9. Chapter 9
Glenda
Fucking dicks. All of them. I was sure they thought I wouldn’t hear all that but they had no right to talk about me in secret, anyway. And fucking Sam. So much for patient/doctor privilege. But I wasn’t surprised. All those guys always looked out for each other.
Technically Sam wasn’t part of RBMC, but his clinic was only as nice as it was now thanks to them. Plus, he’s Hammer's cousin. And a man.
“Fucking men.”
Linny nodded. “Yep. Fucking men. C’mon.”
She helped me to the bathroom. I drank so much coffee and hadn’t moved in a while so I wanted to pee.
Especially after Sam poked around some. Luckily, the tenderness in my gut was easing up well and my muscles were all moving better.
I just needed to move more to work out the tightness and stop getting winded so fast.
“I got it. Just stay close,” I told her. I was able to shuffle along on my own, but my bladder was so full.
She waited outside the door, but after I was done I called out, “I think I’m gonna take a bath.”
She knocked, then poked her head in. “I’m helping with this part.”
After getting the water running good and hot for me, she pulled the shower curtain to the shower/tub combo. “You good to undress?”
“Yep.”
“I’ll go find a fresh set of clothes but I’ll be right back,” Linny told me before leaving me to climb in alone.
Sinking down into the hot water carefully, I moaned as the water covered my achy muscles.
The door flew open and I moved the curtain, jumping when I saw Leigh instead of Linny. “Oh my God, learn to fucking knock!”
“You sounded like you were hurt, and I saw Linny going to the other room.”
“I’m relaxing. Or trying to, anyway. Run along to your brothers.”
Instead of leaving, he opened the cabinet beneath the sink and pulled out a box. He stepped closer, holding it out. I didn’t bother trying to cover myself even though he probably got a little nipple shot. Reaching for it, I said, “Huh,” as I looked at the box. “Epsom salts. You keep this stuff?”
“I do a lot of manual shit. It’s good for your muscles.”
“So,” I said with a brief pause before looking back up at him. “You take baths?”
His arm went to the wall, over his head, and he stared down.
Something about the way he looked at me sent a shot straight to my clit.
His hooded eyes glazed over the water, then up to my face.
But it wasn’t just hunger. It was too comfortable.
Possessive. Maybe not hiding was a bad idea, because why was he looking at me like he owned me?
“I do love a good bath sometimes.”
Staring into his dark eyes while the hot water engulfed me sent a sudden rush to all the places I was desperately trying to ignore. My fingers gave out, and I dropped the box.
“Shit.”
He grinned like he knew.
“Thanks for this. Sorry about the box.”
He shrugged. “It’ll dry. I can get more if not. Pour a heap in there with you. I’ll give you some privacy.”
He left and I poured some of the salts into the water and set the box down next to the tub.
Linny came back with some clothes, her brow cocked high. “Awkward,” she said as she put the clothes on the counter. “I grabbed your toothbrush and stuff too, and your bag is now in there.”
“Thanks. Do you think you can try to dry this off?” I asked, pointing to the box I’d dropped in the water.
She grabbed it then pulled a washcloth off from the linen closet. “So, what was that about?”
“He was just being a creeper,” I said as I used my feet and hands to swirl the salts until they dissolved. I wasn’t about to tell her he got me all hot and bothered with his roaming eyes. Why did I want him looking, anyway? Was I the creeper giving him a little show?
“Hello?”
I snapped out of it and said, “What?”
She giggled as she put the box on the counter then sat on the toilet. “I asked what he did. Why was he in here? Did he try to apologize?”
Rolling my eyes, I huffed. “Like that would happen. No, supposedly he thought something was wrong because I moaned.”
“So he was checking on you? Then gave you bath salts?”
“Well, when you say it that way…”
She stood back up and poked her head out, then shut the door and took her seat, leaning on her knees.
“Okay, look. I have been trying really hard to mind my business, but from the outside, it looks like this man is infatuated with you. Sam said you’re doing well.
You even said he was taking good care of you.
So just…” She ran her fingers through her fading green locks.
“Why the animosity towards him? It’s not like you, so there must be a story there.
