35. Sam
SAM
Shoving the covers off my head, I grinned at Cass, perfectly content to watch her cringe and cover her eyes when she saw her arousal coating my lips.
“Problems?” I asked, coming to lay beside her, resting on my back as the afternoon light filled the room.
For the first time in two weeks, we had sunlight instead of snow.
I’d basically kept her pinned to the bed, forcing her to get the much-needed rest her body required.
The bruises were starting to fade and the cut on her eye was healing nicely.
It would take a hell of a lot longer for her leg to heal, but thankfully, that was the worst of her injuries.
“Ugh, I need this cast off.”
“Not if you want your leg to work right,” I retorted.
“Hey, I’ve let you keep me in bed for weeks now. But this can’t last forever. As much as I like having sex with you, I have things I need to do.”
“Yeah?” I rolled over, nipping at her breast before she could pull the sheet up. “Like what?”
“Like run a bookstore,” she giggled, pushing me away.
It wasn’t hard to keep her in bed. Hell, I’d been enjoying spending all my time between her legs.
Every way I could get her, any time— day or night—every second of it pushed me further from my goal, and deeper into her bed.
At times, I wondered if I should really go back to the ring or if I should just give it all up and settle down.
Settle down. That was something I’d never thought about. Even when I moved out here, I hadn’t really considered a life after boxing. I was supposed to be retired, but that drive I had inside kept me from actually finding my purpose in life after my career.
“It’s too soon for you to go back.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because you could hurt yourself. Just think of all the ice out there. What if you fall?”
“I could fall without a cast on,” she pointed out.
“Yes, but you’re in a full leg cast.”
“And how is that different from if I just had an ankle cast? I still wouldn’t be able to walk on it.”
“But this throws your balance all off. Trust me, I’ve watched you walk to the bathroom.”
“I’ll be fine,” she said, shifting to the edge of the bed. “Besides, my ass is going numb from being in bed for so long.”
Grabbing her arm, I did the only thing I could think of to keep her here. “You know, when I was about fifteen, one of my brothers was climbing a tree and fell.”
“Yeah?”
“Broke his arm,” I chuckled.
“And you find that funny?”
“If you had seen him fall, you would have laughed, too.”
“Speaking for the disabled, I do not find that funny.”
Grinning, I gave her a lay of the land. “He was stupid. Climbed all the way up there, and then thought he’d make it out on this thin branch that wouldn’t have held much more than a cat.
We all told him not to do it, but he insisted he’d be fine.
He slid across it, and that was it. The branch snapped, and he crashed to the ground. ”
She laid back in bed, smiling at me. “You’re very mean to your brothers.”
“No more than they were to me.”
“Weren’t you the oldest?”
“What’s your point?”
Shaking her head, she stared up at the ceiling. “I always wondered what it would be like to have siblings.”
“Your parents didn’t want more than one kid?”
“They stopped at perfection,” she grinned.
“Sure,” I rolled my eyes.
“What was it like?”
“Having brothers and a sister?” I thought back to my childhood. Aside from the depressing times, we mostly kept to ourselves. Yeah, we had friends, but nothing came between us. Things had changed a lot since we were kids.
“After my mom died… I guess we clung to each other. And of course, we had to take care of Blake—make sure she didn’t get herself into too much trouble.”
“Well, considering she threw a kid through my shop window, I’d say she can take care of herself just fine.”
“Maybe a little too well. She didn’t really get that feminine guidance a mother can provide.”
“I’m sure you were all more than enough,” she whispered, squeezing my hand. “She was lucky to have all of you.”
She looked back at the ceiling. “Just think, if I had siblings, I wouldn’t have needed you with me. I could have just had a sibling sleepover, and you would have gone on your merry way.”
“That’s highly unlikely.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because I like to fuck you too much.”
But just as I tried to kiss her, she rolled to the edge of the bed and sat up. “Thank you for telling me about your family. It was a nice effort. Really. I’m impressed you went to such great lengths to keep me in bed, but the day calls, and I have things to do.”
I glowered at her, but she just stuck out her tongue at me, refusing to give in. I didn’t like the idea of her going anywhere, but I had been ignoring Deke’s messages for a week, and if I did that for too much longer, he was going to leave.
“Fine, I’ll take you to the shop, but only for a few hours.”
She rolled her eyes at me as I walked around the bed to get her crutches. “Are you going to sit there and stare at me the whole time?”
