34. Chloe
34
CHLOE
F eeling concerned, I spun around and opened the door.
Until a few moments ago, I couldn’t wait to have Sean be powerless under my touch.
To hear him when he came.
I wanted him with an intensity that terrified me.
But now, all thoughts about sex fled my mind.
Henry was back. I ran out of my bedroom and saw movement in the kitchen.
As I watched, a white kitchen plate went crashing to the ground, breaking into pieces before it was followed by another.
Crash! Crash!
In another moment, clear glasses flew across the room and hit the wall, splintering to pieces.
In the center, Henry sat slumped in his wheelchair.
His chest was heaving, his nostrils were flared, and he wore an expression of righteous anger.
He moved his wheelchair over the broken pieces and reached for another plate from the counter when I called out to him.
“Henry,” I said, stepping over the shards of glass and ceramics on the floor as I went up to him.
I knelt down and put an arm around his shoulders.
He didn’t look at me, and I knew instantly this was one of Henry’s worst outbursts.
I ran through my mental list of what could have possibly set him off.
College … grades … classes?
Nope. I couldn’t think of any reason any of those would upset him so much.
But … was it something to do with his friends perhaps?
It had happened in the past. Henry’s accessibility issues meant waiting for the infrequent bus for him to get around instead of the subway, and sometimes, some of his friends “forgot” to invite him to things.
It made me mad, but Henry usually put on a brave, understanding front.
“What is it?” I asked, kneeling down to look him in the eye.
“Are you okay?”
“No, I’m not okay,” he announced, spinning around and staring at the fridge.
“I’m stuck and tired of being me.”
I followed his gaze and saw a picture on the fridge.
A photograph of him with some of his old school friends was taped to it—good friends who had moved out of New York recently.
“Ronan and the others from class went to the mall and asked me to join them. We took the bus, and it was good. No issues there. The problems arose when we got to one of the shops that Ronan wanted to buy a shirt from.”
I closed my eyes.
I had an idea what could have happened.
“The displays on the rack were too close to one another,” Henry explained, confirming what I’d feared.
His pupils dilated as his fingers clenched on the next kitchen plate, still whole.
“A rack of shirts caught in my wheel, and I tried to maneuver my way past it, but I toppled the entire rack.”
It wasn’t the first time this had occurred.
I watched, wondering if he was going to fling this plate on the ground too.
“You know what the worst part was?” Henry continued, the knuckles of his hands white as he clenched his fist around the ceramic plate.
The way someone reacted to him, I guessed.
“It was what the saleswoman said,” Henry raged.
“She spoke to me like I was a freaking five-year-old! Oh, aren’t you clumsy? She told me I needed to be more careful, but I could see from her face that she was definitely irritated and wanted to say much more.”
I hung my head.
“I’m tired of people being condescending to me just because I’m in a damn wheelchair. I’m not even spoken to as an adult!”
He raised his arm, ready to fling this plate on the ground, and I retreated, raising my arm in front of my face when I heard a noise behind us.
When I looked up, I saw a shadow darken the hallway and saw Sean.
He had heard everything.
“You’ll want to hold off on that,” Sean said, looking at Henry as he walked in and pulled me a few steps back.
He saw Henry’s questioning look.
“I don’t want the broken pieces to ricochet off the wall and hit your sister,” he said, his arm around my waist.
“I’m Will, by the way,” he said, extending an arm to the surprised Henry, who took it, shaking it in a stupefied way that told me Henry had completely forgotten about my date.
“I was out on a date with Chloe, and I’m just dropping her off.”
Henry turned to me.
“I’m sorry,” he said to me.
“I completely forgot about that.”
His gaze went to Sean’s arm around my waist. I tried to ignore the delicious feeling of Sean’s touch and failed.
“Here,” Sean said, bending to pick up the broken pieces off the ground.
“Let me help.”
Surprised, I joined Sean, bending down to pick up something just as he did, and our foreheads bumped lightly into each other.
We laughed, rubbing our heads, as Henry watched on, looking slightly mollified.
“Chloe, I feel terrible,” Henry blurted out.
“This was your night out, and I ruined it.”
I shook my head, but Henry continued to speak.
He turned to Sean, who had a questioning look on his face.
“Chloe’s not someone with time for a personal life. She works too hard. Whenever she’s home late, it’s always because she had to work. Her abysmal work hours are the reason she can’t complete the PMP certification course, like she wants to.” He looked disgusted.
“Her new boss is a taskmaster.”
I coughed loudly, and Sean turned to me, a look of amusement taking over.
Uh-oh .
“Really?” he asked Henry, narrowly avoiding stepping on one of the broken pieces of a plate.
He picked up another broken piece.
Henry rolled over to me on his wheelchair, extending his hand so I would follow him.
