Page 64 of The Jellybean Dilemma

I forced myself not to hold in my tears. “I’m pretty stiff.”

His jaw clenched as he held in his emotions. “I’ve got some salve that’ll help.” He turned on his heel, his footsteps slamming on the stairs. “Get back to bed.”

It was an order, and I bristled at it. I ignored his command as I headed for the door I thought was the bathroom. My hand touched the cold metal knob, and I pushed it open to find I was right. I let out a sigh of relief just as those footsteps pounded back up the stairs.

“Rhonda—”

“Dammit, Greg,” I bit out, mortified at having to explain it to him. “I have to pee, okay? So let me do my business, then I’ll happily go collapse back into bed. I’m not up because I want to be.” I would have shot him a glare along with my scalding words, but my neck wouldn’t cooperate. Instead, I shuffled into the bathroom.

When I opened the door a few minutes later, a chagrined Greg stood across the hall. “I’m sorry,” he said softly. “Please let me carry you back to bed.”

The thought of trying to walk back made me want to scream. My nod was small. “My right shoulder is the worst, and my neck.”

He picked me up, so my left side was cradled against him, his hand strong across my back, finding a non-tender place before he scooped me up. When he lay me down on the bed, my shoulder barely jostled at all.

Chapter Nineteen

I’d just started to relax when I remembered our mission. “Avery!” I pushed up with my left elbow, wincing at my sudden movement and the searing pain.

Greg flinched just watching me. “Rhonda, you’re in no condition to go anywhere. I know you want to help your friend, but the blizzard is worse now. And you can’t even walk to the bathroom, let alone sit for hours in a cramped car.” When I started to protest, his forehead crinkled in admonishment. “What would Avery tell you to do?”

My lower lip jutted out. “She’d probably yell at me for trying to drive to her in a blizzard in the first place.”

“That sounds about right.” We both chuckled. “And I’m sorry to say, there’s no phone service here. We’re lucky we landed near shelter, and that neither of us were hurt worse than this.” He gestured to me. “So, let’s just be thankful for that. We should focus on getting you better, then we can concentrate on leaving, okay?”

I sighed. “Okay.” I glanced up at him. “What about you? Are you okay?”

“In better shape than you, that’s for sure.” One side of his mouth tipped up. “I’ve got a few bruises, but nothing like these. And I’m a little stiff, but I knew it was coming. You got tossed around like a rag doll back there, going every which way while I could lean into it. I propped myself against the ceiling when we flipped.” He winked. “One of the advantages of being tall.”

The humor didn’t quite hide the guilt, and I opened my mouth to set him straight.

But he held up a white tube. “I fell down my steps one winter, bruised my entire side and hurt my back. I’ve still got a bunch of supplies from it, but this was the best stuff.” He unscrewed the cap, then hesitated. “May I?”

There was no way I could reach my problem areas myself with my limited mobility. “Please.” I shifted onto my left side, baring my neck and shoulder for him to start with.

“It might be cold.”

I winced at the temperature difference, but then a pleasant tingling sensation spread wherever he rubbed in the salve, accompanied by a menthol smell. I hummed at the instant measure of relief that followed his touch. He rubbed gently as he went, working my sore muscles enough to get the blood flowing.

A throat clearing was all the warning I had before he asked, “When we were dancing, I said I thought we were past all this, and you said you thought so too. What did you mean by that?”

His question caught me off guard. I tried to turn my head before I thought about it, ending up in a wince mixed with a groan. But his hands just moved to my shoulder, and I could picture him patiently waiting for my answer. I didn’t give it right away, holding on to it until he finished with my back because I needed to see him. His hands moved to the front of my shoulder, working toward my collarbone.

“I heard you telling your friends diva stories about me.” His eyebrows furrowed, like he was confused, so I said, “Like how I had to make an entrance at Derek’s birthday party.”

Those magic fingers stilled as he stared at me. “Jellybean, I was talking about Piper. Somehow a bunch of the guys found out I’d chauffeured her around, before she became a big star. They followed me all night, begging for stories. So that’s what I was doing, telling them about Piper the diva.”

I blinked, taking my turn at being confused. Guilt washed over me at how I’d thought the worst of Greg. I’d blamed him and jumped to conclusions, the same way he always did with me. His hands started working again, but he didn’t meet my stare.

With my left hand, I reached to touch his wrist. “I’m so sorry Greg. I did the same thing I accused you of doing when you first saw the picture Kevin sent.”

His mouth tilted up a fraction of an inch. “Now I know why you got so pissed.”

Shit. “Yeah, it sucks, doesn't it? Which is why we should both promise to never, ever do it again. As long as we’re together.” It was a peace offering and a leap of faith all rolled into one.

“Is that what we are?” Hope buoyed his words.

For once, he hadn’t shut me down and answering hope blossomed in me. I grinned, then rubbed my thumb over the back of his hand. “I don’t let just anyone cover me in ointment. No matter what they say it does.” This time the smile tipped his lips up far enough that his dimple appeared, so I knew I was forgiven.

---