I am all for hating him with you, but I need to know why. ”
Blowing a breath through puffed cheeks, I leaned my head against the tile. “There’s a lot of complicated stuff. But it’s his fault Reggie died.”
“I’m sorry. But what happened? How was it his fault?”
Staring up at her, I said, “I don’t expect you to hate him. But I don’t want to talk about this right now.”
She nodded, sitting up straight. “Well, here’s a clean rag. So can you tell me how you ended up in this room?”
After dipping down into the water to wet my hair, I started the process of washing as I told her the story of last night.
“I’m so sorry about the nightmare. I’ve had a few but none that have me waking up like that. I mostly just feel unsettled when I wake up.”
“I get them sometimes. Obviously for other stuff. It’s fine.”
“Other stuff? Like what you told me about the military?”
The first full night I hung out with Linny, I already knew we’d be besties.
I told her how my squad leader attacked me multiple times and Reggie was the one who stood up to him.
Except Reggie got booted out, so he lost his benefits.
They offered me an honorable discharge with my benefits to keep my mouth shut.
It wasn’t as simple as that, but in the end I was able to secure a check for myself and keep my insurance.
It wasn’t as much as if I’d stayed in, but after what happened and knowing they’d let that monster go free without even a demotion and Reggie was gone, I wanted out.
“Yeah. And when I found out about him… ya know. Among other things.” Still trying to keep all that shit stuffed far to the back of my mind, I stayed vague.
“Well, I’m on your side. You know that. But maybe group therapy wouldn’t be a bad thing.”
“I’m good, love. I don’t need it.”
Linny worried her lip. “Maybe private, then?”
I glared up at her.
“Look. I’m sorry. But Sam seems to know more about all of this stuff and he said it would be good for you.”
“Why don’t you go to therapy?”
“Maybe I should,” she said. “What if we went together? Hell, you know all the shit I went through before that night and that alone was enough to send a normal person over the edge. I probably need to get Sofie a therapist but her teacher says she’s the best kid in her class.”
“Kids are resilient. She’s a special girl.”
“She loves you to pieces.”
I started to tell her something else that happened, but decided against it. I already was fighting to push too many demons away. “I love her. Did they close the pool already?”
“Yeah. The temps dipped and the water was too cold. Bama tried to let her swim while I was stuck in bed a couple of days after and he scooped her out because her lips were blue.”
“Well dang. That was our fun time.” Sofie was my little buddy. And for as much shit as she’d been through and seen, she really was well adjusted. But who knows, maybe later in life she’d have to unpack all this shit on someone.
After I finished washing and the water started to turn cold, Linny helped me out.
Once I got dried off and wrapped a towel around me, I sighed. “Man, that was great. I love being in water.”
“I will say, I enjoyed the pool immensely. And the beach when we went. Why can’t every day be like that?”
We’d gone to Thunder Beach just a couple weeks back. Sofie and I made sand castles, swam in the ocean with Linny, and we even talked Ollie into burying him in the sand. Now, he was gone.
“It was a good trip,” I said. But the silence that fell in the bathroom after that was thick. I wondered if she thought the same thing but didn’t want to keep dwelling on sad stuff.
Once I brushed my teeth, hair, and got dressed, Linny asked, “What do you wanna do now?”
“Sorry you’re stuck here with me, girl,” I said. “We can sit outside. The fresh air was nice. I watched so many cooking shows the last few days. I'm good on TV for now.”
We headed out back and I was able to walk unassisted, still slow, though. Leigh pulled the table over so we had a spot for our drinks he made.
“Found a deck of cards,” he said. “Should you be out here with wet hair?”
I giggled. “Oh my God. You can’t get sick from wet hair outside. Plus it’s not even that cold.”
Linny grabbed the deck of cards, fighting a grin.
“Well, my bad. That’s what my Mawmaw always said.”
Linny crooned. “Aww. Your Mawmaw? Is she still alive?”
He shook his head. “Naw. Been gone a while. Sweet woman, though.”
Leigh went inside briefly, then came back out with a trash bag. “C’mon, Bruce.” He walked down the steps on the back porch and Bruce followed.
