His Rebound Love

by Melissa Bender

  I glanced over, rubbing her shoulder soothingly. “I thought you might be hungry.”

  “You cooked?” She looked half-asleep still as she sunk back down beneath the covers. “You’ve never cooked for me.”

  “I wanted to take care of you.” It was no big deal. I sat my laptop aside and lay down on the bed with her, wrapping my arms around her and drawing her in back close. I opted for a light-hearted approach to make her smile. “So, four kids, huh?”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  SIENNA

  I stretched out in the ambulance, yawning as I did so. Archer glanced over, making a right turn as he drove us back to the hospital. I was spent, utterly exhausted, and just wanted to crawl into Jax’s bed and pass out.

  Like I would want to go back to my own bed after sleeping in his all week. I missed him. I had always loved shift work, and now I was beginning to hate it.

  “Have much on this weekend?” Archer finally asked, obviously trying to keep me awake. “Going out with the boyfriend?”

  “Jealous?” I rebutted, knowing he did not like Jackson one bit. “I normally see him each weekend.” When I wasn’t working, that was.

  “Why would I be jealous?” His upper lip twitched. “I’m just concerned for you, being the rebound and all. You know what they say, you’re just the pussy to get over the last one.”

  “Why would you even say such a thing to me?” I rolled my eyes, waking up more. “If I was the pu—If I were just that, then he wouldn’t have taken me away for a long weekend. Plus, it was love... can’t put a downer on me sorry. I’m crazy about him.”

  He began to laugh, shaking his head as if I was stupid. “So, innocent, men will do anything for a bit of sex. I bet that’s all you two do, shag in every room and not leave the house.”

  I hated to admit it, but he was right. We had spent an incredible weekend away, and sure, we had sex in every room and outdoors too, but we went for a hike and cooked dinner together. It was hardly just sex. We explored and took some great pictures of us together.

  I gave a shrug back, ignoring him. “Like I said, you’re just jealous.”

  “What’s to be jealous about?” His grip on the steering wheel tightened. “I get laid just fine, thanks.”

  “I have no doubt about that,” I said, glancing back over. I did not doubt that for a second. He was a ladies’ man and loved to flirt on the job. He played up being an ambo with the ladies at times. His black hair was messy from wearing his cap earlier when we took a walk. The sun was incredibly hot, exhausting me. I couldn’t wait for today to be over with.

  “I’m putting in a transfer.”

  Noticing his jaw clenching when he caught me staring, I frowned. “What? Why?”

  With a shrug, he replied. “I’m moving. Feel like a change.”

  “Thanks for the heads up.” I murmured and brought the bottle of water to my lips. “I hope it goes well for you.”

  His words annoyed me, trying to make me think I was just a rebound girl. Jackson was serious. How did I know it was serious? Well, blowing inside me for one and telling me he loved me.

  Silence followed as we made our way back to the hospital. We were almost there when another call out came through the radio, three vehicle pile-up and two trapped. It was going to be a long day. Getting covered in blood and vomit from a drunk driver trying to flee the scene with a head wound just made the day even better.

  My head hit the pillow when I returned home. The annoying part was that I couldn’t fall asleep. My body was tired, my eyes were tied, but I just couldn’t fall asleep. I was restless. Reaching over, I picked up my watch and scanned the time. It was only four pm. I had tomorrow off, which was a blessing because I really didn’t want to work. I needed a me day.

  Getting up and putting on an oversized slouchy tee, I pulled on some black three-fourth leggings and tied my hair up. If I could not sleep, then I would laze about on the couch with a salted caramel coffee, red velvet cake, and some Full House, thanks to Jax setting up his Netflix account in my apartment so I could now watch too.

  The coffee woke me up, the cake made me feel disgusting—since I had eaten two rather large slices—and Danny Tanner was making me swoon. There was something about men with babies… babies. I couldn’t deny, it made me think about Jackson holding a baby, our baby. We had not been together for long, but I was looking forward to baby-making time with him.

