Page 47 of Just a Little Crush

“Clearly, you’re not.” Jack frowned at me. “There’s an urgent care right up the street. Let’s go,” he said, taking charge.

I knew it was the smart thing to do considering the throb in my wrist was increasing, so I didn’t argue further. “I was supposed to have dinner with Caleb and Owen tonight. I need to let him know I’m not going to make it.”

“I’ll text him and tell him you had an accident and we’re taking you to urgent care,” Valerie said, rummaging in my purse and retrieving my cellphone to do just that.

I settled into the back of the cab Jack managed to hail for us, too exhausted to argue.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Caleb

I’d just gottenhome and relieved Tillie from watching Owen for the afternoon when I received a text message on my phone.

This is Valerie. Stevie had an accident and Jack and I are taking her to urgent care to make sure she’s okay. She wanted to let you know that she won’t be able to make it for dinner tonight.

What the hell?What kind of accident? My heart seemed to slam against my chest, and I immediately called Stevie’s phone because I didn’t have the patience to get information through texts, and it was Valerie who picked up.

“What do you mean she had an accident, and why does she need to go to urgent care?” I demanded to know more harshly than I’d intended. I wasn’t a man prone to panic, but then again, the word “accident” was too damn vague for me and worst-case scenarios were filling up my mind faster than I could sort through them.

“She had an altercation with my ex just outside of work,” Valerie said, sounding upset. “She’s mostly okay. Scraped hands and knees and she says her wrist hurts, so we just want to make sure it’s not broken.”

“I’m coming down to urgent care,” I said, my only thought to see for myself that Stevie’s injuries were minor. “Which one is it?”

I heard Valerie relay that message to Stevie, then she came back on the phone with her sister’s reply.

“Stevie asked that you please don’t come down here. She’s insisting that it’s not that serious, and there’s nothing you can do for her here, anyway. We’re walking in now, so I need to go and get Stevie checked in. She said she’ll let you know when we’re back home.”

The line disconnected before I could demand more answers, and for the next two and a half hours it was all I could do to remain calm—making dinner for Owen and getting him through his evening routine—and not ignore Stevie’s request to stay home.

Frustration coursed through me. It had already been a helluva week, and it was only Wednesday. On Monday, I’d talked to Remy about the prescription pills Stevie had seen Alyssa taking at the gala, and just as I thought, as much as Remy wanted to help, there was nothing he could do to find out what medications my ex was currently taking to rule out the possibility of anything addicting.

So, yesterday, I’d made the difficult, and only, decision to call Alyssa’s parents to discuss the possible issue with them, which hadn’t gone over well. It had been an awkward and tense conversation, with her mother, Joyce, accusing me of trying to malign their daughter’s character, which I found laughable considering what Alyssa had done to Stevie the night of the gala.

I’d expressed my concerns based on Alyssa’s behavior, and even the few times that Owen had told me about Alyssa not feeling well and him staying with his grandparents during the weeks that she had him because she was sleeping so much. Reluctantly, Joyce finally admitted that Alyssa was dealing with anxiety and depression, which meant maybe, possibly,hopefullythose pills she’d been taking were nothing more than a prescription to help with those issues.

I wasn’t fully convinced, but it was all I had to go on. I’d expected a phone call from a pissed-off Alyssa, telling me to stay out of her business, but, surprisingly, I hadn’t heard from her. Which made me wonder if her parents had kept our phone conversation, and my worries, to themselves. And if so, maybe they were more concerned about their daughter than they’d let on.

As the time dragged on while I waited for Stevie to return home from urgent care, I constantly checked my phone for messages, anxious for an update on her condition and my stomach in knots. I allowed Owen to play twenty minutes of Minecraft before it was time for bed, while I paced restlessly in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows in my living room. I dragged my fingers through my hair for the umpteenth time, feeling helpless and beyond furious that this ex of Valerie’s had dared to touch Stevie in any way.

From what I understood, the restraining order against Mark was for Valerie, so he hadn’t violated any laws in that regard by approaching Stevie, though an altercation was possible grounds for an assault charge, and an arrest if he was responsible for Stevie’s injuries. I needed to know the details, because whoever this asshole was, I was going to make sure he understood that I was far more intimidating and powerful than a fucking restraining order. That if he came near Valerie or Stevie again, there would be hell to pay.

At ten after eight, I finally received a text from Stevie’s phone, brief and to the point.I’m home and I’m fine. I’m exhausted and I’ll talk to you tomorrow.

My jaw clenched, hating how guarded and emotionally withdrawn she’d been with me since Saturday night, and there was no way I wasn’t going to see for myself that she wasfine, as she’d put things. I was so wound up, and I refused to wait another minute to find out what the hell happened.

I called Cara to stay with Owen, and after she arrived I strode down to Stevie and Valerie’s apartment, knocking briskly on the door.

Jack, the guy Valerie was dating, appeared on the other side, and I was grateful that he’d stayed with the two of them at urgent care and made sure they’d gotten home safely.

The other man gave me a smirk. “Stevie did warn us after sending you that last text message to expect you, despite her saying she’d talk to you tomorrow.” His tone was filled with humor.

I was far from amused as I walked into the apartment behind Jack, seeing only Valerie sitting on the living room couch. “Where is she?” I asked, feeling anxious that Stevie was nowhere in sight to reassure me that she truly was okay.

“She’s taking a shower,” Valerie replied. “She’s scraped up from the fall, and she did sprain her left wrist, but nothing is broken.”

Relief flooded through me, along with sheer determination to put an end to this guy’s harassment, by any means necessary. I sat down in a chair across from where Jack and Valerie were seated on the sofa. “Tell me everything that happened.”

Valerie was more forthcoming with the details, while I knew that Stevie would have downplayed the situation. By the time Valerie finished relaying the story of her ex confronting Stevie before shoving her to the ground because she wouldn’t give him the information he wanted on Valerie, my entire body vibrated with anger.

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