This time, I gave in, keeping him company in the hallway while I watched Sean in frustration.
Why was my boss cleaning up my floor?
“You must hear Chloe cursing her boss quite often then,” Sean added, his eyes full of humor.
The goose. He was deliberately ferreting out juicy details to taunt me with later, no doubt.
“Not really,” Henry said as Sean picked up the last few broken pieces of glass from the ground.
“Even on that night when I was running a fever, she gave me some meds and ran around the city, looking for some ridiculous Superman figurines for him without a single curse word.”
“Spider-Man,” Sean corrected immediately, but he gave me a look of surprise.
Henry looked at Sean.
“She told you about that, huh?” he said.
“Her boss is quite a crazy man. He doesn’t believe in letting his employees have a personal life.”
“I’m sorry—that you weren’t well that night.” Sean’s shoulders tensed as he walked out of the kitchen.
He shot me a quick look that implied he understood me a lot better.
Henry waved a hand in the air genially.
“Thank you, but it was a one-off thing. My doctor had changed my meds to a generic one, and I happened to get one of the side effects immediately. Chloe got me on the branded medicine, and her rat of a boss never sent her out on foolish errands at night again.”
Another bemused glance from Sean to me.
“She told me about the ridiculous boss, but not about your fever that night,” he said, a gentler note to his voice.
“It almost sounds like you need to confront your lousy boss, Chloe. Put him in his place.”
I gave him a small grin.
“You mean knock him down a peg or two? I’ll give it a shot.”
“Chloe never brings up my health issues if she can avoid it,” Henry said, gesturing for Sean to sit down, and I watched as I followed them to the living room.
“And usually, my health issues don’t trouble me much. It’s only isolated days like … well, today.” He looked contrite and turned to Sean.
“I’m sorry about tonight. I … I just got back from a night out with friends, and it had not gone well.”
Before Sean could respond, Henry turned to me.
“I’m sorry, sis.”
I attempted a shrug, but I felt tears prick at my eyes.
For a minute back there, Henry’s anger had scared me.
I hadn’t realized how he had been keeping his emotions pent up, and only nights like this were when he let loose.
“It’s okay,” I said, walking over to him and bending down to give him a hug.
He hugged me back, arms around my shoulders, and as I closed my eyes, he said, “You’re trembling.”
Sean helped me to the couch while Henry rolled back to the kitchen, where he put the kettle on.
In a minute, Henry made me a cup of chamomile tea while Sean went back to the parked car to grab the box of desserts.
“We’ve got some pastries here,” Sean said.
I walked into the kitchen and dug around for silverware and intact plates, trying to hide my emotions.
I wanted to cry. I’d been so close to having the perfect night, and it had been ruined.
Just like every other fun bit of my life.
For the next few minutes, Henry dug into the desserts in the living room, and I watched him eat in silence.
He’d chosen the ganache au chocolat, and I managed a smile when I saw him close his eyes after the first delicious bite.
I turned to Sean as he stood close to me.
“Don’t you want some dessert too?” he asked, but I shook my head.
“I’m not hungry. I’m just … shocked. I’ve never seen him this upset before. He’s never broken dishes before,” I murmured, my voice low while I picked up the broom and swept up the kitchen floor.
Sean’s gaze went back to Henry, who was searching for the TV remote, and I held my breath, waiting for the inevitable response that usually followed.
A sudden flurry of apologies, followed by a hurried exit.
I prepared myself for Henry’s crestfallen face when he realized yet another of my acquaintances was beating a hasty retreat.
The TV turned on to one of Henry’s favorite soccer games, and he settled in.
Right now would be the time that Sean would make his exit.
Polite, but one that clearly showed that he knew where his place was in this scene.
Out the door.
“Is that Manchester United?” Sean asked, nodding toward the TV.
Henry nodded.
Sean’s gaze fell to the object on the coffee table—a referee whistle, I realized.
“That’s a soccer whistle, isn’t it?” Sean asked.
What is Sean doing, dragging this moment out?
Henry looked at it and then laughed.
“Yes. I don’t play soccer anymore, but before my accident, I loved to. I still hope to be a referee someday.”
My gaze flicked back to Sean again, but this time, it was just him and his conversation with Henry.
“I’ve never understood soccer,” Sean admitted.
“I was a placekicker on our school’s football team and failed to understand so many of the rules that I was kicked out soon. The one time I tried to follow soccer, I had to give up when I couldn’t understand the offside rule.”
Henry laughed at that, but I could see his eyes light up with the challenge.
“I could explain it to you if you’d like,” he said, pushing his wheelchair back.
He turned to me. “If that’s okay with you?”
I opened and shut my mouth a few times.
Sean had just witnessed a scene that was worse than the one Will had been a spectator to.
And he was choosing to stay put?