  In a few years perhaps. We needed us time. I wanted to travel the world with him and buy a house first.

  I heard a knock on the door. My smile was instant, and my heart began to race. That man needed a key pronto! Maybe it was too soon, but it was not like we lived in each other’s back pockets. We still held separate lives.

  “We should totally key swap soon…” I began calling out, but my smile soon disappeared as I pulled open the door and was met with someone, who wasn’t my boyfriend.

  A smirk played on her full, pink lips, taunting me. “Don’t you think it’s a little too soon? I mean, we hardly know each other. But hey, I’m up for a new bestie!”

  “I think you have the wrong door,” Trying not to curse under my breath, I weakly muttered a reply. I didn’t know how I even managed to get those words out. The pang of jealousy hit hard as his ex, Jasmine, stood in front of me, a bombshell—a skinny, blonde, bombshell.

  About to shut the door, she shoved a red heel firmly against the door, leaving a scuff mark. “Is Jackson here? It’s urgent I speak with him.” She was not harsh or rude. She just sounded panicked, upset even, which made it more baffling. What could she possibly need after all this time apart?

  I shaking my head because he wasn’t. Even if he was were, I would have still said no to her. “Sorry, can’t help you.” I won’t help you. “I think you should leave.”

  Her gaze dropped down, her shoulders slumping. Her black dress was immaculate, and her hair appeared salon fresh. I hated that she was so put together. “You must think I’m a bitch for what I’ve done to him.”

  I completely agree there, but it was not my fight, and I did not want to start something. “Look, I’m not getting involved with what happened. You two broke up, and now we’re dating, so please? Can you just leave?” He’s with me, end of story.

  I noticed her light blue eyes scan over me, and I somewhat regretted my comfortable clothing as she sized me up. I did not care. I had done the exact same thing to her. “I don’t get it. What do you have that I don’t?”

  Umm, maybe a pair of hips to grab onto when he bended me over? A set of luscious tits that bounced in his face when I was on top riding him. An ass that he loved to grab. Plump lips that, well… Really, the list was endless.

  My remark was meant to be polite, but I unfortunately put my foot in my mouth before thinking, and I screwed that all up. “I’m faithful.”

  “You don’t know the full story.” Her eyes landed back on mine, pointing a perfectly manicured nail in my direction. “Tell Jackson I want to talk, and he better make time for me, or I’ll cause one hell of a scene in his work.”

  At this point, I slammed the door shut in her face before I slapped a bitch down.

  How dare she?

  God, I was fuming mad! I marched straight over to the fridge, pulled the cake out, and grabbed a fork. Screw eating just a piece. I was far too agitated to care anymore. This day was getting worse by the hour. First Archer, the mail, and now this with her.

  When a knock on the door came twenty minutes later, I ignored it. I could not face him. How was I meant to bring this up? Just the thought of her and him together boiled my blood. Or, maybe what I was so afraid of was his reaction to her name. It scared me that maybe, deep down, he was not over her.

  Archer’s words rang through my head once more. Just the rebound. A pussy for him to fuck.

  When another knock banged louder on the door, I set the fork in the middle of the cake and answered it, putting the guy out of his misery. I should not take my bad mood out on him. I checked the peephole, making su
re it was not another unwelcome visitor, before I opened the door, revealing my casual dress code of laziness.

  There he stood, holding a bunch of red roses, like on our first date. Not as many, but less to water. More importantly, he was wearing a suit, and I loved it when he wore then. I loved to straddle his lap, grinding on him and making out when he was in full work gear.

  “Hey, beautiful.” His words instantly took the anger away, soothing me. I felt the heat from his strong arms wrap around my body as he held me close and placed a firm kiss on my forehead. “I’ve missed you today.”

  “I missed you, too,” I whispered the words back because I was about to destroy this little loved up embrace we were in with my next words. “Jasmine just stopped by.”

  His whole body stiffened. Only a mere second, but long enough for me to notice. Our hug ended all too quickly as he stepped back and shrugged off his jacket. His voice kept calm. “What did she want?”

