He leans down and kisses me on top of my head. “Sure, babe.”
I wave to my sister with my good arm. “I love you, Care Bear. I’ll be back by.”
“Love you, too, Jadie Bug.”
Once we are back in my room, he helps me into bed. A light tap comes at the door before it’s opened. Mack, the guy that’s friends with Chelsea, comes in, along with Huck and Sly’s brother, Eli.
Eli smiles at me. “Girl, I was so worried about you the other night.” He leans over and hugs me.
“Were you there?” I’m genuinely confused.
Clay smiles. “Mox here is doing some ride alongs for school. He happened to be riding with Mack the other night.”
Mack steps forward. “Ms. Chambers.”
I interrupt him. “Call me Jade, please.”
He nods. “Okay, Jade. We’re here to inform you that your testimony against Mike Juarez will no longer be needed.”
I shake my head, trying to understand. “What exactly do you mean?”
“Well, I probably shouldn’t be talking about this but I feel you’ve been through enough. As you know, there was some crime family turmoil going on. Some of Mr. Juarez’s former associates slipped into the hospital last night during our shift change. They were apprehended, but not before slipping Mr. Juarez a lethal dose of a drug that induced a heart attack. By the time everyone got in there, he was already deceased.”
“What about Gavin?” I ask nervously.
“He is ready to plead out so he can go into protective custody. He’s not what you would call a hardened criminal, so he doesn’t like the idea of people trying to wrap up loose ends.”
“I just don’t want another patient to be subjected to him like I was. I know I’m not innocent in our relationship, but I know now that he was using me,” I say, defeated. I wanted him to hang or well, at least suffer.
“No worries there. He’ll be lucky if he can even place a Band-Aid on a person after this,” Mack says with a serious face.
I sigh. “Thank God.”
Mack walks toward me and touches my hand. “You did good, young lady. From what I understand, you fought and annoyed the hell out of those guys. You should be proud of yourself. Now we just need to get my Chelsea to teach you how to handle a gun.” He chuckles and looks at Clay. “You take care of this girl. I’m pretty sure she could take you in a fight, but she might need someone to hold her purse or get her, like, a beer or something.”
Clay laughs. “Thanks, Mack. I’m so glad I met you, because I needed one more person to give me shit about my badass girlfriend and my fighting skills.”
Once Mack leaves the room, I glare at Clay. “You did that, didn’t you? You brought those people here, where innocent officers could’ve been killed. Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Firecracker, I can explain, but I’m not doing it here. I WILL NOT talk about this until I get home.” He levels his eyes at me. “Understand?”
I let out a heavy, aggravated breath. “Yeah.”
CHAPTER 33
GIBBS
Oh, she’s not saying anything but she’s pissed. She asked for some pain meds last night and went to sleep. Now, she’s taking forever to eat her breakfast. She’s stewing on this and when we get out of here, she’s going to kill me. I don’t know how she’ll do it with one arm and one leg, but she’ll fucking do it.
A knock sounds on the door and Dr. Macon bustles through. “So, Ms. Chambers, are you ready to go home?”
She swallows the food in her mouth. “Yes. I’m so ready to go home.”
“Well, Dr. Reagan and I discussed it. We spoke with Elaine, she’ll be stopping by to check up on you, but as far as we can tell you’ll just need time to heal and then start your physical therapy. So I’m going to sign your discharge paperwork and see if we can get you home.” He glances at the tablet he’s reading on and taps some places on the screen. “Okay, I’m printing it now and I’ll have the nurse come get you in a few minutes. I’ve got you scheduled for a couple of follow up appointments with myself and Dr. Reagan. Those appointments will be listed in the papers you’ll leave here with. Take care of yourself and if you start to run a fever or anything suspicious, call me,” he says, glancing back and forth between us.
She nods, pushing away her food tray. “Yes, sir.”
I nod also. “I’ll be keeping an eye on her.”
