Chapter 34
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
JADE
“Everywhere I turned, he was there. Tearing open my chest and burrowing inside my ribcage.” - Clara Foss, Painted Inferno
Afrown pulls the corners of my lips downward as I pick up my phone and see the battery died. I didn’t even notice it was that low. I want to text Matteo after I just tuned back into the game and saw he got a game misconduct for fighting.
I didn’t even see the fight happen.
A soft knock on the door pulls my attention and I set my phone on the bed, lifting my gaze to the nurse who ducks in. It’s the first face I’ve seen in a while, other than Ellie’s.
Which she’s quietly snoring from the chair, her head tipped back and her mouth wide open.
“Hi, Jade,” the nurse says quietly, glancing at Ellie and then back at me. “We’re still waiting on the doctor to sign off on the discharge instructions and then we’ll get you out of here.”
“Do you know how much longer?”
She lets out a sigh. “I don’t, I’m sorry.” She purses her lips, rolling her wrist to check her watch. “Do you need anything?”
There’s commotion out in the hallway, although I’m not sure what’s going on out there. “Sir, your room is back here!” A voice echoes in the distance.
“No, I’m okay,” I smile at her, shaking my head. “What’s going on?”
“Probably someone who’s drunk,” she says, glancing over her shoulder as footsteps get louder. “Just press your call button if you need anything,” she reminds me as she pulls the door open.
“I’m looking for my girlfriend, Jade Wilson. I need to see her immediately.”
My stomach flips as I immediately recognize his voice. I sit up straighter in my bed. “Matteo?”
His girlfriend?
Footsteps get louder and the nurse pauses in the doorway right as I see Matteo through the opening. “Do you know where I can find her?” He peers through the gap in between the nurse and the doorjamb. “Oh, Sunny,” he sighs a breath of relief, the inner corners of his eyebrows furrowing.
“Matty! You need to get to your bay to get your hand looked at.”
“Excuse me, sir,” the nurse starts, glancing over her shoulder at me first. Matteo’s eyes are locked on mine.
My heart beats harder. “It’s okay, he can come in.”
She steps out of the way and Matteo strides toward me, immediately closing the distance as he walks over to the side of the bed. He leans forward, his right hand cupping the side of my face only.
His lip is busted open and there’s another small cut and bruise above his eyebrow. What the hell?
“Sunny, baby, are you okay?” His eyes quickly scan my face. “I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner.”
I tip my chin down, a smile tugging on my lips as I shake my head. “I’m okay. And it’s okay. I didn’t want you to worry over nothing.”
“It’s not nothing,” he rasps, his brow furrowing. “It’s never nothing with you.”
“Matty, what the hell?” A man’s voice calls from the doorway. “You need to get back to your bay so the doctor can check you out.”
My face contorts with worry and I stare up at him. “What’s going on?”
“I’m fine. I’m here for you. My shit can come later.”
“Jesus,” the guy wearing an Ice Hawks sweatshirt sighs from the doorway. “Can you tell him he needs to go back?” he asks the nurse.
Matteo cuts his eyes at him over his shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere until she is. No one is touching my hand until Jade is okay.”
“Matteo,” I say softly, reaching for his face to pull him back to look at me. “I’m okay. It’s nothing serious and I’m waiting to get discharged.” My eyes search his. “I’ll tell you all about it when we get home.”
He pulls away from me, searching my eyes. “Home?” His voice is barely audible. “Are you coming home with me then?”
I roll my lips between my teeth, nodding. “Wherever you are is where I want to be.” I stroke his cheek with my thumb as his eyes shimmer back at me.
“I’m going to go find the vending machines or something,” Ellie chimes in out of nowhere.
“I’ll come with you,” the guy who came with Matteo says before the two of them head out of the room. The nurse walks back in with an icepack and hands it to Matteo before she leaves us alone.
I lift my eyebrows at Matteo as he sits down on the bed and covers his left hand with the ice pack. “What do the doctors need to check out?”
He blows out a breath, ducking his eyes as he shakes his head. “My hand.” He looks back up at me. “I got in a fight.”
“I saw you got a game misconduct for a fight, but I was checking out some other channels and missed it.” He lifts the pack of ice, revealing a swollen, bruised hand on his lap. “Oh my goodness.”
“Yeah, it’s broken…” His voice trails off and he shrugs his shoulders with indifference and covers his hand again. “It was worth it.”
My brow furrows. “Why the hell did you get in a fight?”
I know it was with Aiden because when I flipped back to the channel, he was sitting in the penalty box due to fighting.
His eyes grow distant for a moment and he purses his lips, shaking away whatever that was. “It doesn’t matter anymore. You’re okay and that’s all that matters.”
“You stupid, crazy man,” I laugh quietly, reaching for him again.
He looks at me and that stupid grin I’ve fallen in love with pulls across his lips. “Crazy about you, Sunny. Only ever you.”
My breath catches in my throat. “I—uh—I wanted to talk to you about some stuff.”
He shakes his head. “It’s okay, Sunny. It can wait until later.”
“No, it can’t,” I say in a rush, my eyes searching his as I scoot closer to him. I reach up to his face, cupping either side with my hands. The words tumble from my lips without another moment of hesitation. “I’m in love with you, Matteo. I should have told you sooner, but I was afraid.”
“Sunny,” he rasps, lifting his right hand to brush the hair from my face. He tucks it around my ear. “I know,” he murmurs, his tongue darting out to wet his lips. “You scare the shit out of me, but I know you’re worth the risk.”
“I shouldn’t have let what those women said get to me. I should have listened to you… should have trusted you.” I slowly search his eyes. “We all have pasts, but that’s where it should stay. In the past. It doesn’t define you and it doesn’t make you who you are.”
“I would have never even looked at any of those women if I knew one day I would find you,” he says. “However, I don’t regret anything that’s happened in my life because ultimately, it led me to you.”
Warmth spreads through my chest and my heart constricts. “You called me your girlfriend.”
Mischief dances in his eyes as he smirks. “I’m manifesting, baby.”
My stomach flutters. “Can we maybe make that a thing?”
His brow furrows. “Manifesting?”
“No,” I giggle, shaking my head. “Me being your girlfriend.”
His eyes widen slightly, and he tilts his head to the side. “Seriously?”
“Yes, seriously,” I assure him, my voice soft. “I’m ready to risk it all with you, Matteo.”
His expression warms and he stares back at me, his gaze unwavering, resting on mine with nothing but tender adoration. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” I say, the intensity of his eyes filling me to the brim with something I’ve never truly felt with anyone before. Love. I pull his face closer to mine, his mouth but a breath away. “I am.”
And then his lips find mine… just as they always have a habit of doing.