Finally

by R. L. Mathewson

  “It’s almost over,” Devin promised her.

  Sniffle. “No, it’s not,” Charlie said, once again shaking her head frantically as Aidan reached for the forceps.

  “No, no, no, no, wait! I can’t do this!” she said, trying to pull her foot away only there was nowhere to go.

  “I have to take the glass out, Charlie. I’m sorry,” Aidan said as he carefully wrapped his hand around her foot and-

  “Oh, shit…”

  “Oh, my god! Oh, my god! Oh, my god!” Charlie mumbled frantically as she watched Aidan pull a large piece of glass from her foot and placed it in a small metal basin on the tray next to him.

  “Okay, that’s it, right?” Charlie said, sounding hopeful only to start rambling again when Aidan went back for more.

  “Don’t look at him,” Devin said, trying not to wince when Aidan dropped another large piece of glass in the basin.

  “T-Tell him to stop,” Charlie mumbled, sounding terrified.

  Biting back a sigh, Devin pulled his arm free so that he could reach up and cup her face, pulling her focus to him. “It’s almost over, Charlie,” he whispered, gently caressing her jaw as he looked down into her beautiful blue eyes.

  Shaking her head, she said, “No, it’s not.”

  God, she was beautiful, Devin thought as he traced his fingertips along her cheek and-

  “You want the bear, don’t you?” he found himself asking when Charlie worried her bottom lip between her teeth.

  With a nod and a sniffle, she said, “I really do.”

  Chapter 9

  “You’re dead to me,” Charlie said, crossing her arms over her chest as she pointedly looked away from the man that she was no longer speaking to.

  There was a heavy sigh that she really didn’t appreciate at the moment and then…

  “I have to go to work,” Ben said, walking around the bed only to grumble something that she chose to ignore as he turned around and walked back the way he came when she turned her head again, deciding that he deserved nothing less for what he put her through yesterday.

  “Come on, don’t be like that, Charlie. I said I was sorry,” he said, sighing when she turned her head so that she could narrow her eyes on him.

  “Oh, I must have missed that. Was that before or after you ran out of the hospital yelling ‘Good luck!’?” she demanded, shaking her head in disgust.

  “I don’t understand why you’re mad. I waited until you passed out before I left,” Ben said with a helpless shrug as though she hadn’t just disowned him and dropped a white bakery bag on her lap as though that would somehow make up for this latest betrayal.

  “They were sewing me up, you jackass!” Charlie said, grabbing the bakery bag and went to toss it at him only to decide to hold off on doing that until after she found out what was in the bag.

  “And watching you go through that was just too much for me to take because I love you so much. Doesn’t that mean anything?” Ben asked with a heartfelt sigh as she opened the bag and noted that the cheap bastard only brought her one jelly donut.

  “No, it doesn’t,” Charlie said, pulling the small donut out of the bag and taking a bite while she sat there, glaring at him.

  “Would it make you feel better if I promised to swing by and check on you at lunchtime?” he asked, sounding hopeful.

  She considered him as she took a bite of the donut that tasted a little stale. “Do you actually plan on coming back here at lunchtime or are you hoping that I’ll forgive you and forget your promise when you don’t show up later?”

  Looking thoughtful, Ben said, “The second one.”

  “I should have pushed you off that swing when I had the chance,” Charlie mumbled bitterly as she took another bite of her donut and was forced to bite back a wince when the move somehow caused her foot currently wrapped in gauze to brush the wrong way against the stack of pillows that it was currently propped on.

  “I would have just told Grammy Bea on you,” he said, shrugging it off and making her eyes narrow on him.

  “She never would have believed you,” Charlie pointed out as she popped the last bite in her mouth.

  “She really would have though since I was her favorite.”

  Eyes narrowing dangerously on the man that had been there for her since she was five years old, she said, “Is that really what you think?”

  “It’s what I know,” Ben said, nodding as he stood up and gestured towards her foot. “Do you need anything before I go?”

  “You’re really going to leave me like this?” Charlie asked, worrying her bottom lip as she did her best to look pathetic.

  For a moment, Ben stood there, looking torn, and then…

  “Yes, yes, I am,” he said, shrugging it off as he reached for the crutches the emergency room had sent her home with and placed them closer to her bed with a satisfied sigh.

  “This is why I hate you,” Charlie said, returning to glaring while she watched as he pushed the bottle of water on her nightstand a few inches closer.

  “What are you talking about? I’m making sure that you have everything that you need,” Ben said, gesturing between the remote on the bed next to her and the bottle of water.

  “What if I have to use the bathroom?” she asked, narrowing her eyes on him.

  “It’s only a few feet away,” Ben said, gesturing absently towards the bathroom that had taken her fifteen minutes to get to this morning.

  “Food?”

  “What the hell are you talking about? I just fed you,” Ben demanded, gesturing towards the empty bakery bag by her side.

  “I took better care of you after you had your tonsils taken out,” she pointed out with a glare.

  “You’re really going to compare that to this? I could have died!”

  “You had a mild case of tonsillitis. They only took them out to get you to stop bitching,” Charlie reminded him.

