"Jasper, we're going to have to leave for your therapy session soon. Just do this one thing for me and then you can get back to watching TV," Francesco said calmly.
Sighing, I picked up the marble and threw it in the jar with a clatter just to get him off my back. I could do things if I wanted. But the part of me that had wanted things now seemed like a far away memory. I mean, why bother?
Francesco, however, beamed at me like I was a baby who had just learned to take his first steps.
"Good. That was good, Jasper. Grazie. I'll go make you something for lunch and then we can go for therapy," he told me and headed off to the kitchen.
Cole was wasting precious money hiring this loon. I could take myself to physical therapy and heat up canned stuff for my meals. I didn't need a nurse. But I was an invalid so who the fuck would listen to me?
Cole Sawyer had simply insisted I was going to have a nurse and refused to change his mind. So I felt like showing him exactly how pathetic this guy was. That he was not contributing to my recovery in any way. That nothing he did was helping. He was useless.
The front door opened and she walked inside dragging a suitcase behind her.
I stared. What the fuck? So she was just going to move back in now? As if the past three months had never happened? Like she was entitled to pick up where she left off just because my boyfriend was too soft for his own good? Christ.
And once again, nobody valued my opinion. Nobody cared that this was my house too and my life so if I didn't want her in, she damn well needed to respect that.
I said nothing and glared at the TV as she made her way inside and chatted with Francesco, introducing herself. Maybe if I ignored her, she will get the message I tried to convey to her this morning. To leave me the fuck alone. I didn't want her or her pity. She wouldn't have returned if I had been walking tall and proud somewhere.
My ears perked up when I heard her on the phone with Cole. They chatted for a while and then she walked over to me and held the phone out.
"Cole wants to talk to you," she said in a business-like tone.
Irritation spiked through me and I wanted to swipe the phone away. I ignored her instead. Skye let out a breath and sat next to me on the couch. God, her perfume, that sweet vanilla scent. It made me want to...
"Jasper-"
"Tell him to call on my phone if he wants to talk to me," I snapped, wishing I could just get up and leave. But then...Francesco would win.
"Fine." She relayed the message to Cole and hung up but did not move away from me. A few seconds later, my phone started ringing next to me. I ignored that too.
Yeah. Pretty mature.
Skye leaned forward to get me to look at her. I didn't. The phone continued ringing. I continued to watch TV like I could not hear it. Skye puffed out another breath, got up and walked away. I finally answered the call with a cheerful hello.
"Hi, baby." Cole sounded really happy after a long time. Well, of course. I just made him angry and bitter now. Skye's arrival changed everything. She was like his very own personal ray of sunshine.
"Everything cool over there?" my boyfriend asked me.
"Yeah. Everything's great. I'm being a good little dog and all. Playing fetch when the nurse tells me to."
He was quiet. Probably thinking how much of an ass I am and what he must have done to piss off the good Lord so much that he got stuck with me.
"Skye's going to go with you to physical therapy okay," Cole finally spoke up. "For moral support."
"No." Anger pricked through me again.
"Jasper, come on. You can't stay mad at her-"
"No, Cole. You can't," I told him firmly. "You know why? Because you're a fucking pussy. And I'm not so - to hell with you and your directives. You don't get to call the shots every time. If she goes with me, I will make you both regret it."
"What the hell, Wells?" he bit out in exasperation. "Why do you have to be so fucking dramatic? You know why she left. It wasn't because she didn't care about you."
"Tell her to leave me the fuck alone or else she's going to be sorry!" I yelled into the phone and my breathing started to come quickly, growing more shallow.
"Okay, okay. Just calm down."
"Don't you fucking tell me to calm down! I'm not fragile, do you hear me?! Stop treating me like I'm going to drop dead on the spot just because I'm getting pissed off."
"Jasper, please-"
"God, I fucking hate you! I hate how you've become, Cole."
"Well, I hate how you've become too. You can't even appreciate that I'm just doing my best to look after you, make sure you get better-"
"I don't want you to!" I screamed. "I want you to stop. Just fucking stop acting like my mother. Call off your dogs and let me live in peace."
He paused for several long moments and I could hear him breathing slowly, probably trying to regain control of his temper. Good old Cole. Always so forgiving. Pussy.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, okay. Just...please go to therapy today. Go with Francesco. We'll talk tonight. I love you."
I disconnected the call without replying.
I didn't need his love either.
***
For the first time in three months, my loving, too-good boyfriend did not come home at five.
