Page 32 of Destined Chaos
I set my bottle down and cupped her face, lowering my mouth to hers again as a reminder of what it was like. It was the type of kiss that I’d been itching to give her since she threatened me with pepper spray.
Her lips were soft and pliable. I swallowed her soft moan as I deepened the kiss. I took her crutches and leaned them against the counter. Picking her up by the waist, I sat her on the counter, giving easier access to my lips.
She broke the kiss and leaned her forehead against mine. “This is a bad idea.”
“The worst,” I echoed, taking a step back. I stared into her eyes. “I need to start calling construction crews for Slaughter House so we can get started when we get back.”
“Right.” Pink tinted her cheeks. “The house. I almost forgot why you’re here.”
It may have started that way, but the line was blurring the more time I spent around her. I picked her up and eased her back down, re-handing her the crutches.
“I’ll give you some privacy to make your calls. I need to go pack some things and make sure the spare bedroom is set up.”
“The couch is fine if it’s not.”
The couch would be a tight fit, but I’d slept in worse places. She moved down the hall and disappeared into her room while I slipped the phone out of my pocket. I unlocked her sliding glass door and stepped out onto the balcony. She didn’t need to hear what I had to say. Not yet, anyway.
14
Libby
I sighed at the unmade bed. It had been made when I’d left. Peter’s dirty clothes were crumpled in a pile in the chair in the corner. Change from his pockets was strewn on my dresser. I glanced toward the closed bathroom door. Did I even want to look at the mess he’d left in there?
I rested the crutches against the wall and started yanking all the sheets and comforters free as anger rippled through my body like an unstoppable tsunami threatening mass destruction. Peter had lost his ever-lovin’ mind. I crumpled the entire bedding set into a ball and shoved it in the washing machine. Grabbing one of his bags out of the closet, I threw his dirty clothes inside. I yanked open each and every one of my drawers to find he’d moved my stuff to make room for his own.
Peter’s house had always been immaculate when we’d started dating. It wasn’t until he’d started coming to my place when his true colors started to show, yet being messy was a far cry from the crazy he was dishing out now.
There hadn’t been any indication of his possessive and delusional nature until I’d called things off. Surely, I would have noticed something like that, right?
Was I losing my touch in more ways than one?
Sweat beaded my brow after packing three bags and leaving them by the door. I yanked his suits out of the closet and laid them over top. Turning, I found Hugh leaning against the door frame, watching me.
“So, he did all this after you dumped him?”
“I broke up with him, and yes. He did all of this while I was gone.”
Hugh gave a slight nod. “You sure you made it clear that things were over?”
“I’m not even going to answer that,” I growled and hopped to the closet to grab more bedding and back over to the bed. I threw it down, trying to fight off my need to scream.
“You’re right. It’s none of my business.” Hugh guided me by the elbow to the now empty chair and gestured for me to sit. “I’ve got this.”
I eased down into the chair, fighting the throb in my foot. “You don’t have to do this. I can do it myself.”
He snapped out the sheet to spread it across the bed. “I have no doubt that you can do it yourself, but I want to help, so let me.”
He grinned as he tucked the sheet beneath each corner and then straightened the bedspread on top and readded the pillows.
“How did your call go?”
He hopped onto the bed and patted the space next to him.
“Come relax for a minute, and I’ll tell you all about it.”
I hobbled to the bed and climbed up on it, relishing the feel of my own mattress. I punched the unfamiliar lumpy pillow before lifting it over my head to get a look at it. Peter’s. I threw it across the room to his pile of crap.
“Here, use me. No funny business, though. I don’t want you to think I’m cheap.”
