Page 8 of Loving Lies (Granton University 3)

She paused before sending him an unreadable glance. Then she shrugged and went back to work. “I don’t mind.”

Once again, Jonah wanted to apologize for yelling at her. But his overwhelming emotions had been boiling inside him since the moment he’d woken in the hospital bed. Not knowing anyone—himself included—and no one claiming to know him was taking its toll. The fear had built hour after hour.

Since Tess Simpson had walked through the door with the closest thing he had to answers, he couldn’t stop the bitter taste of frustration when she only left him with more questions.

He stewed in his regret until he realized she’d finished scrubbing his mess. Then he only felt guiltier because she’d been the one to clean up after his temper tantrum.

“Thank you.” He spoke quietly and humbly, not quite able to look at her. A ball of shame formed in his throat; it took him two tries to swallow it down.

“I

t’s no problem.”

She forgave too easily, which worried him. Was she the type to let a person walk all over her? Jonah hoped to God he had never walked all over her.

“But I’d really like it if you ate.” When he glanced at her, she fluttered her lashes and sent him a begging smile. “Please. For me?”

He nodded, ready to do anything to get back into her good graces. He must’ve been crazy about her before the accident. No matter how frustrated he was or how many questions he felt the need to strangle from her, the desire to keep her happy seemed ingrained in him.

Jonah was starving, but he didn’t have an appetite. That didn’t make a lot of sense, he knew. The pangs in his stomach were cursing him to fill it already, except nothing sounded enticing enough to keep down.

Since Tess had brought him Tex-Mex, though, he reached out and slowly slipped the still-warm bag onto his lap. Her eyes lit with hope as he pulled out the first thing his fingers found and unwrapped it.

As soon as his teeth sank into the crisp breading of the chalupa, he closed his eyes and moaned, his craving for food thankfully roaring to life. “God, this is good.” He took another bite, filling his cheek.

Tess let out a large breath, her eyes sparkling with relief as she grinned. “Better yet?”

She must know him well if she knew eating helped calm his moodiness. He muffled out his answer and took another bite. “Mmph. Much.”

Smiling, she sank slowly into the chair beside his bed and watched him quietly as he polished off one taco after another, not even letting his broken arm slow him down. He stared back, still stunned someone was here, visiting him.

“Do you need a drink?” she asked, lifting the cup of ice water from his bedside tray as he began to eat the empanada.

Since she was already handing it over, he accepted with a nod and sucked heartily from the straw. He didn’t want to admit it, but the nurses who’d been badgering him all day to eat had been right. Eating freaking helped.

Or maybe it was the redhead with the too-kind blue eyes who truly helped.

Tess took his cup back as soon as he finished drinking. “Thanks.” He watched her set it carefully on the tray, and questions once again flooded his brain. “There’s so much I want to ask, but I don’t even know where to start.”

She gave him a tremulous smile as she folded her hands in her lap and began to wring them as if nervous. “Look, I swear to you, I’ll find your family. You won’t be here alone for long. Okay?”

He blinked at her, wondering why she didn’t know where his family was already, when another idea struck. Shit! She’d definitely worded that as if she didn’t consider them a couple.

“So we’re not together anymore,” he murmured with a wince. He might not remember her, but he already knew he didn’t want to lose her. God, what asinine thing had he done to push her away and make her break up with him?

She didn’t answer, which pretty much confirmed his suspicions. Just what kind of guy was he if the only person who bothered to visit him in the hospital after he’d nearly died was his ex-girlfriend?

“Um…I’m going to go ahead and take off,” she said, glancing longingly toward the exit.

She made it sound so final, as if this was goodbye forever. Jonah’s stomach clenched, threatening to upset all the food he’d just eaten.

“Will—” When his esophagus closed and his voice went hoarse, he cleared his throat. “Will I ever see you again?” He wanted to beg her to come back. Hell, he wanted to beg her not to leave in the first place.

She looked away for a moment, and he almost lost it. She was going to tell him no, and he was going to return to being all alone again.

Forsaken.

But obviously, her too-kind heart had her rasping out, “Of course. I’ll be back tomorrow as soon as…after all my classes let out. So just…” She finally turned back to him, showing him a wealth of pain in her beautiful eyes. Damn, he must’ve hurt her bad. “Just take care of yourself and eat everything the nurses bring you, okay?”

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