Wicked Plans

by C. Morgan

  Even if some of what they wanted to talk about would be at the expense of Ruby’s reputation. The way I saw it, however, was that she had a bit of wiggle room. She was the MVP of the whole damn campus at this stage, it seemed.

  Since word had gotten out about her having been there with me after the accident, people were intrigued by her as much as they were by me. She’d risen from the ranks of obscurity overnight, and I was pretty sure that this was more excitement than she’d had in her whole life up to this point.

  If you really think about it, I’m doing her a favor by making her a little more interesting. Sooner or later, the accident would be old news and people would stop giving a fuck about either of us again. Until then, she was in this thing with me and she’d just have to deal with it.

  The rest of the day passed uneventfully. I was still bombarded with questions between classes, but it wasn’t until after my last class that Ruby and I gave the gossip mill a little something more to whisper about.

  She stormed up to me on the main quad, looking like a hurricane of righteousness with a storm brewing in her narrowed eyes. Her hair was up again, her ponytail so tight and neat that she didn’t look like a student so much as a prim member of the faculty.

  The scrunchie responsible for holding all that hair of hers up matched her scrubs again. I was starting to wonder if the chick had more than one other outfit in her closet. She’d been wearing jeans the night I met her, but that was it. Every other time I’d seen her, she’d been in those scrubs.

  Her features were contorted in rage as she marched right up to me with her cheeks flushed a deep, indignant red. When she reached me, she seemed to have forgotten that we were out in public as she seethed. “How dare you? You’ve been telling the whole damn school we hooked up.”

  “Yes?” I frowned, hating that I had to look up at her but knowing that I couldn’t exactly stand. “What’s the big issue? We did hook up.”

  “What’s the big issue?” she whisper-yelled, glancing around as she seemed to remember where we were. “What happened to gentleman not kissing and telling?”

  I snorted. “I think we’ve established I’m no gentleman. You got the wrong guy again if you thought I was.”

  “You...” She trailed off with an accusatory finger hanging in the air, pointing at my chest. So angry that she was struggling to formulate an appropriate insult, she huffed out a breath of air and shook her head. “You’re an ass, Brysen Burke. I know you’re not a gentleman, but I really didn’t think you were the type to go bragging to the entire fucking student body about sleeping with someone. That’s just low. Lower than I thought even you were.”

  It was obvious that she’d have preferred to have tossed a million meaner barbs my way, but she’d gone with being honest because she was so upset that she just hadn’t been able to settle on anything else. Somehow, hearing that honesty in her voice when she said what she did managed to make the words sting when insults would’ve bounced right off me.

  I looked up into her eyes and sat back in my chair with my shoulders squared and my chin lifted defiantly. Being called names, I could take. Easily. But what she’d gone with instead was a little harder to swallow. Especially because it sounded a lot like disappointment, and I had enough of that thrown at me regularly enough that I wasn’t about to sit here and take it from her.

  “What’s the view like from the back of that high horse of yours?” I asked, a bite in my voice now that hadn’t been there before. “You wanted me just as much as I wanted you, and you can’t lie to me about it. I was there, remember? Besides, we were good together. You’re so pent up that you needed to let your hair down for a little bit and we both had a good time. Where’s the harm in that?”

  “Where’s the harm?” she repeated incredulously, shaking her head again. “If I need to explain that to you, you might just really be as dumb as your crappy grades make you seem. But I know you’re not. Grow up, Brysen.”

  She struck a chord deep down inside but before I could retaliate, she whirled around and marched off again. Clearly furious as she stormed away from me with her fists bunched at her sides, she didn’t look back.

  For a long minute, I just stared after her. Whether what she’d said was true or not, she’d still known exactly how to push my buttons. I wasn’t proud of it, but I’d shown her some of those buttons the other night and she’d just jabbed at every last one of them like a toddler in an elevator who wanted the entire panel to light up.

  If that was what she’d been aiming for, she’d succeeded. And I wouldn’t—couldn’t—let that stand. Eventually, I felt the cruel smile that tugged at the corners of my lips as I followed her, heading for physio where I had another appointment with her.

  Bring it on, Sprite. I took it easy on you the last time we were in that torture chamber, but I won’t be making the same mistake again.

  Chapter 21

  RUBY

  Honestly, I didn’t know who I was more furious at between myself and Brysen. I wanted the answer to be easy. I wanted to be massively pissed off at him without taking any of the blame on myself.

  He was the one who’d gone and told, after all. Everything could’ve just blown over if he hadn’t insisted on confirming the rumors that had been spreading around campus. It killed me that everyone knew now how weak I’d been. Everyone knew that I’d given in to the broody, injured dark prince of Edgewater.

  They knew that I’d joined the legions of girls who’d found themselves in his bed, and I hated it. I hadn’t even liked the attention that’d come with being at the scene of the accident. It wasn’t like I’d planned on being there. I hadn’t asked for any of this. All I’d done was to try and help someone who’d wrapped their car around a tree, and this was what I was getting for it.