~*~*~
A couple of hours later, I’m getting her settled on the couch and waiting for her to go off. It’s like when I’d get in trouble with my Mom or Dad and they’d wait and torture me for hours before they said anything.
I start to walk to the kitchen to get her a drink when she says my name. “Clay?”
I turn around. “Yeah?”
“If you ever talk to me the way you did in the hospital yesterday, I’ll fucking cut your balls off in your sleep. Do you understand me?” she levels at me.
“Maybe, but that wasn’t the place to be talking about it. Now, after I get you something to drink, I’ll explain everything and then it’s over,” I say sternly.
I don’t wait for her reply. I go into the kitchen and brace myself for the things I will say that might make her hate me.
Once I’m back in the living room, I sit across from her. “I had a friend,” I’m not bringing Chelsea into this, “let some of his old associates know when the best time to approach Mike at the hospital would be. I knew they were changing shifts and it would be safer for the officers. I also made a point to let them know that there were metal detectors at the doors to his room, even if there weren’t. That way I knew whatever they brought in to kill him shouldn’t harm anyone else. I knew the officers would be back before they were done and arrest them, hence getting two gangs off the streets. Now, will these guys roll over on their boss? I have no clue, but it’s worth a try and it’ll never blow back on us. It’s done, my father’s mess is over and we shouldn’t hear from it again,” I rattle out before she can say anything.
She sits there for a few minutes. I’m sure she’s trying to compose what she wants to say right now. Finally, she looks at me. “Fine. Don’t ever do shit like that again though.”
She sighs, relaxing a little. I get up and go sit as close as I can to her on the couch without disturbing her. “Are we good now?”
She nods. “Yeah, we’re good.”
“Now, do you need anything? Or do you just want some pain meds and to rest?”
“Just some meds and rest for now.”
“Okay.” I hand her a couple of pills along with the drink I got her and sit back to turn on one of the local stations.
“In sports news tonight, local MMA celebrities will be gearing up for their fourth annual cancer fundraiser on the nineteenth of next month. As many of you know, Marco’s Gym has headed this benefit up every year with their sponsor, Bellator. In the past three years combined, they have raised over two hundred thousand dollars to help local cancer patients. For me, one of the most important things about this event is that the money raised stays right here in our local area. No word yet on the line up. We do know that Clay Gibbs has had to cancel his last two events and we are wondering what’s going on. Hopefully that won’t be the case that night, he’s always one to watch.”
I can see her drooping eyes trying to pay attention. “Clay, why have you been cancelling fights?”
“Babe, one was right after all of this started. I tried to move up a class and take some of my frustrations out there, but it became clear a day or so before the fight that my head just wasn’t in it. Then I was supposed to fight the day after you were kidnapped.”
Her eyes droop a little more. “Oh. Well you better fight in this event.” At least that’s what I think she mumbles out before she falls asleep.
If I’m going to fight, I’ve really got to figure out some time to train. Looking over at her on the couch with two casts, I sigh. If it comes to it, I’ll just back out. She’s more important to me than fighting. I’ve got money, a house and finally, th
e woman I love. I shouldn’t ask for more.
CHAPTER 34
JADE
“Damn it!” I yell as I try to figure out a way to go to the bathroom alone.
Clay comes around the corner. “What’s wrong? What are you trying to do? I can help you.” Oh my god, he’s turned into such a fucking mama hen this past week and a half.
I’m going insane in the damn house. “Nothing. I can do it. I just need to go to the bathroom.”
“I’ll help you.”
“No, I just need to get my chair closer,” I say adamantly.
“But I can help you,” he says sympathetically.
Now I’m getting aggravated. He’s supposed to be a fighter, not a pansy ass nurse maid. “I. Don’t. Want. Your. Help.” I take the one crutch I’m trying to use on my good side and hit the wheelchair, trying to pull it to me.
He reaches for the chair to pull it closer and I whack it with the crutch again, glaring at him. I see the look on his face and I feel really bad for being ugly to him but holy shit, he’s got to back off. He throws up his hands and says, “Fine,” as he walks out of the room.
