Page 24 of Renegade Rift

She lifts a perfectly arched brow, and I’m beginning to really like the expression. “Why?”

“Please?” I ask, giving her the charming smile that has been known to get me everything I want and more.

Juliet shakes her head and grabs her phone from next to her on the bed. She winces as she grabs it and offers it to me.

I frown, noticing splotchy red spots on her knuckles. “Your hands are hurt too? What happened before I got there? Did he hurt you?”

“No.” She shakes her head. “That’s from something else.”

“Are you okay, though?”

“I will be.”

My brows raise, silently asking if she’s bullshitting me.

“It’s nothing. I was diagnosed a few years back with Hashimoto’s disease. This is either stress or I ate something with gluten. Likely the first after the day I’ve had.”

Hashimoto’s?I can’t tell if it sounds like something serious or she’s making it up to get me to leave her alone, but I make a mental note to look up everything I can about it when I get home.

“And the limp. Are your knees okay? You took quite the fall.”

“I fell because my knees are swollen. Same as my hands.”

I look down at where her usually tan skin is angry and red surrounding the joint of her knees. Not like a bruise would be from a fall. This looks like something else entirely.

Shit. Probably not making it up then.

Without a second thought, I slip her phone in my pocket, head to the kitchen and make as many bags of ice as her trays will let me. Juliet protests the entire time, telling me, “You don’t need to do this.” And “It’s only a minor flare up. I’ll be fine.”

Fine, my ass. Nothing about this girl is fine. Except maybe her ass. And I only know that because I checked it out before I knew who she was. Now, though, I plan to do everything I can to make sure she is fine.

Starting with research. I don’t know what Hashimoto’s is, but in my world, when you have swollen anything, you ice it.

My own injury screams in agreement, and I know I really should do the same. But I grit through it and bring the three bags over to Juliet.

She huffs and scoffs as I place the bags. One for each knee, and one she can switch between her hands. She reluctantly mutters, “Thank you.”

“No problem.” I pull her phone from my pocket and quickly type in my number, saving it under Hulk with a little green heart emoji. Then I hit the call button and quickly end it before handing it back to her. “I put my number in your phone and called myself. Can I count on you to at least answer when I call to let me know you’re alright.”

She searches my face, for what I’m not sure, but she must find it because she nods. “But not if I’m working.”

“Topless you mean.” I hate myself the moment I say it. It’s not that I have a problem with her job, I just hate the thought that there are a number of men out there who know what she looks like naked.

Okay, so maybe I’m not thrilled about her job. But it’s her body, and who am I to tell her what to do with it. That doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it.

Juliet scoffs and rolls her eyes. “Not all of us can be star baseball players.”

I don’t bother pointing out I know damn well how much Ty was making, and she shouldn’t have had to work another day in her life.

She fights a yawn, and for the first time, I notice the dark circles beneath her eyes.

“I’ll let you get some sleep.” I tug the blanket her feral cat is laying on, earning me a hiss and a view of his ass. I motion for her to lie down, and she looks up at me like I’m insane.

“Please, Juliet. I won’t pry tonight. Just let me do this small act of taking care of you.”

She makes me wait. Chewing her lower lip like it might physically pain her to give this to me.

Just when I think she’s going to tell me to fuck off, she scoffs and wiggles down so her head is on the pillow. “Fine. But just this once. And only because I’m exhausted.”

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