We watched as he walked across the yard and took a full trash bag out of the fence.
“His Mawmaw. How cute.”
Whipping my head to her, she put her hands up.
“But eww, bad Leigh. Fuck that guy and his serving us drinks and bringing us cards,” she joked as she shuffled the cards.
“You a card shark?”
She grinned. “I think you mean card sharp. But I’ve been at the clubhouse nearly two weeks and it used to be a casino. It was only a matter of time before I became an expert.” Just as she said that, the shuffle she was doing sent cards in various directions, some landing on the deck.
“Expert, you say. And card shark is socially acceptable now. We jacked it up so often that it just became a thing, but you’re right. It was originally sharp.”
“Do you play poker a lot?”
I shrugged. More fucked up Glenda lore. “I know some. Plus being in the military and hanging with these guys, you spend a lot of time in billiards rooms.”
“So you play pool, too?” she asked.
“What about the pool?” Leigh asked from the bottom of the steps.
I was about to tell him to mind his business, but Linny cut in. “We were talking about that earlier. Sucks the pool at the clubhouse is closed. But we were talking about shooting pool. Like eight ball.”
Leigh finally made it up the steps, Bruce passing him to take his place at my side.
I sipped my diet soda with a shit-eating grin. “Bruce loves me.”
“What’s not to love?” Leigh asked.
Linny’s brows shot high as she finally organized the deck and started dealing.
“You liked the pool?” he asked.
Grabbing the cards, I said, “Yeah. The bath was nice and I was saying how good it was to be in the water, and asked if the pool was still open.”
“Hammer said it was getting too cold, so he closed it up for the winter.”
Laying two cards down, I said, “Hit me.” I grabbed my new cards from the stack. “Hot water is probably better for me right now, anyway. But I do love to swim. Or just soak.”
“Mmmm, remember when we said we needed a hot tub at the clubhouse?” Linny said as she dropped a card and picked up another. “We need to revisit that.”
“I bet I could talk Hammer into it. He likes me.”
“That won’t be anytime soon,” Leigh said before walking back inside.
Linny smirked. “Okay, then.”
“Yeah he thinks he’s gonna hold me hostage here.” I laid my hand down.
She laid hers down and smiled. “I win.” She grabbed the deck and shuffled again. “How you bustin’ out, then?”
“That I don’t know yet. I don’t want to put you in a weird spot with Bama because it’ll just cause shit with the brothers. But I’ll figure something out.”
“They took your car back to the clubhouse already.”
“That’s good, I guess.” I loved that car. I worked my ass off to scrounge up the money for it and had it before I went to bootcamp.
“What do y’all want for lunch?” Leigh asked as he poked his head out the door.
“Steak and lobster,” I answered as I dropped two cards and grabbed two more. Her shuffles sucked.
We played several more games, and I eventually won three in a row. I ended up getting to deal eventually.
We were chatting about bullshit and laughing, enjoying the crisp weather. I didn’t realize how much time had passed, but Leigh barged out the door with two plates and some silverware, including knives.
We both looked up but didn’t say anything as he quickly walked back inside. Seconds later, he returned with a large brown bag and put it down before he started pulling out black to-go boxes.
I set my cards down and pulled the first box open to discover a steak and a foil wrapped potato. “What the?”
Leigh set down condiments, then took the bag away.
“Girl, there is lobster in here,” Linny said with wide eyes.
I opened the other black box and sure enough, a lobster tail split, and from the looks of it, perfectly cooked. “Holy shit.”
Looking down, there were little containers of drawn butter, packets of butter for the potatoes, sour cream, and little steak sauces.
“Ask for a boat,” Linny said.
I just kept staring down at the meal. “I was being sarcastic.” Leigh brought two cans of soda out, then started to walk back inside.
Linny was already prepping her potato and said, “Hey, thank you.”
“You bet,” he answered before he left.
“This is so good,” Linny said, pulling a piece of lobster off. I grimaced at her so she held her hands up. “But fuck that guy.”
Glancing back at the door, I was annoyed that he kept doing things to chip away at the rage I usually felt when I looked at him.