Page 94 of Filthy Player
“In this damn place with all the crappy food?”
“Funny.” He grinned. “That’s what I said last time I was here.”
She smiled. He shook his head and I held the door for him while he wheeled himself out. He’d been getting better on his crutches and with a walking cast, but he must have been exhausted to be in his wheelchair.
“Can you get him home?” I asked Jaxon.
“I’ve got Melanie,” Sam said. “She ran to get coffee but she’ll be here.”
“I’ve got work to do,” Jaxon said. “Calls are coming in.”
Both of us stared at him, and at the same time, said, “Call me when you know something.”
He turned back to his phone, Sam wheeled himself back to the floor’s waiting area, and I went back to the room.
“I saw your interview,” Paige said as I pulled the chair close to her bed and collapsed into it. “You looked sexy.”
I’d already forgotten about the interview.
I grabbed her hand and brought it to my mouth, kissing her, smelling her, tasting her.
“What happened?” I asked. “And are you okay?”
I’d heard it. She looked like she would be. Scratches at her temple, goose size egg in the middle of them. Her right arm was in a brace, not a cast, but over all, she looked damn lucky.
“I might have a concussion, and I hurt, but honestly, I’m okay.”
“Your arm—”
“Is fine. Not broken, just sprained from when it smashed against the glass.”
“God. Fuck, Paige, I’m so sorry. So damn sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” she said, reaching for my head but she pulled back, gasping. “My back hurts too, I guess.”
“Don’t move, then. Tell me what happened.”
“I don’t know. But Hannah, she just, I don’t know how to say it, snapped? We were having drinks, having fun and she said she’d take me to your place. Then I realized she already knew where to go, and when I asked her about it, she totally freaked out.”
“Hannah? It was Hannah. That’s what you told Jaxon. Do you remember?”
She shook her head, closed her eyes as if thinking hurt her. “No. The car crashed and I woke up in the ambulance, that’s all I know. But I think she was the stalker. She started ranting about how I didn’t deserve you, how she did, and the last thing she said after I told her I loved you, was that if she couldn’t have you, I didn’t get to either. Then she turned the wheel and she flew off the road. She meant to do it.”
Her chin wobbled and tears fell from her eyes before I even realized she’d started crying.
“Shit.” I climbed into the tiny bed next to her and lay on my side, holding her, careful not to hurt her, but comforting her.
“I was so scared,” she said through her tears, shoulders shaking. “It came out of nowhere, and it was storming, and I hate it when it rains that hard, and then she was yelling at me, and the sounds…”
“Shhh. We’ll talk later.”
The sound of stormy waters rushed through my ears as I held her, willing her to calm down while trying to settle myself. It didn’t work for me, but eventually, her cries dwindled, her sniffling stopped, and she relaxed into me.
“I love you,” I whispered. “Love you so damn much. I was so fucking scared when Jaxon called me.”
“I love you, too. I was so scared.”
“I know, but I got you. I promise.”