  Now that people knew that I’d also slept with him, the staring had intensified and so had the whispers. I couldn’t stand it. There was a reason why I’d avoided attention as much as I could, and it was precisely because I didn’t like being at the center of it. It was a nuisance that took up too much of my time and mental capacity.

  And yet, despite how hard I’d worked to remain just another face on campus, my involvement with Brysen had messed it all up. Just like I’d known it would. Which was why I couldn’t sit back and let him take all the blame.

  I’d screwed up so badly when I’d fallen into bed with him that I couldn’t just absolve myself from responsibility. Brysen was a Grade-A dick and I couldn’t even lie low and stay away from him until all this blew over.

  We were still stuck together with his physio, and I refused to go to Josh and beg him to be taken off this case. It would look terrible, especially if he found out why I didn’t want to spend any more time with our patient.

  Having to help with his physio wasn’t even the worst part of it anyway. I’d have been able to suck it up and get through it if it hadn’t been for one other thing. One other thing that truly was the worst part of the entire clusterfuck that had become my life after that accident.

  I couldn’t stop thinking about him. No matter how hard I tried, whenever I caught myself, I’d be thinking about being with him. The sex had been so, so good that it kept getting me all hot and bothered whenever I thought about it and since my stupid mind wandered back to it at every opportunity it got, that was pretty much all the time.

  As much of a dick as he’d been since almost the minute it’d ended, he hadn’t been like that in the moment. He hadn’t been the obnoxious jerk I’d just faced off with.

  If anything, he’d been more mature than any other guy I’d been with. In control but attentive, sexy and confident but open about what gave him pleasure. The noises he’d made and the look on his face when he’d been on the brink would stay with me for a long, long time.

  As would the fact that he’d wanted to make me feel good. He’d taken care of me and made me feel things nobody else ever had, and it’d felt so right. It’d felt like our bodies had been made for each other and like both of us knew what th
e other wanted or needed without the words having to be said. And the look in his eyes when he’d thrust into me? It really hadn’t seemed like he didn’t give a damn.

  How could I have had things so backward?

  Usually, I was pretty realistic. I was good at keeping my feet on the ground and my expectations from running away with me. But with him, when I’d given over that control and done what he’d asked of me, it seemed I’d also let him snatch away that sense of realism. At least when it came to the kind of person he really was.

  Sighing as I walked into the clinic, I headed straight for the therapy room and resigned myself to working with Brysen the dick instead of the real person I now knew was hiding in there somewhere. Lord knew, he was keeping that guy locked up tight today.

  Josh was seeing other patients this afternoon, but he’d left me with Brysen’s treatment plan and I’d come in before class this morning to work through it with him. If only the asshole knew how much effort I was putting into him, maybe he would’ve been a bit nicer to me.

  Stop kidding yourself, Ruby. He’s a Burke. He’s used to people bowing to him and giving him their very best.

  Knowing what I knew about his family and his upbringing now, the thought didn’t sit quite right with me. At the same time, he’d undeniably grown up with a silver spoon in his mouth. Who cares if the spoon had been bought by a hand who hadn’t been doing the actual feeding itself?

  I sure didn’t. Not anymore. Brysen and his sorry excuse for parents were all equally bad in my books right now.

  When he rolled into the therapy room a few minutes after me, it looked like he was having the same kinds of unpleasant thoughts about me that I’d been having about him. He didn’t say a word as he locked the wheelchair’s brakes in the center of the room and cocked his head at me expectantly.

  Entitled asshole.

  Glancing at the treatment plan one last time, I closed his chart and left it on the small counter behind me. As much as I’d also rather have given him the same silent treatment he was giving me, I knew I had to do my best to keep it professional in here. At least to the extent required to keep him from hurting himself with the exercises I needed him to do.

  Without preamble, I launched into an explanation of what lay ahead during this session. “As you know, our long term goal is to ensure that we restore your range of motion to the fullest possible extent. In time, that will allow you to start walking again and eventually, to walk without any aids whatsoever. Since that won’t happen overnight, it’s important to remain patient and to rest whenever you need to. If you push yourself too hard, you’ll risk injuring yourself all over again.”

  “Yeah, I got that from your boss,” he spat. “Are we going to do this or what?”

  Patience, Ruby. In here, he’s just another patient who’s hurt and scared. Remember that. Breathing out slowly, I nodded. “We are, but it’s important to start every session by talking about our goals. It’s a reminder of what we’re working toward—“

  “What I’m working toward,” he said, cutting me off. “Let’s just get started. I’m not here for motivation or psycho-babble bullshit. Trust me, I don’t need to be reminded that I’m here to get out of this chair. The more you talk, the longer it’s going to take. Just tell me what’s next on Josh’s plan and let’s go.”

  I sighed. “Sure, but I’m marking off that we talked about your goals in the long and short term. I’m also making a note that you declined further discussion.”

  “Do what you have to do, but do it on your own time,” he said impatiently. “What’s first?”

  After a brief stare off, I pursed my lips and headed for the equipment rack. While I gathered what we needed for the day, I took a few seconds to breathe in and out to center myself. Working with him wasn’t going to be easy, but I still needed to give it my all.

