Page 32 of Necessary Roughness

Chapter Five

TANNER AWOKE THE next morning to a ringing doorbell. Incessantly was a word he would use to describe the racket. He rubbed the sleep by-product out of his eyes and grabbed his phone off the bedside table. “What do you want?”

“Rise and shine, champ. It’s time to get your exercise on. Plus, your new nurse is here. Don’t you need a shower?”

He wondered if there was some type of limit on the number of times he could use the word fuck in one twenty-four-hour period. Last night’s incident with Jordan came to mind. She was most likely long gone to work this morning, and they needed to have a convo. Maybe it could happen via text message. He didn’t want to get in a room again with DP for a few days. He wasn’t afraid of a little fighting. That he could deal with. His biggest problem: he couldn’t keep his hands off of her. He’d kiss her again, and there would be no talking at all. He was already thinking of how they could have sweaty, athletic sex that tested all endurance with his bum knee.

Maybe DP would be cold and repressed between the sheets. It was possible she hated sex. She could mess up her hair or break a nail. She’d never showed concern about her hair or nails before, though. She could be cutesy, yes. Too good to be true, maybe. Frigid? He’d bet the deed to his house on no. They could have sex and not talk to each other before, during, or after. That might work. He gave himself a mental shake and responded to Harrison.

“Wouldn’t it save time if you moved in here?”

“I have my own house.”

“You’re never there!”

“What’s your point?”

A guy Tanner had never seen before appeared on the screen.

“Mr. Cole, I’m Kyan. The agency sent me.”

Tanner had needed some time alone this morning to lick his wounds and consider how he was going to handle what happened last night. It wasn’t going to happen. He’d tossed and turned most of the night too. Combined with his unbelievably stupid decision to see if he could get by without painkillers for a day, he wanted to hide somewhere.

Harrison pounded on his door with a closed fist. He should be grateful anyone cared enough about him to be such a pain in the ass. Right now, he wished Harrison would find a hobby. One that wasn’t named Jordan would work just fine.

Tanner let out a string of obscenities and hit the button to open the electronic locks on his front door. He also noted a text from Jordan and another from Star. He deleted the one from Star. Jordan’s said, Sorry, I had to get to Clinic. Gym time later?

A minute or so later, he heard Harrison’s voice in the hallway.

“Are you out of bed yet?”

“No.”

“You’d better not be naked.”

“Like you haven’t seen it before,” Tanner muttered.

Harrison pushed his bedroom door open. He walked in with the tall, athletically built guy Tanner had seen on the camera.

“Mr. Cole—”

“Call me Tanner,” he said. He reached out to shake the guy’s hand.

“Great. Tanner, I’m Kyan. Would you like some assistance getting into the bathroom?” He folded the blankets down so Tanner could swing his legs free and reached out for Tanner’s hand again. “We’ll take this slowly. I know you’re probably hurting.”

“I thought I’d see if I really needed the painkillers yesterday, or if I could keep things under control with ibuprofen.” Tanner stifled a sigh. “It turns out I made a bad decision.”

“We’ll get your pain meds on board. I’ll also check your wound this morning when I change the dressing. Are you having drainage or redness at the site?” The nurse managed to assist Tanner with standing and handed him the crutches. “Okay. Let’s take it easy. Your friend mentioned you might want a shower.”

“That’s a good idea.”

Kyan gave him a grin. “You’re fine with another guy assisting you in the shower?”

“I’ve been showering with guys in the locker room since I was twelve.”

“I wanted to make sure.”

“Don’t snap me on the ass with the towel,” Tanner said.

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