Page 31 of Crash
“Now, that I can do.” I take her into my arms.
She lays her head on my chest, wrapping her arms around my waist. “This makes me feel better,” she mutters.
I place a kiss on the top of her head and gently rub her arm, providing her with the comfort she needs. She’s just about sleep when my phone buzzes, alerting to an incoming text. I grab it and see the plan I put in motion is in full swing.
“Is that your job?” she sleepily slurs.
“No. Just one of the guys seeing if I’m okay.”
She gets as comfortable as one can with a full leg cast on. Seeing how her arms are like vice grips around me, I pull the throw blanket over us and turn the sound down on her television, and she falls into a deep slumber. Now my only task is to focus on getting this all put together without her knowing.
THE NIGHT WASa little rough for both of us. When she had to go to the bathroom, I was happy to oblige. I’d either carry her or she hitched a ride on my back. The latter came after I tripped over an imaginary rug and nearly dropped her. Not to mention I bumped her head on the door jamb. Major boyfriend fail. Your girlfriend is already dealing with a broken leg, and small stitches on her face, and you go hitting her head against the frame and nearly crashing her to the floor. Let’s just say, she cursed me out thoroughly for that. So loud, her parents woke up to see what the commotion was about. So, this morning, I made sure to get up extra early and fix breakfast for everyone.
“Mmm, smells good. All this and fresh coffee, I’m sure she’s not that mad.”
“She made me sleep on the futon.”
“Isn’t that where you were sleeping all along?”
I scratch my head when I realize I just told her father I’d been in bed with his daughter. “Umm, how many pancakes do you want, Mr. Gordon?”
He presses his lips together, and before he can speak on what happened, Mrs. Gordon walks in, saving me…I hope.
“Good morning. I hope you were able to get a little bit of sleep, Austin. Tessa was really giving it to you last night.”
Unbeknownst to her, she just added even thicker tension and some nerve-rattling between me and Tessa’s dad.
“Well, yeah. I got a few hours after her last trip to the bathroom. How many pancakes would you like? Also, I never got your answer, Mr. Gordon.” I place two cups of joe on the table along with the coffee tray they have next to the machine.
“We’ll both have one each.”
I plate up breakfast and set it in front of them.
“Austin, that’s a lot of food. The only time George cooks like that is when guests are coming in from out of town or he got lucky the night before.”
Mr. Gordon nearly chokes on his hot beverage, and I create an excuse to leave the room. I know we didn’t do anything but sleep, but her dad is a ruthless, albeit retired, lawyer. I’m not trying to have him questioning me.
“Uh, I think I’ll go see if Tessa’s up and wants to eat.” I scurry off to her room. I enter her area, and she is sitting on the side of her bed just about to attempt a one-legged hop to the bathroom.
“What are you doing?”
“Um, going to go freshen up and grab a yogurt.”
“Come on, I got you.”
“Naw, Mister Butterfingers, I’ll manage.”
“Oh, come on.” I gaze at her in defeat. “It was just a moment of fatigue, that’s all,” I say, with my shoulders slouched, silently pleading for her to not hold this over my head.
She smiles and gestures for me to turn around. Tessa hops onto my back, and we carefully stroll to the bathroom. I sit her on the counter, and she begins to brush her teeth. I figure I’d better tell her what happened with her dad, so she is prepared.
“Tessa, um, I let it slip that I slept in the bed with you last night. Your dad didn’t look pleased.”
“I think you’re panicking for no reason. My dad is okay with you being here and knows we’ve slept together before. He likes to intimidate people. Blame it on the attorney in him. If that freaked you out, you couldn’t be a witness in front of him.” She rinses and washes her face before climbing aboard the A.L. Express, and we rejoin her folks at the table.
“Morning, Mom and Dad,” Tessa announces.
She eases into her chair when I crouch, and her dad assists.