It was tough on anyone, to be honest, if you just walked in and saw a person having a meltdown over a health condition that was not in their control.
As though confirming my suspicions, Sean answered Henry, “I’d love to hear it.”
In a few minutes, Henry and Sean were in a full-blown discussion that involved the saltshaker, a couple of pens, and an action figure from the mantelpiece.
There were a lot of questions from Sean and laughter and enthusiasm from Henry as he explained the goals and positions on the field.
I was officially blown away by the scene in my living room.
I watched as Sean shouted, “Offside!” as Henry, the pretend referee, moved his players around their imaginary field on the dining table and signaled for an offside offense by raising his miniature flag.
This was my first glimpse of Sean as someone more than just an arrogant boss.
When they were done a few minutes later, Sean ended by inviting Henry over to watch the next soccer game with him that weekend.
Henry was thrilled, but I tried to tamp down the nervousness in my belly.
Was it a good idea to see Sean again after tonight?
I watched as Henry waved goodbye to Sean.
I didn’t miss the happy look on Henry’s face before he disappeared into his bedroom.
He had enjoyed the last few minutes, talking soccer with Sean.
Sean turned me around, pulling me to his chest before I had time to blink.
I gazed into his beautiful brown eyes for a second before his head dipped and he was kissing my lips.
His hand wrapped around my waist, and my legs trembled under his touch.
I would never get used to the way my body reacted to his.
His lips were soft, full, and sweet—like sugar.
I could never tire of kissing them.
We kissed as if we’d been starved for each other for years, and his hand slipped to my butt, giving it a tight squeeze.
I was hopelessly lost to him.
When we finally broke apart, panting, even Sean’s eyes were dazed with passion.
His forehead touched mine as we closed our eyes for a moment, leaning against each other to catch our breaths.
I’d been happy to see Henry getting along with Sean, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up.
I didn’t want to imagine Sean and I could get together again.
I couldn’t bear to get close to someone else, only to get tossed aside later.
I needed to stop this now, before things got out of hand with Sean.
“What’s with that pained look?” Sean asked, biting down playfully on my ear.
I looked up at him, relieved that I didn’t have to pretend.
“I’m sad our night ended so abruptly. But thank you,” I said, recalling Sean’s kind offer to Henry.
It was more than I’d ever expected.
“That was really nice of you.”
Sean looked at me long and hard.
“You didn’t expect me to care about soccer?”
“Well,” I said, “no one has shown this much interest in Henry’s likes.”
Sean shook his head.
“That’s ridiculous, and it only makes me fearful of the kind of people you’ve been associating with, Chloe. Henry is fun and smart. He’s got a good knack for explaining things. I could see him as a soccer coach someday.”
I knew Henry’s hopes involved something along those lines, and I was always hesitant to encourage him in case his dreams didn’t work out.
Henry had never had much success in setting up a wheelchair soccer league, and I didn’t want more disappointment for him in the future.
“Besides, I would say tonight deserves a redo, don’t you think?” Sean asked.
“Especially since you promised to take your boss down a peg or two.”
I stared up at him, my mouth falling open.
“I knew you wouldn’t let it go easily.”
“Your words, not mine,” Sean said, the edge of his lips tilting up in a smile before he looked serious again.
“I understand now, Chloe,” he said, and I watched him warily.
“What do you understand?” I asked him, feeling overwhelmed.
Just how much had he gotten from this evening’s interaction?
“I understand why you don’t date,” Sean said.
“I understand your commitment to Henry. And why you feel like it’s impossible to juggle your loyalty to Henry with having a personal life of your own.”
I’d always believed Henry was an extension of me.
Especially after Dad left us and it was just us against the world.
Even though Henry and I were two different people, I was fiercely loyal to him, determined that nothing would come between us.
What had happened with Sean tonight was out of the ordinary, and I knew how to set things right.
“It’s okay if you want to cancel our Thursday evening bonding exercises with Lucas,” I told him.
“I’ll find a way to explain it to Lucas?—”
“Why would I need to do that?” Sean growled.
I stared at him. “You really mean to continue working with me after what happened between us tonight?”
Sean nodded.
“Nothing changes after tonight. I meant what I said about needing you and your help with Lucas. I keep my word, Chloe. Just like I said I would make sure you didn’t go without a job.”
My breaths came in faster as Sean took a step closer to me.
We were next to the doorway, out on the sidewalk, and the night outside was cool and quiet.
He was moving in, closer and closer, until I put my hand on his chest, stopping him.
I could spend another night with Sean.
What would it matter?
We would never get serious.
The worst that could happen was this experience would ruin other men for me— because no one else could hold a candle to Sean.
Ruining my future love life with anyone else wasn’t a problem.
Because I was never leaving Henry—ever.
So I had nothing to lose by giving Sean another night.
“On one condition,” I said.