“Yes, I’m fine. It just hurts and is now bleeding.”
“Does anywhere else hurt?”
“Just my damn pride.”She said as her cheeks flushed crimson as she looked around and saw the crowd that had started to gather. Her dogs were also right by her side trying to check on her. I actually kind of feel bad for them too. They actually look upset. She patted them on the head and told them it was ok and she was fine. She’s trying to brush it off but I can tell she’s really hurting.
“Ok, we have to get you up and over to a chair and a first aid kit so I can bandage you up. I’ll help you walk unless you need me to carry you over.”
The blush on her face actually darkens at my offer, interesting.“No, I can walk you don’t have to help me.”She said and started to get up but grimaced when she put a little pressure on her knee.
“That wasn’t an option. Either I help you walk or I’ll carry you.”I said much more forcefully than I intended to but that stubborn streak of hers is starting to appear. A couple of guys push through the crowd wearing shirts that read,‘First Aid’. They started to push their way between us and ask her questions as I was helping her stand up.
“Sir, you need to leave her where she is so we can check her out.”A kid that looked to be on steroids, fresh out of training said with a clipped tone.
“Back off her, I’ve got it.”I growled.
Then he went stupid and tried to take her out of my hand. Trying to sound authoritative,“Sir, you need to let the professionals handle it.”Trix and Bella started growling at him.
I grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him close to me, never taking my other hand off Hayden, while his buddy tried to calm the situation. I growled at him through clinch teeth,“Touch her again and you will be the one seeking medical attention. I amthe fucking professionals. I am a doctor. Now back off her and let me finish taking care of her.”I release the jackass, bend down and scoop Hayden into my arms. I looked at him and said,“Lesson number one: Never try to forcefully take a patient out of someone’s hands. You don’t treat a patient without their consent and you didn’t have hers. Lesson number two: Lay of the steroids they’ll make you act like a douche and shrivel your dick.”With Hayden safely in my arms and her dogs following close behind I headed to the first aid tent to get the supplies I needed.
“You ok?”I asked her hoping I didn’t just undo the little progress we made.
“Yes, you really don’t need to carry me. Getting a little territorial?”She asked, a hint of a smirk playing at her lips.
“Well I am a doctor…and a man. We all get a little territorial.”I say grinning. Hoping she didn’t develop a shield against my charm.
“Well, by all means doctor me up. I’d hate to bruise your ego.”
“I plan on it, darlin’.”I said flashing my predatory smile at her.
“Gasp, are you flirting with me?”She asked feigning innocent.
“Absolutely. Is it working?”
As I set her in a chair in the first aid tent, she looked up at me giggled, mouthing‘no’and slightly nodding her head‘yes’.
I laughed and went in search of the supplies I need to clean and bandage her wounds.
While I finished bandaging her last wrist up I said,“You’re probably going to hurt for a bit.”I kissed each knee.“Sorry I don’t have any Strawberry Shortcake band aids.”I smile and wink at her.
Hayden placed her hand over mine that was still on her knee and smiled sweetly.“Just so you know, I do remember the Strawberry Shortcake band aids.”
Relief washes over me as she looks at me. She looks so sweet and sincere. She looks at me the way she used to look at me before I broke her heart. At least she doesn’t only remember the bad. Maybe there is a chance for us.
She gently stood up from the chair, grimacing while slowly putting weight on her knee and I helped her walk out of the first aid tent. I handed her a bottle of water, some Tylenol and her dogs each a treat and a drink of water.
She looked at me confused.“Where did you get the bowls and treats?”
“Oh, there is a water table just outside the tent and they had the travel bowls for the dogs. Hope it was alright to give them the treats.”
With a beautiful smile on her face she said,“Yes, of course. Thanks for the water and bandaging me up. I’m glad it didn’t cost you a fight.”
Chuckling I said,“There was no chance he was touching you.”
“Well, thank you, again. We better start heading home so I can put some ice on my knee.”She started to turn away but I grabbed her elbow.
“Can I take you to lunch?”I asked, hopeful.
“No thank you. We need to be getting back.”
“Please. I know a great place not far.”
