Page 18 of Love Me Back
“What are you doing?”
“I need your help,” she said as she grabbed a fry I left on the plate and tossed it into her mouth.
“With what?” I asked, watching her scarf down my leftover fries. “Have you not eaten?”
“Not since this morning. We’ve been working all day getting things ready for Gray to come home from the hospital.”
“How is he?” I asked, looking at my phone. I was going for aloof concern, but I wasn’t sure she was buying it.
“He needs you.”
My eyes snapped to hers. “What do you mean?”
“Gray sent you away because he didn’t want you to know how hurt he was.” My eyes went wide, and Addie’s face filled with sympathy. “He’s in a wheelchair, Jessie. He can’t feel his legs.”
“Oh my God,” I whispered.
“He didn’t want you to know.”
“Why?”
Addie leaned forward on the table. “Why? Jess, my brother is desperately in love with you, and now he feels like he is half aman.”
“Did he say that?”
“Of course not.”
My shoulders dropped, and I slumped back against the seat. Addie was talking out of her ass. Grayson was too strong, too confident, too sure of himself to think he was half a man just because he couldn’t walk. It was the most ridiculous thing I’d ever heard.
“Addie, you can’t put words in his mouth. He asked me to leave because he didn’t want me there.”
“That’s true,” she agreed, nodding her head as she looked at the table. “But the reason he didn’t want you there had nothing to do with him not wanting you.”
I stared at Grayson’s sister. I liked Addie. She didn’t leave the ranch any more than the others did, unless she had class. But the few times we’d run into each other in town, I’d really enjoyed talking with her. I was even starting to count her as a friend.
The old ladies at the clubhouse had become my friends. I wasn’t sure about them when Ellie first introduced me. I didn’t always make a great first impression.
“What did you need help with?” A change of subject was always a quick way to avoid difficult conversations.
Addie exhaled slowly as she watched my face. The intense stare she sent my way was unnerving. I began to fidget while waiting for her to speak.
“Grayson needs someone to help him adjust to his new reality.”
My breath stuttered as I asked, “Is it... permanent?”
“We don’t know. The doctor said it could take a few weeks for the swelling to go down.”
“And until it does, he won’t know the full extent of the damage,” I finished for her.
“Ryder mentioned to Tyson that you studied physical therapy in college.” She waited for me to confirm what Ryder had said.
“Not exactly, but yes, it is something I could help with. But he would have to agree. If he isn’t willing to have me there, I can’thelp.”
“He is. Come to the house around five. We’ll have dinner ready.”
With that, she jumped up before I could ask any questions, taking my check with her. As I stared at the girl who slipped out the front door without a backward glance, I wondered whether I should just go over there or if I should ask Ellie about it first.
I knew if I asked Ellie, or any of the old ladies, they would tell me to go. They all got excited every time Grayson showed up in my vicinity. They didn’t understand why I brushed off his obvious interest in me.