“No. As much as I’d love to stare at you all day, I need to get back in the ring.”
I could have sworn I saw a flicker of disappointment in her eyes, but it was gone an instant later, replaced with a smile. “Well, I guess you’d better do that. We can’t have you getting flabby. How would you keep up your stamina when you’re fucking me?”
Chuckling, I bent over and pressed my lips to hers, nearly taking her back to bed. And I would have if it hadn’t been for the harsh shove she gave me, reminding me that she had other plans for the day.
“Tonight, and only after I’ve had my time at the bookstore.”
“Fine.”
It only took an hour to get her ready. Cleaning up was the hardest part since I hadn’t bothered to go out and get supplies to wrap her leg.
I told her the weather was too bad, but really, I just liked to give her sponge baths and wash her hair.
It occurred to me as I was helping her dry off that I might be taking things just a tad too far to keep her locked up in the house, but then again, she had been hit by a car, and the psycho was still out there.
My phone buzzed as I headed for the door. Cass was still hobbling around, grabbing all the stuff she needed to take with her, so I took a moment to check the messages, figuring it was another from Deke.
But it wasn’t.
Update. Meet at the station.
“Everything okay?”
“What?” I tucked my phone away and grabbed the bag from her hand.
“You were staring at your phone.”
“Oh, yeah. Just Deke asking when I’m getting back to the gym.”
“You didn’t answer him,” she pointed out.
“Well, he’s gonna see me in a few minutes, so I doubt it matters.”
She snorted at that, pushing past me. “Yeah, we’ll see if you actually leave the store.”
“Can you let me go first? Geez, woman. There’s ice everywhere!”
I hurried out in front of her, and as expected, the stairs were coated in ice. I’d have to pick up some salt since she insisted on going out. But for today, I’d have to carry her. There was no way she’d be able to walk on this shit.
“Give me your crutches.”
“I can’t walk without them.”
“You’re not walking. This is too dangerous. I’ll carry you.”
“That’s more dangerous than letting me walk on my own,” she argued.
“Cass, don’t fight me on this. We’re not leaving unless you let me carry you to the damn car.”
Her eyes blazed with fury and her jaw clenched hard, but finally, she gave in and handed the crutches over. She knew it was pointless to argue, and walking into town would not only take forever, but would also wear her out before she got there.
“Fine.”
“Thank you.”
“Oh, I’ll thank you later tonight, but not at all how you’d imagine,” she muttered.
I sighed heavily at her dramatics and hoisted her into my arms, very carefully walking across the ice and into the snow-covered lawn where there wasn’t any.
I didn’t like any of this. It felt wrong to take her out of the house where she could be injured, but I shoved that aside because I had to leave, too.
At least if she was at her bookshop, I could have someone else look after her.
Delaney and Josie would no doubt be in town, even in this weather. They could look in on her, and I knew JR was watching Josie like a hawk.
But as we pulled up to the bookstore, the dark interior had me rethinking my earlier plans. Could I really leave her here while I went to the police station? It didn’t seem like a very good plan, considering.
Cass was out of the car and pulling her crutches out before I could stop her. As I rushed around to her side, she made a point of getting to the door before I could stop her. With her keys in the lock, there was no going back now. I couldn’t just drive off and kidnap her for another day.
“Home sweet home,” she beamed as she shoved the door open.
I followed her inside, flicking on the lights as I took in our surroundings. Nothing seemed to be out of place, but I walked through, checking the windows and locks before allowing myself to admit that she was probably okay here for a few hours.
“Everything okay?” She smirked at me as I walked out of the back room.
“Yes, it’s fine.”
“Nobody was lurking in the bathroom? Ooh, what about the closet? Did you check there?”
“Do you want to get your ass beaten?”
“Promises, promises.”
Her playful tone had me lightening up just a bit, but I was far from ready to walk away without being one hundred percent certain that she was safe here. Her jaw dropped as I pulled out my phone and walked over to the window, staring out into the street.
“What are you doing?”
“Calling JR.”
“For what reason?”
But I ignored her when he picked up on the other end.
“This had better be good.”
“I’m assuming you’re in town.”
“And I’m assuming you have a reason to call me other than to be a pain in my ass.”
“I need a favor.”
I could practically hear his teeth grinding in irritation over the phone. “Everyone needs a favor.”
“Cass is at the shop. I need someone to stay with her for a few hours.”
“So, hire a babysitter.”
“I need you, and you know why.”