After a few minutes of finagling, I accomplish getting the chair closer and get in it. After a few more minutes, I manage to use the bathroom and get back to the bed. They’ve told me that I’ll get the arm cast off sooner than the leg, just from the break and how they’ve healed. I still won’t be able to put much weight on that arm, though, for a little while. But this damn cast stinks and itches so I’m fucking ready to get the fucking thing off. They did say that hopefully I’ll be able to get a walking boot for my leg soon.
Have I said I’m losing my freaking mind in this house? He needs to be training, but he WILL NOT leave me at the house. Even with Elaine or someone. The walls are closing in on me. He doesn’t understand that and I can’t see how. I’m going stir crazy, he’s hovering and I really need to have sex. Something’s got to give. Finally, I pull out my new cell phone. Finding Marco’s contact information, I hit the call button.
“Hello.”
“Marco, I need a favor.”
“What do you need, honey?”
“I need you to make Clay leave this house,” I say bluntly. “He’s driving me insane.”
I hear Marco chuckle. “It’s not funny, Marco.”
He starts to laugh louder. “Yes, honey, it is. These boys around here have been placing bets to see how long it would take before you two tied up and fought. He’s just trying to take care of you.”
I speak through clenched teeth. “I know that and I love him for it, but fucking A, Marco. I need some sunshine. I need some private time. He needs to be training for the damn match coming up.”
I can picture him nodding his head up and down. “All right, honey. I’ll figure something out.”
I sigh and tears well up in my eyes. “Thank you.”
A little while later, I hear Marco’s ringtone on Clay’s phone. I hear Clay’s muffled voice for a few minutes. A short time later he, comes in the bedroom. “Okay, I have to go to the gym.”
I sigh. “All right, I’ll see you when you get back. I’m sorry about earlier. I just feel shut in, you know?”
“Nope, I’m not leaving you. You’re coming with me.”
What the hell?
“Marco told me I have to get to the gym and he knows I’m not leaving you, so he set up a space for you at the gym,” he says as he grabs his workout clothes. “It’ll help since you are feeling shut in.”
Fuck…now I’ll have several people trying to look after me.
~*~*~
Once we arrive at the gym and he’s gotten me situated on the big couch in Marco’s office, everyone has to stop by and talk. After they’re all gone, Marco steps in. “I know you wanted to be alone, but this was the best I could do. He was determined not to leave you, so this was the agreement. However, I’ll make everyone leave you alone. You text me if you need a snack or help to the bathroom. One of us will take care of it.”
I nod and give him a small smile. “Thanks, Marco. I appreciate you trying to help. I really didn’t want to be ugly to him but fuck, he was getting on my nerves.”
He laughs, shaking his head. “I get it, but you need to get that you don’t have the biggest balls in that relationship.”
Grabbing my e-reader from my bag, I nod. “I know, Marco, I know.” I laugh and throw him a wink. “I’ve just got those big balls in the palm of my hands.”
He snorts, leaving the room.
I’m excited because Ryan Michele’s new book just uploaded to my reader. Those bikers she writes…yummy.
A few hours later, I’m realizing how much I really need to get laid. We may have to be creative, but I need my man to fuck me.
As I’m squirming around trying to get some relief, Clay walks in the room. “Hey, babe, I just got finished up. You ready to go?”
I nod. “Yeah, but I need a favor when we get home.”
He shrugs. “Sure, you need help in the shower or something?”
While he’s helping me stand up, I look at him seriously. “Or something.”
Once we get home and I’m back in the bedroom, he’s helping me undress. I reach down and grab his cock, stroking it through his shorts. He looks at me confused. “What are you doing?”
I lean to his ear and whisper, “I need you to fuck me hard.”
That startles him and almost causes me to lose my balance. “Fuck, Firecracker. Don’t say shit like that.” He tries to pull his dick from my grip.
