Page 65 of Has-Been
Reacher had a good point, and I was kinda grateful that he had forced Stitch to address this now, instead of dragging it out longer. I stood up, sighing with relief when I got off my damn ass again.
“So… I’m gonna be staying in Elise’s room with her. I need to know she’s safe when she sleeps.”
Stitch grimaced, and shoved his chair back as he and Reacher stood up too.
“Fuck me… you’re pushing me again already.”
“I want her safe, and I know you want the same. I’d die before I let anyone near her, you know that.”
He groaned, backing up and leaning against the wall.
“I need to stay back, or that urge to punch you is gonna lead to the real thing again. You’re talking about shacking up with my fucking sister.”
“Stitch, for fuck’s sake. You just had this discussion, and you’re letting them be, so just fucking let them be. Move your shit in with her, brother. We’ll need your room for ‘Grease’, anyway.”
I grabbed the door handle, and paused before I left.
“I’ll ask her if she’s okay with that first, and if she says yes, then I’ll move my shit in. She gets a fucking say in this, Pres. She’s our fucking equal. You know what though? What we did to that room of hers? We need to do that to the others. We need to know our women are safe behind stronger fucking doors when we’re not with them. They can’t always pile into one room like refugees.”
Once we were back in her room, and Stitch had finished with his annoyingly long hug, he nodded at me and left, taking his old lady with him. I followed and locked up, then turned back to my girl, hopefully my future old lady.
“I don’t understand. He’s willingly leaving you with me? What’s happening?” As soon as I reached Elise, I cupped her face in my hands, and pressed my lips to hers. Soft, sweet, just a fucking hello for the moment. As much as I wanted to tear her clothes off and toss her down on the bed, we needed to talk first.
I sat her down and made my way to the kitchen, making coffee, although I really wanted something stronger. Now wasn’t the time for more dependencies though. I dug out the pills the club doc had given me, and took two with some water, before I sat down as gently as I could on the sofa. Even so, I still let out a groan of pain, and Elise looked like she wanted to do something, but there was nothing she could do to fix it, was there?
“It’s okay, babe. My ass is gonna hurt for a while. Just let me, uh…” I moved and wriggled about until I didn’t want to scream for a minute.
“Maybe you should lie down on the bed.”
I let out a dramatic sigh. “She only wants me for my dick, I knew it.”
Elise swatted at my arm.
“Stop being so silly, I mean, I do, obviously, but I also care that you’re hurting.” Yeah, there’s a reminder of the awful stuff I need to tell her. I realised when Stitch was fighting his opposition to us being together, that I needed to bare any secrets I had, so that nothing else could get in the way of us. Even this.
“Babe, I need to tell you some stuff, and I need you just to listen until I’m done, okay? I’ve… I’ve never told anyone everything, but I’ll tell you as much as I can, because I don’t want any secrets between us.”
Elise
Helookednervousashell, and he was still in pain, and I didn’t know if this was the best time for him to tell me anything.
“Has, you don’t have to-”
“I do, babe, but it’s not nice stuff, and I need you to promise that you won’t let it change how you feel about me.” He took my hand and linked our fingers together, clearly steeling himself for what he was about to say.
Finally he let out a slow breath and squeezed his eyes closed.
“Fuck, this is harder than I thought. I need to not look at you as I say this, okay?”
I rubbed my thumb back and forth over his.
“I’m listening, Has, and I love you. It’s okay.”
He lowered his head, and I could see his shoulders hunching, like he was trying to hide from me.
“I uh… when I was a kid, I was pretty well known because I was an actor. I was on a popular TV show, and Jesus… I thought I was going to be a star. You know how hard it is to get into the business? Damn near impossible. Yeah, it was meant to be the start of my future. I was gonna make it big.”
“How old were you?” The second I spoke, I gasped. “Sorry, I’m shutting up.”