  “You.” Obviously. I couldn’t help the eye roll. “Is she calling you again?”

  He turned around, looking at me before he finally nodded. “Yes.”

  “How about you change your number, then?” I suggested, the sarcasm thick with each word. It was an easy solution, a way to fix things and put an end to it all. “Or do you not like that idea?”

  He sighed, and I have no clue what for. He shouldn’t be the one sighing. I should be. “If I get a new number, she can easily get that one too. Just ignore her.”

  “She was at my apartment door, Jackson. It’s a bit hard to ignore the woman when she was standing right in front of me.” My voice was raising. “I wanted to punch her.” I was hurt he wasn’t considering my feelings as much as he should have.

  He looked at me, surprised by my admission of anger. I did not like violence at all and tried anything to avoid it. “Ignore her. She’ll go away eventually.”

  Go away eventually? I couldn’t believe he said that. Did he like her still? “Do you still love her?”

  His blue eyes looked darker, stormy. “No. Don’t ever ask me that again, Sienna.”

  I stood there, anger gripping at me. “Well, what am I meant to think?” I didn’t want to fight, I needed to cool off. “You didn’t answer my question.”

  “I’m not going to answer it. You already know the answer.” He glared at me, his gaze heated. I did know it, but it would be nice for him to reassure me again. His eyes went over to the cake, and he raised a brow but said nothing about it as he reached for the fork and proceeded to eat a piece. “My sister called.”

  “Is she pregnant?”

  “No, she mentioned you ignoring her calls.” He leant back against the counter then tossed the fork into the sink. “Why aren’t you answering her?”

  I glanced over to my phone that lay on the couch. She had called a dozen times, and I had missed each one. Not purposely, though. “She calls when I’m out in the ambulance. She wants me to get her an appointment with the head gynaecologist, and I can’t pull favours like that, Jax. She needs a referral like anyone else. I told her this, but she keeps ignoring me, asking when she can see him.”

  His sister or not, I wouldn’t be asking for favours with anybody.

  “What?” His dark brows shot up as he walked closer to me, pulling me back in the embrace I were in moments ago. “She didn’t mention that. Just you ignoring her.”

  “Why would I ignore her for? I assumed she wanted to grab lunch or a coffee, but it was just about an appointment, that’s it.” It had hurt my feelings. Here I was thinking that my boyfriend’s sister wanted to get together and become friends, but it was quite the opposite. “It doesn’t matter, anyway.” My arms squeezed him tighter around the waist. “How was work?”

  The buzzing from his pocket interrupted us. His arms loosened, and he pulled his phone out, looking at the caller ID. “Work is work,” he replied, silencing the call and sitting it on the counter, face down. “I’m going to take a shower before we leave. I’ll be back soon.”

  I stood in the kitchen, frowning at the now closed door from when he left minutes ago, and tried to figure out what had just happened. He did not even kiss me. For the first time since we started dating, he had not kissed me goodbye. I was reading too much into it.

  I was going to sit back on the couch when I heard the phone ring, assuming it was mine, until I noticed his was sitting on the counter still. Leave it, I told myself. I had no reason not to trust him… but as the phone kept ringing, I could not help but think that it might be his mother or someone from work.

  It wasn’t. Jasmine’s name was lit up on the screen, along with eight missed calls to him. I had to smile as his background was of the dogs and I, a photo he had taken one Saturday morning at the park. I pressed the photo icon, searching back for photos of him and me when we took our trip away. I wanted to send some to my phone. I swiped up further than I had intended and ended up wishing I hadn’t touch his damn phone. Photos among photos were of her, still there, undeleted.

  The knot in my gut ached, and my heart grew heavy. It became clear that he still did love her.

  He returned forty minutes later, and the urge to eat was long gone. I suggested we stay in, have something easy, and he did not put up much of a fight with that suggestion. We had dinner on the couch, and barely did any talking.

  I think we were fighting, but I was not sure as no words were being said.

  “Is everything okay?” he finally asked. “You’ve been quiet since I came back.”