“I’ve got the pups and I need to get ice on my knee it hurts, a lot. Sorry I can’t.”
Ok, I guess it’s time to try the smile,“You’re in luck. This place has a great patio they allow dogs on and I know the owners so I’m sure I can secure you some ice for that knee. Plus, I’ll carry you so you don’t have to walk.”I step up so we are mere inches apart and she has to tilt her head back and bust out the smile. The secret weapon Brooklyn told me to use as a last resort.
“Oh, you are playing dirty!”She says with a challenging look in her eye.
“I always play dirty. You know that.”Awe, there’s that confidence I’ve been missing the last two weeks. Thank God, I thought my balls had taken a permanent hike.
“Fine, you win, we’ll go but I’ll walk. What’s this with you trying to carry me anyway?”She asked as we headed for lunch.
“It gives me a chance to touch you.”She laughed at my response as we slowly made our way to‘On the River.’
I held open the door for Hayden and her dogs. As they stepped through the dogs immediately ran around behind the bar to Betty. She started laughing and pulled something out of her pocket and handed it to them, then turned and ran to lie on the patio. I guess the dogs frequent here, too.
CHAPTER 10
Hayden
I knew from the moment he started to describe the place he wanted to take me to lunch it had to be‘On the River’. Brooklyn and I come here after work to unwind or well anytime we can come up with an excuse to stop by. Betty and Jim have always had an open door policy on well behaved dogs, but I honestly think they prefer our girls. They never have to be on a leash and pretty much have free run of the place, though their favorite spot is on the patio laying by the fire pit. It didn’t surprise me when Gavin opened the door and the girls ran straight up to Betty for a treat and then off to their favorite spot.
Betty hurried from around the bar to hug me but her smile faded when she saw my bandages.“Oh Hayden, honey, what happened?”
“Oh, I fell and banged myself up after the race today. No biggie, I’ll heal.”I said shrugging it off.
Gavin spoke up,“Any chance I can get a bag of ice and towel to put on Hayden’s knee?”
“Of course, dear, let me run upstairs and get a clean towel. I’ll be right back.”Betty said. She and Jim turned the top floor of the old Lock House into a really cool loft to live. Very few people realize Jim and Betty are actually Brooklyn’s great-aunt and uncle. So we spend a lot of time up there when they aren’t down here working. Betty and Brooklyn’s grandma are sisters. Betty is a sweet woman in her mid-sixties but you wouldn’t know her age to look at her. There is not one gray hair in her brown hair, her brown eyes are still bright and she stays up on the latest fashion trends which help keep her youthful look. Brooklyn actually looks a lot like her. I’m really surprised no one has ever picked up on it.
“Oh Betty, you don’t have to do that. I’ll be fine.”I said. I can feel my cheeks heating from the embarrassment setting in. I’m really starting to feel like a bother.
“Psh”she said waving me off like I was crazy.“You go sit by the girls, get that knee up and I’ll be back with ice and drinks.”Gavin and I do as we’re told and head to the patio. Betty is a couple
of minutes behind us. She walks up with our preferred beers, a bag of ice, towel and of course treats and bowls of water for the pups. Didn’t I tell you they are spoiled? See, it’s not just Brooklyn and I that do it. Anyone around them does. They are really that awesome of dogs.
Gavin and I chat about our college years and what’s happened in our lives over the years, though, we are both cautious to avoid anything to do with high school. Well with the exception of Jeff we did talk about him some and his wife, Gavin’s sister. Who would’ve thought? They were both awesome people. I’m truly happy for them. I bet they are really cute together.
A couple hours have passed as we finished lunch. The bar has remained pretty empty for a Saturday afternoon. It was nice, though. This whole day has been nice. It’s almost unsettling how natural it all has been. Do I tell him this or just sit silently? Although, you can tell we are both very conscious of the elephant in the room. Do I want to know why he did it? Why is he back? Does he want a future with me? Maybe I should just ask. My thoughts are starting to run a mile a minute through my head as we sit quietly staring out onto the river.
I look over at him when Gavin interrupts my racing thoughts,“You can ask me.”He pulls his gaze away from the river to mine and quietly says,“I can see it in your eyes. I know you want to know.”
