happen to the rest of my family. He might kill my family, but he would torture
Jason to death … and I’d have a front row seat to that show. I was not fucking
letting that happen.
“None needed,” he said with a scowl. “Now, sit down and shut your mouth
before I find a better use for it,” Darren said sternly, and the smile disappeared
from my face. I didn’t need to challenge him any more than I already had.
The rest of our breakfast was spent in silence, and when it was over, Darren took
a call rather than torture me further with some afternoon alone time. Instead, I was
escorted back to my suite by Hank and Blondie, where I spent the rest of my day
gazing out the window and had dinner alone. Eventually, the moon had risen,
shining above the clouds, and I wondered if Jason saw the exact same moon as I did.
Maybe it wasn’t as full wherever he was, or maybe it wasn’t as bright, but
tonight’s moon burned with the hope that he was safe with my mom and brothers
and that they were all right. I longed to be with them to the point of absolute agony.
I wanted to wrestle with my brothers and hear them laugh as I tickled the shit out
of them after a submission. I wanted to gossip with my mom about the latest
celebrity bullshit because she enjoyed making fun of them all just as much as I did.
But most of all, I just wanted to hear Jason’s voice one last time. I wanted to feel
every inch of him against me and never let him go. To see his rough, handsome face
and those gorgeous green eyes would be enough to make my entire heart melt all
over again, but the memory of him was only making it break deeper. My heart
ached for him like he was the blood missing from my veins. That night, I fell asleep
on the window nook with a river flowing down my face.
8
HOLLY
“Jaden. Jaden, wake up.”
I groaned and burrowed further into the pillow of the reading nook.
“Jaden, come on. Time to get up,” said a happy female voice I didn’t recognize.
“Fuck off,” I grumbled, pulling the blanket tighter around my shoulders.
Whoever it was gasped. “Such language.” And then she huffed. “Come on,
Jaden. Up, up, up.” She started clapping her hands together like that was somehow
the magic code to get me to rise.
I begrudgingly turned around and glared at whoever the fuck was waking me up
to find some petite young brunette with a way-too-happy round face and big white
teeth. I rolled my eyes. My new physical therapist.
“Ugh. Holly, right?” I asked with an irritated tone.
“That’s right,” she said with a bright smile as if she were super proud of her
name. Her lean, short figure was dressed in a sunflower yellow athletic tank top,
light gray knee-length athletic leggings, running shoes, and her hair was up in a
high ponytail with a matching yellow headband. She looked like a bee, buzzing
around and annoying already.
“Okay, look, Holly,” I said with a drawn-out yawn. “I don’t know what they told
you about me, but I don’t need your help. They’re just overreacting. I’m fine. So …
you can probably just go now.”
She gave me a very confused look, but then she smiled. I wasn’t going to deter
her from her mission.
“I was told you were going to difficult, but that’s okay,” she said with a smile. “I
understand it can be hard to get back on the saddle, and it can be even harder to
admit that you’ve fallen and can’t get back up in the first place, but don’t worry,
because I promise I will get you back up there in no time!”
Okay, now, her voice was annoying me. It was high pitched and almost nasally.
“Yeah, I’m gonna pass on that,” I said, giving her a disinterested look, and laid
back against the pillow, closing my eyes.
“Oh, come on, Jaden,” she said with that annoying cheery voice, but then she
made the mistake of putting her hands on my shoulder. “It’ll be fu—”
On pure instinct, I grabbed her narrow wrist and twisted it away from my
shoulder, holding it in place as I stared her down in warning. She gasped in shock
as she attempted to pull away.
“Look, Holly, I might be injured, but I can still hurt you. And I really don’t want
to do that. So please … just go.”
I released her wrist and turned back around, my back to her as I pulled the
blanket back up to my shoulders with every intention of going right back to sleep.
“Jaden, I really don’t want to have to alert Mr. Davis about this,” she said with
regret.
“Get him.”
