Page 14 of More than Enough
“I’m here.” She slid her hand towards him, palm down on the cushions. “I’m listening.”
He reached out almost desperately, covering her hand with his own and clutching tightly at her fingers.
“I’m not one to talk. Not much about my feelings.” His gaze searched her face, settling on her lips, and she gave him a shaky smile he returned. “But between Monk and my therapist, they convinced. They convinced me to talk to you.”
A therapist?She managed to keep the words in her head, only barely, giving him a shallow nod of encouragement.
“I was in a wreck. I wrecked out. On the bike.” Blade closed his eyes, and a muscle in his jaw clenched. “A drunk hit me and nearly. She nearly killed me.”
“Oh my God.” Jenn’s reaction was soft, the words breathed in shock. “When?”
“Not long ago. A while, but I’m still recovering.” That muscle in his jaw muscle flexed and shook. “I have problems with my head. My head and my mouth. Math. Reading. Speaking.” His fingers squeezed hers in a slow rhythm. Tighten, relax. “My words don’t work all the time.”
Jenn flashed back to a few statements he’d made through their time together, slowly beginning to piece together the self-deprecating cut-downs he’d applied to himself. Shifting closer to him, she reached up with the hand he hadn’t claimed and trailed her fingertips along his cheek. She threaded them through his hair, navigating by feel until she came to the ridged scar behind his ear that he’d avoided talking about.Until now. “This.” She leaned closer, holding still until he opened his eyes. She saw the flare of his pupils, then the heat she’d come to expect whenever they were together. “This is from that accident, isn’t it? This scar?”
“Brain surgery number two.” His lips pursed on the final word, and she darted forwards to place a kiss against them, liking how he showed her his surprise with a quick indrawn breath. “I was so busted up, Jenn. You wouldn’t have. Wouldn’t have recognized me. Hell, Monk has photos from the first days. I don’t recognize myself. Tubes everywhere. Face so swollen my eyes wouldn’t open even if I’d been awake.”
“You were in a coma?” Even with the effort she put into steadying her voice, the final word broke a little, and he winced. “Blade. Nate. You’re okay now, right?”
“Some things are good.” He shrugged and moved closer, his thigh against her legs when he turned to face her. “Some things are as good as they’re gonna get. My mouth.” His lips clamped shut and his mouth twisted to the side. “My mouth comes and goes. The words. The nightmares. Those are better when I’m with you. But what you see is what you get.”
“Well…” She straightened her spine, staring at him. “You had brain surgery. More than one. I think the fact you’re walking and talking at all is a miracle.” She traced along the scar again, glad he was letting her touch him like this. “The fact I get to have you, to hold you—that’s another miracle, Nate.”
“I’m always going to struggle. There’s a lot that can’t be fixed.”
“I don’t think you need to be fixed, Nathanael. I like you just the way you are.” Jenn angled her head to touch his, foreheads pressed together. “My miracle man.”
“Jesus, Jenn. Do you even know how special you are?”
“Do I get to keep you? Are you mine?” He nodded, but she noted he was careful not to break that contact between them. “If you’re mine, then that’s all that matters.”
Twelve
Jenn
Purse in hand, Jenn tossed a wave over her shoulder to Rose as she made her way out through the door. She normally worked days, but one of the other waitresses had called in sick, so the manager had asked Jenn to fill in. As the door closed behind her, Jenn shivered. It was one of the few nights a week the diner was open until midnight, capturing traffic from a couple of bars near the county line. The parking lot was dark, and the shadows cast by the shed and cars turned everything unfamiliar and somehow menacing.
She glanced down as she dug for her keys, startled when a voice called out from the shadows next to the shed. She looked up, searching the darkness. “Hello?” She didn’t see anyone, no movement, and the sound didn’t repeat, so she hurried to her car, clicking the fob as she reached the door.
Sliding behind the wheel, she breathed a heavy sigh of relief.That was creepy. The car started easily, and she pulled out of the parking lot, heading home and sending a silent thanks to Blade’s friend Wolf. He’d worked on her car three times now, each at his insistence, pointing out things that were likely to become problems and cutting her a deep discount to have the repairs done.
In town, she made a stop at the local grocery store. Factories in town meant they kept hours convenient to shift workers, which was a boon on a night like tonight. A quick turn through the fruits and vegetables with basket in hand, then the dairy section for more cream, and a stop at an endcap touting a special, and she was back at the front checking out.
Back in the store’s parking lot, she looked around, confused. She’d exited the store and angled directly to where she always parked—and certainly had just done so—but her car was nowhere to be seen. Jenn stumbled to a stop as she fumbled with her purse and bags, retrieving her keys. A click of the fob had her head jerking to the side as a car’s horn beeped in response. On the opposite side of the lot, her car was backed into a lined slot against a neighboring business.
Jenn approached the car cautiously; she knew she hadn’t parked here. It required backing, and that was a maneuver she tried to avoid. She crowded close to the wall as she sidled towards the car, angling her head to look into the shadowy back seat to find it empty, as was the front.
“Very funny.” She looked around, expecting to see someone jump out with an announcement that she’d been punked, but there was no one. Glancing over her shoulder, she opened the back door and placed her groceries on the floor. They were flimsy, reusable bags, and one of them tipped over, spilling the contents, glass jars of pasta sauce clinking against the jug of creamer. “Dammit.”
When she stood up from straightening the mess and looked around again, she yelped aloud because there was a motorcycle parked in front of her car, wheel pointed towards her bumper. Panicked, she took a moment to recognize the rider, and air whooshed out of her when she saw it was Blade. “Oh, God. You scared me.”
He dismounted, leaning the bike on the kickstand before walking to her. The smile on his face wasn’t gleeful, not as if he’d played a prank on her by moving the car. The expression on his face was soft and sweet, one that said seeing her was a welcome surprise. “Hey.” He crowded close and dipped his head to brush his lips against hers. “I didn’t expect to find you here.”
Heart still pounding, she lifted to her toes to chase his mouth, rewarded with a deep chuckle and a deeper kiss. “I’m headed home.” She leaned against his chest when he wrapped his arms around her, letting his strength support her. “Wanna come for a visit?”
The heat in his eyes was instant, and a surge of need rippled through her belly, zinging between her legs. His breathing changed, deepening, and she saw his focus shift to her mouth. “Yeah,” he said, voice low and guttural. “I want.”
He followed her home, pulled the bike up next to the house, and met her at the car door to load up his hands with the grocery bags. Jenn protested, unsuccessfully, and quickly resigned herself to opening doors instead of carrying food.