Returning my gaze back to the river I quietly asked,“So why’d you do it?”
“Kat fucked with my head and convinced me you and Lucas were playinga joke on me.”
“And you believed her without asking me? I was supposed to be your best friend. I’d never lied to you.”I responded though my voice was a whisper. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I always knew Kat had something to do with it but the confirmation actually hurts worse than wondering. Knowing he actually believed her over me turned the food in my stomach to lead. I kept my gaze fixed on the river. I couldn’t let him see the tears stinging the backs of my eyes.
Now turned to look directly at me he rested his elbows on his knees and passed the bottle of beer between his hands. He took a deep breath,“Kat had been laying the ground work for this for a long time. She always knew I loved you and not her. She knew the moment I had the chance to be with you I’d walk away from her without a second thought. She knew I worried that we ran in different groups and I worried you wouldn’t want someone like me…that I wasn’t good enough for you. She told me often she heard you and Lucas or whatever boyfriend you had at the time laughing about me and making fun of me. I’m not going into specifics but she said you guys said some pretty awful things.”
I sat there staring at the river but not really seeing anything. Fuck, how do I process all of this? This is too much. My stomach is threatening to expel the lead sitting in it. I made a mistake I don’t want to know but he continues before I can stop him.
“She also got a rumor started that you weren’t really a virgin and that you slept with Lucas and lied to me to help make your plan believable. Somehow she found out I was going to finally tell you how I felt about you that Friday night and hopefully finally make you mine. So she came to the game looking for us. When she pulled me away she talked about her and me getting back together because we were meant to be together not you and me.”He used his bottle to gesture between the two of us.“Then Lucas came to talk to you when I had walked away and she seized her chance. She said you were planning on getting me to fall for you, get rid of all my friends and then dump me at a party the next weekend in front of all your friends. She said Lucas was in on the plan and you two were going to stand and laugh as I begged you not to break up with me. I didn’t believe her at first. I knew you and you wouldn’t hurt me that way. We’d been friends our whole lives. Then that night you woke up in the middle of the night and offered me everything I ever wanted including all of you. When you fell back asleep I laid there awake for the rest of the night. Suddenly, everything was too coincidental for my comfort. I…I was a stupid kid. I-”
Fuck! Someone just knocked all the air out of me. I swear it felt like he hit me in the gut and heart at the same time. I sat forward in the chair gripping the arm rest staring at the ground.“You were awake? You heard what I said that night?”my voice is barely audible.
Sorrowfully he said,“Yes.”
Making my way to my feet I said,“I can’t do this. I can’t believe you were awake.”I’ve spent this whole time thinking if I had just told him how I felt about him things would have been different. Boy was I wrong. He knew how I felt about him and all it did was help feed Kat’s lie. I have to get out of here before I get sick. I made my way out of the bar with my pups in toe hoping I wouldn’t throw up before I made it outside. Run. I just need to run.
CHAPTER 11
Gavin
Hayden’s face is falling further into sheer pain the more I tell her everything. Fuck, should I really tell her…tell her I was awake and I heard her that night. Though I don’t want to, I know I have to man up and tell her. When I do, she sits in disbelief, muttering and then gets to her feet says‘she can’t do this’and then takes off out of the bar. Shit, she’s running. She always runs when she’s hurt. She looks just like she did that Monday in school when I ended everything with her. FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! I shout in my head as I jump up and run after her. Why did I do this here? What the fuck is wrong with me? Things were going so good. Why didn’t I just ignore the fucking elephant? I run up to the bar to give Betty my credit card and leave but she waved me off telling me to come back later and settle, just go after her now.
When I get outside I see Hayden at the end of the parking lot on her hands and knees between two cars.“FUCK! Hayden”I shout and run to her. She’s crying as dry heaves rip through her. I can’t believe I’ve put her here again. I never wanted to hurt her. I’d rather cut off my hand than hurt her. FUCK!
“Go away. Leave me alone. I hate you.”She fires back as I put my hand on her back.
