Page 51 of Deception and New Direction

He caught up with me and grabbed my hand.Ilooked down at our intertwined fingers then back up at him in confusion.

“Since you don’t have to use the crutches anymore,Ican finally hold your hand in public,” he said as we walked out of the office together.

It was an oddly sweet comment.Onethat stunned me into silence—which never happened.

Now we were on our way toVince’sloft, where everyone would be meeting up and celebrating.

“I think we should call people and tell themIdidn’t get my cast off so they don’t need to bother themselves by coming if they have other plans,”ItoldJackafter we pulled out of the parking lot.

“Ruthie, you’re not bothering anyone, andIdoubt they had other plans,”Jacksaid. “Yes,Catcalled this agoodbye party for your cast, but you know she andElliewould use any excuse to put together a party, so no one will care.We’restill going.”

BeforeIhad a chance to argue with him, his phone rang through his car speaker, the screen on the dashboard showingArcher’sname.

“Hey man,”Jackanswered.

“You gotRuthiewith you?”Archerasked through the speaker.

“Yes,I’mhere.”Iresponded.

“I got a call from a buddy of mine who still works atLasVegasPD,”Archersaid, andIknew this was not going to be good news. “Malgot out of prison yesterday.Hewas paroled due to good behavior.”

Oh, splendid.Theuniverse must really hate me today.

Archer went on to say thatMal’searly release conditions state he can’t leave the state without permission from his parole officer but that they would keep an extra eye on things just in case.

I appreciated that becauseIknewMal.Hedidn’t care if the rules said he couldn’t cross state lines.Ifhe wanted to, he’d find a way.

Archer hung up, and the next few minutes were silent.Ihad nothing to say, andJacklikely could judge my mood and decided not to say anything.Hepulled into a gas station and filled up whileIjust sat there with my thoughts.

Thoughts of my dad,Mal, the trust money, everything.

Jack’s door opened, and he slid over aDr.Pepperand a bag ofM&Msto me.

“What’s this?”Iasked, looking down at the items now in my lap.

“A wise woman once told me that trail mix is made up of two ingredients—M&Msand disappointment.So,Ijust skipped ahead and got you theM&Msonly,”Jacksaid to me. “Andyour favorite beverage to wash it down with.”

My breath hitched, andIfelt my eyes water.Ihad never had anyone do something this simple but sincerely nice at the same time.

“Thanks,”Itold him, but it was barely above a whisper since my voice cracked.

I enjoyed my kind gesture fromJackas we rode the rest of the way toVince’splace.

When we arrived and walked intoVince’sloft,Jackheld my hand again the entire way.Ididn’t fight him on it becauseIenjoyed it—not thatIwould tell him.

As we got into the elevator,InoticedJackwas grinning at me. “What?”Iasked him.

“Now that you got your cast off,I’mlooking forward to letting you be on top and have your way with me.”Hewinked at me.

Did he seriously just say that? “Lettingme be on top?”Iasked, even though it was rhetorical andIwas really just allowing him the option to change his answer.

“Yeah,IthinkI’lllet you do all the work this time.”

The nerve of this man!Ihuffed and hopped off the elevator quickly and made my way towardVince’sdoor without even responding toJack’sstupid comments.

Thankfully, the door was unlocked, soIlet myself in and didn’t bother holding it forJack.Sadly, even thoughIno longer had my crutches,Iwasn’t exactly speedy with the boot, so he caught up to me pretty quick.

I walked in to see pretty much everyone was already there, but all eyes had moved to me when we walked in, likely expecting me to have nothing on either foot.

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