Page 26 of Rushed: Christopher

Pain slashed through me as the pieces clicked into place. He’d driven me to Dr. Kleinman’s office because of my hand, and he’d stayed the night because they’d given me something for the pain. Dr. Kleinman had made him feel obligated to stay.

So all that talk about how beautiful I was while I slept…

I shook my head in disbelief as I realized I’d repeated the same mistakes that had left me in the position I was in.

They’d just been pretty words, probably spoken out of pity, especially after I’d instigated the whole thing by kissing his finger.

As my mind began to replay the events of the last twenty-four hours at a rapid rate, his words from the day before hit me like a ton of bricks. He’d said them just before I’d fallen asleep in the car. I’d asked him if he’d ever found love. Despite being half-asleep, I still remembered how the words had cut through me.

Not yet. But I think all of that is about to change.

He was with someone. Someone important. Someone he was falling in love with. How had I forgotten that?

“Christopher?”

Rush’s confusion was clear. Probably because I was still practically sitting on his lap.

“Sorry,” I muttered and made a move to climb off him, but his hands closed around my hips. Startled, I lifted my eyes to meet his.

“What just happened?” Rush asked.

“Nothing,” I murmured. “You’re right, it’s time to take my medicine.”

I made another move to extricate myself from his hold, but he wouldn’t release me. His eyes had gone from soft to hard just like that, and like when I’d first met him, I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

It was unnerving as hell.

Especially since he wasn’t letting me go so we could just pretend the whole thing hadn’t happened.

“What just happened, Christopher?” Rush repeated, his voice a hell of a lot sterner this time around.

My response was the usual one.

Escape.

Just escape.

“Let go,” I ordered because anger and escape worked better together.

“Not until you tell me what the fuck happened in the last two minutes. I’m going to need a little bit more explanation as to why I went from having the best orgasm of my entire life followed by a level of intimacy I’ve never known with anyone to you wanting to get as far away from me as you can,” Rush bit out.

I stilled at his words. He’d come too? I automatically looked down at his lap.

“Need proof?” Rush asked angrily.

He grabbed my uninjured hand and settled it on his jeans. Hisdampjeans.

Lies. Just lies, the insidious voice in my head whispered.Like Peter’s.

Desperation had me shoving both hands hard against Rush’s chest. He finally released his hold on my hips but only so he could grab my wrists instead. I climbed off him and prepared to fight to make him release me.

“Just wait, Christopher. Make sure you’re steady on your feet first,” Rush said. It was then that I realized he wasn’t holding on to my wrists with much force. If anything, he was acting as a physical support to keep me from losing my balance.

Which I nearly did because my legs felt like noodles.

“I’m good,” I said after a minute because I really needed to put some distance between him and me.

A strange stand-off began as we stared at one another. But while I was wary and waiting for him to try and grab me again, Rush just looked… disappointed. After several beats, Rush dropped his eyes and ran his palms over his thighs.

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