Page 13 of The Boy I Once Loved

“Have you been? To his grave?”

I swallow my emotions and look away. “Not yet.”

“We can go together if you like, the first time?”

I frown and return my gaze to meet his. “I’m perfectly capable of going on my own. I don’t need you to lean on anymore, you know?”

He sighs and gives me a sad smile. “We all need someone to lean on at times, El.”

I shake my head and refuse to look away. “I learned a while ago its best not to rely on people, they only let you down.” Why is he pushing me like this? Why is he so hell-bent on pushing himself into my presence?

“Ella Harrison” The nurse shouting my name pulls us from this deep conversation. Straight away Dylan is up and offers me his back.

“Come on up, Ella Umbrella.” He winks at me over his shoulder. With a scowl on my face, I climb on his back and he carries me piggyback.

A couple of hours later, we finally leave the hospital. I follow him to the car on crutches. “Damn, these things are impossible to use.”

He chuckles and I am half tempted to hit him over the head with one.

“Can I be the first one to sign your boot, Ella?” Connor asks as he takes the crutches from me and steps back whilst Dylan helps me into the front passenger street.

“No one is writing on my boot,” I tell him firmly. As we suspected, my ankle is broken and is now in a clumpy big blue boot brace.

Dylan drops Connor off at home and then takes me home. When we pull up on the drive, he rushes around to my side of the car before I even have a chance to get out myself. He leans in and I put my arms around his neck, whilst his go to my waist as he helps me stand. His nearness makes my stomach flutter. When I have my crutches under my arm, he pulls back and gives me space and I feel like I can breathe again. His closeness does things to my body that I do not want to even to begin to try and analyse.

When we enter the house, the lights are out, and it is clear no one is home. My Mum has recently got herself a job in an old people’s home and she is working the night shift tonight. Dylan puts the light on, and he walks through into the kitchen.

Hobbling behind on my crutches, I follow him in. I’ve only been back a day and had been determined to keep my distance from Dylan James, and yet here he is in my house. He goes to the fridge, clearly feeling at home here and pulls out the chocolate milk. It bugs me that even after all this time, he still knows what I like to drink before bed.

“You know I broke up with Beth a few days before you left here.”

I plonk myself down on a dining chair. "Is there a point to this news?"

He leans his hands on the worktop and stares at me. “Beth was just a distraction. She was popular, and I was stupid and thought that it mattered.”

I sigh. I didn't want to talk about the past with him. "I'm tired and my ankle is sore. Can you carry that upstairs for me before you go?"

“I’m not leaving.” He frowns. “I can’t leave you home like this. How are you going to manage?”

“I’ll manage just fine,” I growl.

He scoffs and smiles, folding his arms across his chest. “Come on then, let’s see you tackle the stairs.”

Determined to show him I don’t need him. I hobble as fast as I can and stop at the bottom of our staircase. I contemplate trying to climb up there using my crutches, but I fast realise that this is unlikely to work. I plonk myself down on the bottom step and lean my crutches beside me, one immediately slides down to the floor and out of my reach.

The smug bastard leans against the wall, arms folded and smirks, watching me. “You want me to get that?”

"No. I can do it." I use the bannister to pull myself back up to standing and hop to get nearer to the fallen crutch. I realise then that if I try to bend to pick it up, I am likely to fall, but my pride refuses to admit that I need him. I lean forward to grab the crutch and unable to put weight on my foot I wobble, and two hands reach out and steady me.

“Are you done being stubborn?” With a huff and a deep scowl, I nod. Before I can object again, he sweeps his arms under my knees and lifts me. “So, fucking stubborn,” he states with a grin.

He carries me silently up the stairs. I keep my eyes firmly facing forward. I can feel his breath on me. He smells of mints and aftershave. A yummy one that makes me want to inhale his scent.

He pushes open my bedroom door with his foot and carries me in. He gently sits me down on my bed. He then reaches for my other foot. “What are you doing?”

He arches a brow. “What it looks like. I’m helping you get ready for bed.”

“Like hell you are!” Hell will freeze over before I let him undress me.

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