  When I went back to him, I did my best to take him through every exercise as thoroughly and patiently as I could. Agitation was rolling off him in dark, untempered waves, but that wasn’t unusual for patients. It wasn’t only the broody dicks who got like this during therapy, so I took it as the learning opportunity it was and tried to stay focused.

  As I watched him and guided him through what he had to do, my mind started veering off course again. A lot of these techniques were so basic that I didn’t need to give them my full attention to know that he was doing them correctly.

  Even though I was probably the person who’d been with him through more of this journey than anyone else, it was still strange to see him struggling through it. When I’d been looking at those pictures of him on the student blogs over break, I never would’ve thought that I’d be seeing him at his weakest point only a few weeks later.

  His brow was furrowed in concentration, his cheeks already flushing with exertion over tasks he wouldn’t even have noticed before. He was in jeans again, despite Josh having told him that he’d be more comfortable in different pants when he came here. Soft fabrics were better, but it seemed Brysen had disregarded his advice with the same sense of impunity with which he did everything else.

  Whatever. He’s the one who’s going to suffer for it.

  He’d chosen another black t-shirt that fitted him like a glove, and as it started clinging to him when his skin got coated in a light layer of sweat, it was difficult to ignore the knowledge of what lay underneath. Images of him shirtless flashed in my mind, and I replayed the way his muscles had flexed and moved with mine.

  While the expression on his face was nothing now like it’d been that night, he was still him. He still had that don’t-give-a-fuck messiness to his mop of black hair and the faint stubble starting to grow in after the day.

  “Fuck!” he roared, yanking me out of my distracted thoughts.

  I snapped my gaze toward his, finding him glaring at me with yet another forest fire burning in his eyes. Also, he was on the floor for some reason.

  “Can you stop fucking staring at me like I’m a piece of meat and actually do your job, or am I going to have to get a real therapist in here?”

  My head jerked back. “This is why you should’ve listened to me earlier. Pushing yourself too far won’t get you anywhere except on your ass. Exactly where you are now.”

  When I reached out to try to help him, realizing that he’d taken advantage of my distraction and feeling instantly guilty about having been distracted in the first place, he shoved my hand away. “No. Don’t fucking touch me. Clearly, you don’t have any idea what you’re doing.”

  “Pushing me away won’t get you better faster,” I said. “Neither will being angry with me. I’m not the one who got you hurt.”

  Obviously, that was the wrong thing to have said while he was still lying on the floor by my feet. He sat up, and I saw the anger he was about to release before he’d even said a word. Feeling powerless was a terrible thing for anybody, and it was clear that he was more than struggling with it right now.

  I braced myself for it, but I hadn’t known just how much of a cyclone was headed my way. If I had, maybe I’d have taken cover. Outside of this room. Possibly even on the other side of campus. Because it didn’t matter if I knew where it was coming from, even if only partially, it was still a brutal storm to have to ride out. And I definitely hadn’t been prepared for it.

  Chapter 22

  BRYSEN

  “Are you fucking kidding me right now?” I barked as I glared up into her surprised green eyes. I, on the other hand, wasn’t surprised at all that I was lying here on the fucking ground.

  It was all her fault. I’d felt her staring at me while I’d been trying to get through those exercises. Felt the judgment and the lust combining to burn a hole into my skin. She might hate herself for it, but she still wanted me. She also thought I wasn’t worthy of being wanted, if the way she’d looked at me was any indication.

  Truth be told, she was right. I wasn’t worthy of being wanted. I couldn’t even peel myself off this fucking floor without her help. Even if she was the last person I wan
ted help from right now.

  I’d rather lie here for the rest of the day and all night before I asked the girl who so clearly thought she was better than me for her help. The girl who was supposed to be trying to get me out of that chair and yet couldn’t stop hating herself—or me—for long enough to actually do what she was here to do.

  Fury and frustration crashed into me. The fury won out over the frustration, though. There was just so much of it that I couldn’t control it and the frustration became simply another cell to fuel it.

  I was furious with myself. With everyone and everything. With Ruby. With Danny for having told me to take that fucking car out in the first place. With Josh and his boss for leaving me here with the newbie.

  There wasn’t even anything I could do about it right now. I was a damn cripple who couldn’t do a damn thing. Hell, even before the accident I hadn’t been able to do anything right, but now I couldn’t even reach my phone to call the front desk of this hellhole to send someone to help me.

  Usually, if someone wasn’t doing their jobs, it was easy enough to deal with them. All it took was one threat that I’d call my father, and I got whatever it was I wanted.

  I couldn’t even do that anymore, and not only because Ruby knew that I’d rather perish from my own misery than to involve that man. It was mostly because I hadn’t heard a word from him since the crash except for one email from the insurance agency that he’d forwarded to me, confirming that they would compensate Danny for the loss of his car.

  My mother had gone completely radio silent as well. There was a fundraiser coming up a few towns over. I knew about it and I’d expected her to have called to remind me to be there, but she hadn’t. As happy as I was to have an excuse to sit this one out, it sucked to know that the appearance of us being a big, happy family was less important to her than just not wanting to be seen with me.