  Well, if you’d seen photos of an ex in my phone, then you’d feel the same way. I said nothing of that sort, and sighed heavily. “I’m just tired.” It was half-true, half a lie. “Just a busy day.” I could not hold it in any longer. “I feel like you don’t care that she turned up here.”

  Once again, silence ate us up. He did not move aside, which was a relief, but the silence was unnerving. “I do care.” His hand reached over, taking mine and interlacing our fingers together. “I hate that she came to you.”

  I tried to look away, blinking back the tears that threatened to spill. “What if she convinces you to go back to her?”

  “Sienna,” he said, his voice more forceful. He brushed his thumb over my chin, tracing its way to my mouth. “I promise you that I won’t. I love you, only you… and it’s always only going to be you until—”

  “Oh please, continue. I’m dying to hear the end of this.” I was very eager indeed.

  “Until we have kids, four to be exact.”

  My cheeks flamed as I sniffed away the tears. Embarrassment coursed through me as the memory of asking him to go home and make babies came to mind. “You need to forget about that.” I wanted to forget about that night. Well, some parts of it.

  He laughed, grinning until his dimples were on show. “Not a chance in hell, baby.”

  We were buck naked, sweaty, and tangled between the sheets with my head resting against his chest. We made love, needily. I clung to him, afraid to let go.

  “What’s on your mind?” he asked, his fingers stroking down the nape of my back, brushing through my hair. “I don’t like it when you’re this quiet.”

  Now was not the time to bring it up, especially when he had been inside me moments ago. I opted to talk about my day and how Archer was transferring and the unknown of a new partner worrying me, not to mention the latest bit of news I received in my mail box this afternoon. “My lease is up soon.”

  “Hmm? Sorry, I dozed off for a bit there.” His lips pressed against my temple. His voice was growing softer, and I knew he was falling asleep. “What did you say?”

  Tracing my fingers against his chest, I did not bother with it again. The tears pooled in my eyes. I blinked them away but some spilled. My throat hurt, aching as I whispered the words.

  “I love you.”

  He never said anything back, and I went to sleep feeling even more doubtful about us.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  “Here, I want you to have this.” I reached into my back pocket
, pulling out the small gift I had picked up yesterday while on lunch, handing the silver key over for her.

  “What is it?” she asked, turning back around from the door. Her eyes widened. I knew she would be impressed. “A key? We’re key swapping?”

  I shrugged, making it out to be no big deal, but fuck yes it was. “Yes.” I grinned. “I want you to come over whenever you feel like it even if I’m not here.” The image of her spread out on all fours, naked and dripping wet when I come home from work was very arousing. Clearing my throat and my mind, I continue. “We’ve been together almost four months. I know it’s probably too soon, but what the fuck. I hope you think of my place as yours.”

  “I do.” She beamed, her smile infectious. “I mean… it’s yours, but I like the idea of not having to knock or answer a door to see you.”

  My lips pressed against her forehead softly. “I’d like that too, sweetheart.”

  “Let me give you mine.” She turned, running off, and I loved to watch her with that ass poking out from her panties. God, I had wanted to sink my teeth into that flesh. My mind wandered back to last night, her pussy directly above my face as she sucked me off before I fucked her on all fours. Christ, what a view.

  I hadn’t realised she was back as I adjusted my hard cock. “Sorry,” I murmured, feeling like a sex freak.

  Her eyes drifted down. “You’re hard again?”

  “It’s not a bad thing, trust me.”

  “But, we just had sex. How can you want more?” She seemed disappointed. If only she knew it was the effect of just being around her. “Do you want me to?” She gazed down again. “I could”

  “Suck me off?” I offered. “No, It’ll go down.” I was not going to have her get on her knees and suck every time I got a stiff one. She would be there constantly.

  “Jackson, wait,” she called out as I turned to leave. “Are we okay?”

  I knew what she meant. Things were still tense between us. When she asked if I loved Jasmine still, I was hurt she could ask such a thing. Giving her my key was proof that I no longer wanted anyone else but her.