“Hayden, baby, come on let me take you home. I’m sorry. We can talk.”I say slowly almost as if I’m talking to a child.
“NO! GO AWAY! You’ve said enough.”
Without another word I scoop her into my arms and carry her.“Where is your place? I’ll take you home.”
Still sobbing she said,“No, no way am I telling you where I live.”
“Fine, then you and the girls come home with me.”I started to carry her in the direction of my loft but she began to squirm until I finally had to put her down.
“No! I will not go home with you.”She put her hands on my chest trying to push me back which didn’t work very well.
I grabbed her biceps careful not to hurt her wrist and pulled her body flush against mine.“Then I’ll walk you home but it is one or the other. I am not letting you walk away. We are going to talk and get everything out for both our sakes.”
She looked up at me defiantly,“Fine you can follow me to mine.”
As we headed to her place I wondered if this was the right choice. Knowing we have to solve this but am I backing her into a corner? The only thing you get out of backing Hayden into a corner is a black eye. Trust me I learned the hard way once.
As I followed Hayden to her place neither said a word as we walked. The skies started to grow dark. The wind began to whip carrying the smell of rain with it. I wonder how far her place is and if we’ll make it before the storm hits. Just then the sky lets out an ominous warning; the kind that you feel rippling through your body. She is limping and I can tell her knee is hurting but I know if I say anything she might send me away without any more discussion. So against my better judgment I let her be. When we arrive at her building I stare in disbelief. This has to be some kind of joke but she walks right in and hits the elevator button. When the elevator arrived I follow her and the dogs in, she enters an access code into the control panel. The elevator whisks us to the fifth floor; she steps out and heads to the loft on the left. When we enter her dogs go to lie in their beds. Hayden walks over to the couch and sits down without a word. I ask her where her bathroom is.
I find the supplies I need. Sitting down next to her on the couch, I reached down picked up her right leg pulled up her pants, removed the blood-soaked bandage, cleaned her knee and re-bandaged it.
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Listen you need to know I was really messed up back then. I laid there holding you and thinking. When it became too much for me to handle I went home, got drunk and high. I stayed that way for the next year. When my mom came to check on me that weekend I told her I was sick so she left me alone. The more I thought about it the worse it got. Every fear I’d ever had became real. You were too good for me. I couldn’t give you what you need. I felt worthless and betrayed. It wasn’t until later after Jeff and I came to blows, I realized it was actually me who betrayed me not you. In turn, I betrayed you. You were the last person I ever wanted to hurt. I was a mess. I fucked up and have paid for that every day for the last 15 years.
“I didn’t actually pull my head out of my ass until Jeff made me. He made me see how fucked up I was and that I had no chance of getting you back unless I straightened my life out. I’ve been looking for you for the last 10 years. Our parents wouldn’t tell me anything. Said they weren’t getting involved, since you made it clear to everyone you wanted your privacy. I finally had my shit together. I was proud of the man I'd become, but I couldn’t find you.”
Still not speaking, she got up and limped over to the wall of glass that covered the far end of her loft. She was probable trying to put distance between us but I followed her anyway. She stood with her back to me arms hanging limply staring outside. She looked so lost and it nearly ripped my heart clean out of my chest. I’d do anything for her, anything if I could remove that hurt I put in her eyes. After standing behind her for a minute not touching I couldn’t stop myself any longer. I took hold of her arm just above her elbow and slowly turned her around. She just stared up at me with tears running down her face and her big green emerald eyes full of confusion. I placed a hand on each cheek caressing her face with my thumbs wiping away the tears as they fell.“Baby, I fucked up 15 years ago, but there hasn’t been a day I didn’t pay for it. Not having you in my life has been the worst punishment anyone could have ever put on me. I’ve loved you since we were kids. I still love you. I’m so sorry I hurt you. I’ll never hurt you again if you give me a chance. Please, baby, give me…give usa chance.”I stood there holding her face in my hands, staring into her beautiful eyes and her body so close to mine I couldn’t hold back any longer. I slowly leaned my head down and brushed my lips against hers softly. When she didn’t pull back I continued deepening the kiss; slow, soft and full of my heart and soul.
Lilies Page 8