“I’m not playing, Clay Gibbs. I need your dick inside of me. I need to have an orgasm. We haven’t had sex since the accident. I need to get off, and I’m tired of being treated like a damn invalid,” I say louder than I really intend to, but damn, I frustrated.
“Be serious, babe. I’m not even sure how we’d--.”
I reach forward and grab the neck of his shirt. “Get creative. Like right now.”
Finally resolving that I’m not giving up, he helps me back on the bed. “Let me know if anything hurts you, babe.”
I nod quickly. “Just screw me already.”
Somehow we manage to prop all of my casts up so they’re out of the way. In my mind, it feels like forever, but I’m sure it’s only seconds. He sinks himself into me. “You okay?”
“Yes! God! Move, I’m about to die here.” My senses have kicked into overdrive and I need this. He thrusts a little harder, rubbing my sensitive nub with his thumb. We are both getting lost in the closeness right now. “Oh god, Clay. I’ve missed this,” I say right as I’m about to explode.
“Me, too, Firecracker. Me, too.” He groans as I feel his ass tighten under my fingers. A few thrusts later, I feel the warmth of liquid filling me.
He quickly pulls out, grabbing his shirt to place between my thighs. “Okay, babe, I’m gonna get you to the bathroom.”
I start laughing and trying to squeeze my legs together all at the same time. He laughs with me, knowing that I’m trying to prevent a mess.
“I’m sorry for treating you like glass, but you’ll never know the fear I was facing when I thought I’d never see you again,” he says once he’s seated me on the toilet.
“Sorry I was such a bitch earlier. I was just so stir crazy and you were like a momma hen. I just needed to feel like something more than a patient.”
He laughs. “Your bitchiness is one of the reasons I love you. It turns me the fuck on.”
I look up and grin at him. “Now can you help me get a shower?”
He laughs while nodding. “Come on, Firecracker.”
CHAPTER 35
GIBBS
A FEW WEEKS LATER…
Jade hobbles into the living room. “Are you about ready to go?” She’s so much happier since they took off her arm cast and put her in a walking boot. Well, that and when I stopped treating her like glass.
“Yeah, I just gotta grab my bag.” I look back and see her getting her purse. “Are you sure you wanna ride with me? I can get one of the girl
s to swing by and get you later so you aren’t sitting at the arena this long.” I can only imagine how boring that’ll be for her.
“No, Kara is going to come by a little early with the kids before she takes them to Mom’s. I haven’t gotten to see the baby too much, plus I guess Krista is throwing a fit for Jade time.”
I laugh because that little girl is going to rival her aunt being a firecracker. She’s been very unhappy that Jade hasn’t been able to take her to the park or anything. I’ve tried having her over for movie night or something but she’s adamant that won’t work. Krista is as stubborn as they come.
“Okay, well let’s get out of here then. Just be careful tonight. They’ve sold out in reserved seating so I don’t know what kind of crowd is going to be in there,” I say as I hold the door open for her to hobble out.
She smiles at me. “Thank you, I will. Jacob and Mox are going to be sitting with us anyway.”
“Good. I just don’t want someone to knock you off balance,” I say, opening the truck door for her. “So have you thought anymore about my question?”
She grins. “Maybe.” I’m not one to go over the top like Huck and Lox did. Huck asking Chelsea at this very event in front of the entire arena. Lox asking at Sloan’s birthday party. I’m more like Sly, those two snuck off to Vegas one weekend and didn’t even tell anyone. They just said they needed a getaway.
We had just gotten through having some amazing sex and I looked down at her. “Marry me, Firecracker.”
She laughed and told me, “I’ll think about it.” She’s evil, that redhead of mine, but I love her. “The offer doesn’t have an expiration date, does it?” she questions.
I laugh, “You know I’d be happy to live in sin with you the rest of my life. But you will always be mine with or without a piece of paper. ”
Gaining Gibbs (Marco's MMA Boys #4) Page 14