  “That’s what they told you so that you wouldn’t worry.”

  “You can leave now,” Charlie said, nodding slowly as she gestured for him to get out.

  “I’ll check on you later,” Ben promised as he reached over and pushed the bottle of water a tiny bit closer.

  “We won’t be speaking later if you go out that door, Benjamin Lopez,” Charlie said, watching as he headed towards the door.

  “I’ll see you later, Charlie Marshall,” he said mockingly with a chuckle that she did not appreciate, not at all.

  “You’re dead to me!”

  “I love you, too!” he called back as he closed the door behind him, leaving her sitting there, seething with righteous anger.

  Definitely should have pushed him off that swing, Charlie thought, continuing to glare at her front door as she absently reached over for her bottle of water only to accidentally knock it to the floor.

  “Damn it,” she said, sighing heavily as she sat there, debating leaving it but…

  The fridge was way too far to get to right now, Charlie realized as she carefully shifted closer to the edge of the bed with a pained wince when the move caused her stitches to pull. Closing her eyes, she slowly exhaled as she waited for the pain to go away, only to feel her shoulders sag in defeat when the pain doubled.

  Great.

  She should have taken an Advil when she had a chance, Charlie thought as she opened her eyes and found herself wondering what Devin was doing here since he’d left for work over an hour ago. That led to her wondering what was in the small white bakery bag he’d placed on the bed next to her. Curious, she picked up the bag and looked inside, noting that there were two very large jelly donuts waiting for her attention.

  Pleased with his offering, Charlie selected the plumper of the two donuts and took a small bite while she watched as Devin shifted the grocery bags in his arms so that he could lean over and pick up her bottle of water. Without a word, he placed it back on the nightstand before adding a second bottle of water and a small prescription bottle, which she assumed was the prescription of painkillers that she’d to
ld him that she didn’t need last night.

  That was followed by watching him walk over to her kitchen and setting aside the moving boxes that she hadn’t had a chance to unpack yet so that he could put away the food that he’d picked up for her. Once that was done, Devin grabbed one of the rolls of gauze that his cousin had given them last night and walked back over and sat down on the edge of her bed. She nibbled on the incredibly delicious donut as she watched him unwrap the gauze on her foot and inspect her stitches before carefully rolling the new roll of gauze around her foot.

  Once that was done, he asked, “Do you need anything else?” while she sat there, considering the large man glaring at her as she continued to nibble on her donut and decided that there were one or two things that she could probably use a hand with since he was offering and all.

  Chapter 10

  “This isn’t what I had in mind when I asked if you needed anything else,” Devin bit out as he stood there, rubbing his trembling hands down his face as he struggled to figure out how this happened.

  “Which is why I really appreciate it,” came the mumbled response from the woman currently stripping naked on the other side of the black shower curtain.

  He should have kept his big fucking mouth shut, Devin thought as he watched helplessly as she tossed her shirt through the small gap between the shower curtain and the wall seconds before the light gray shorts that she’d been wearing joined the shirt.

  “Can I ask you something?” the reason that he was on the verge of losing his fucking mind asked as the last item was thrown through the small opening, forcing him to reach back and grab hold of the bathroom counter before his legs gave out.

  “No,” he bit out as he tried to get the image of her white panties on the bathroom floor out of his mind.

  God, he really couldn’t fucking take much more of this.

  “Fair enough,” Charlie murmured as she carefully slid her legs beneath the curtain and onto the stack of towels that he’d placed on the floor so that her stitches stayed dry while she took a shower.

  Just when he felt himself relax, she said, “I’m ready!”

  Sighing heavily, Devin released the counter and reached inside the shower so that he could turn the water on for her.

  “Cold!” came the gasped response that had him cursing under his breath as he quickly turned the nob until he heard, “That’s good.”

  Deciding that he’d tortured himself enough for one day, Devin headed towards the door and-

  “Why do you hate me?” came the question that had him rubbing his trembling hands down his face with a humorless laugh because god, he really fucking wished that he could hate her. It would make his life easier if he could hate her that way he wouldn’t find himself thinking about her every fucking minute of the day.

  “I don’t hate you,” Devin said, dropping his hands away as Charlie murmured, “No, of course, you don’t.”

  “I don’t,” he bit out evenly.

  “And I totally believe you,” Charlie said, making him narrow his eyes on the shower curtain.

  “I don’t.”

  “Then explain the glaring,” she said, sounding curious.

  “I don’t glare,” he said, narrowing his eyes in her direction.

  “Uh-huh,” she murmured slowly before asking, “And my office?”

  “What about it?” Devin asked, deciding that it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to tell her the truth.

  “Just wondering if there was a reason behind my banishment, that’s all,” Charlie said as she began wiggling the toes on her good foot.

  “I didn’t banish you.”

  “Then what would you call it?”

  Salvaging as much of his fucking sanity as he could.

  “Giving you a bigger office,” he said, using the excuse that he’d come up with at the time.

  “And avoiding me at work?”

  “I wasn’t avoiding you,” he lied.

