out loud. Sure, it was good to be in a garage where tools and parts were within arm’s reach, but I struggled with the supposed camaraderie which came with it.
“What did the doctor say? You had an appointment today, didn’t you?” She placed the mac and cheese on the table in front of me.
I wanted to shovel it straight in, but the steam coming from it told me it wasn’t such a good idea. Stalling, I blew on the dish.