  “Really? Then why do you have T.J. deal with me whenever you need something, but you don’t do that with anyone else?”

  “Shouldn’t Ben be here taking care of you?” Devin asked, hoping to change the subject.

  “He really should,” Charlie murmured in agreement before asking, “Can I ask you something else?”

  “No. Why isn’t Ben here?”

  “We do not speak his name,” Charlie said with a sniffle.

  “Why is that?” he asked, settling back against the counter as he watched her continue to wiggle her toes and couldn’t help but find the move endearing.

  “He’s dead to me.”

  “Is that why he’s not here?”

  There was a long-suffering sigh and then, “He had to go to work.”

  “I see,” he murmured, “and exactly how were you planning on getting around today?”

  “I felt that it was in my best interest to move as little as possible today,” came the reply that had him biting back a sigh.

  “And how was that working out for you?” Devin asked as he pulled his phone out of his back pocket to let T.J. know that he was going to be working from home today since Charlie didn’t have anyone to help her.

  “Can’t complain,” she said, making his lips twitch.

  “How’s your foot?” he absently asked as he sent T.J. a text of everything that he needed done today.

  “It’s fine,” Charlie mumbled after a slight pause that had him glancing up from his phone to narrow his eyes on the shower curtain as he asked, “Are you lying to me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you want a painkiller?”

  Sniffle.

  “Yes, I believe that would be lovely, thank you,” Charlie murmured as he left the bathroom, grateful for the small reprieve.

  He walked into the living room and once again found himself wondering why she wasn’t sleeping in the bedroom. It was definitely big enough, Devin thought grabbing the small prescription bottle off her nightstand as he found his attention on the half-opened bedroom door as he headed back into the bathroom.

  “Why aren’t you using your bedroom?” Devin asked as he placed the bottle of painkillers on the bathroom counter.

  “I’m using it for my office,” the woman that was driving him out of his fucking mind said.

  “What was wrong with your last apartment?” he asked, folding his arms over his chest as he leaned back against the bathroom counter while he waited for her to finish her shower.

  “Nothing,” she said with a sad sigh.

  “Then why did you move?” Devin asked, deciding to use this opportunity to find out a few things about the woman that he thought about more than he should.

  “I’m trying to cut down on my monthly expenses,” she said while he stood there frowning.

  “Are you having problems?” he asked, already reaching for his phone so that he could send her Christmas bonus early when she said, “No, I’m just trying to save money. Can I ask you something?”

  “No,” Devin said, moving to fold his arms back over his chest only to drop his head back with a sigh when she asked him anyway.

  “I think I figured out why you hate me,” she said, not asked, he noted as he reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a migraine coming on.

  “I don’t hate you,” he said, again.

  “I have a theory,” she announced.

  “And I can’t wait to hear it,” he drawled, dropping his hand away to look over his shoulder to see if she had any Advil so that he could-

  “You’re in love with me,” Charlie announced, making everything in him go still.

  “What?” he asked hoarsely as he slowly turned his head to stare at the shower curtain.

  “Shhh, it’s okay. There’s no shame in your feelings. I have this effect on men. They just can’t seem to help themselves. God, why did I have to be this irresistible?” she asked with a long-suffering sigh, making his eyes narrow in the little brat’s direction as he reached over, turned the sink on, and-

  “Cold!”


  Chapter 11

  “Are you still mad?” Charlie asked the large man double-checking her bandage to make sure that she didn’t get it wet with clipped movements as that muscle in his jaw clenched again. “Because you look mad.”

  When Devin didn’t say anything, she decided that it would probably be a good time to stop talking. Well, that and the fact that she was close to crying. God, her foot really hurt, Charlie thought as she carefully rolled over onto her side, shifting her injured foot so that it was resting on her other foot. She slowly exhaled as she slid her trembling hand under her pillow and grabbed hold of the sheet while she took a shaky breath.

  Knowing just how close she was to crying, Charlie said, “Thank you for helping me,” hoping that he would take that as the excuse that he needed to leave so that she could-

  “God, you really are a pain in the ass,” Devin said, not really sounding all that happy about something that Ben learned to accept when they were little as she watched him leave.

  “What are you doing?” she couldn’t help but ask a few seconds later when he walked back into her apartment carrying a chair.

  “You should have been more careful,” Devin said, sounding pissed as he placed the chair next to her bed, sat down, and glared as he reached over and pulled her hand free so that he could wrap his hand around it.

  “Didn’t exactly do this on purpose,” Charlie said, squeezing his hand as she tried to breathe through the pain, wondering when that painkiller that he’d forced her to take was going to finally kick in and put her out of her misery.

  There was a pause and then…

  “Why did you do it?” he asked, sounding curious as he absently ran his thumb over the back of her hand.

  “Do what?” Charlie absently asked, wondering if he had any idea just how good his touch felt.

  “The glass. Why did you do that for Dustin?”

  “Why wouldn’t I do that for him? He’s my B.F.F.,” Charlie said, watching as his lips twitched.

  “I had noticed that you’ve stolen my son,” Devin said, chuckling as she closed her eyes even as she had to admit that he had an incredibly sexy smile.