The Beginning of Us (250 page)

She’s wearing one of my t-shirts. I let out a moan, knowing she’s naked underneath it. I scoot closer to her. As I reach out my left hand, lightly laying it on her thigh, I slowly let it wander up her smooth leg, cupping her tight, firm ass. I continue upward to her hip, then let my hand wander to over her flat stomach. Fuck, I want her so bad right now. I pull my hand away because I know it’s not going to happen. Her body needs time to heal.

I lay back down on my back. My body doesn’t feel nearly as bad as I thought it would. My jaw is sore, along with my hand, but other than that I feel pretty good. Matt was drunk, and his moves were sluggish, so even when he did make contact, they were not as hard as they could have been. Angel’s little body definitely got the worse part of the deal.

The ringing of my phone gets my attention. I look over at it on my nightstand to see its Josh. I unplug it, and get out of bed to head to the hallway, not wanting to wake Angel.

“Hello,” I answer once I’m in the hall.

“Hey, man. I just wanted to call and see how you and Sam were feeling.”

“I don’t feel too bad, and she is asleep. I gave her one of my muscle relaxers that I had from last New Year. It will help her with her soreness once she wakes up.” We had all went on a skiing trip last year, and I had ended up hurting my back on the slopes. I’m not one for medications, so I had only taken one of them.

“Is she that hurt? I’m so sorry. I was on my way to grab her when she first yelled for you to stop, but Matt’s other friend came out of the restroom. After I hit him a few times he took off, but by then she had already jumped in and hit Matt. I don’t know what the fuck she was thinking,” he growls.

“I know. I saw some of what was going on. It’s okay. It’s not your fault. Thanks for helping me with her.” I lean on the wall, placing my head against it. “I don’t know what I would have done if she’d been badly hurt.”

“How bad is it?” he asked hesitantly like he’s afraid of the answer.

“She has bruises on both arms where he grabbed her as he shoved her against the wall outside the bathroom. She also has a bruise on her side, and smaller ones with scratches on her legs from her fall. I’m going to kill him,” I say with a clenched jaw

“Fuck! I’m sorry, Slade.”

“Hey, it’s not your fault,” I try to reassure him.

“I’m still sorry. I wish I could have done more,” he says sincerely. “Well, I don’t want to keep you. I just wanted to check on you guys. Call me if you need anything.”

“Thanks. You too, Josh.” I hang up, then go back to bed to cuddle up to a still sleeping Angel. I can’t go back to sleep. I don’t even want to close my eyes. I face her, placing my hand on her face and just stare over her beautiful features, thinking how lucky I am that she is here with me.

Samantha

As I open my eyes, I notice it’s very dark in the bedroom. How long have I been out? I go to stretch my body and flinch. Every part of my body hurts. Not like a sharp pain kind of hurt, just extremely sore.

“Are you okay?’’

Slade is propped up on one arm, laying on his side and looking at me. He is wearing a white t-shirt and a pair of basketball shorts. I decide he looks pretty good as I let my eyes wander his face and arms. He has a light bruise on his jaw and a small cut on his lip and left eyebrow, but other than that I can’t see much damage.

“I’m sore.” My voice sounds scratchy, and my throat is dry. I clear my throat. “Everything feels heavy and sluggish.”

“I gave you a muscle relaxer last night. It will help with the soreness. That’s what is making your limbs feel heavy. I’ll be right back.” He gets out of bed and walks out of the room, rather fast for someone who was just in a fight if you ask me.

I wish I felt that good.

I think back to our shower last night. It was the first time I had seen him completely shirtless and, well,
naked
. I couldn’t take my eyes off of the star tattoo on his chest. I remember my mouth had watered as I looked at his muscular body from head to toe, and it had knocked the wind out of me all over again. He wasn’t thinking of me the same way, though. He had a scowl on his face every time he looked at me.

Slade enters the room carrying a tray with toast covered in jelly and some orange juice. “Here, you need to eat something. It will help.”

“You made me breakfast?” I smile and put my hands flat on the bed as I try to sit myself up. Everything in the room starts to sway back and forth, and I feel lightheaded like I may faint. I give up and let my body fall down onto the mattress.

“You okay?” He lays the tray at the end of the bed and rushes over to me.

“Yeah. I just got really dizzy.” I close my eyes.

“The muscle relaxers can do that. Here, let me help you.” He places his arms between me and the bed and lifts me up, placing my back against the headboard.

“Are you okay?” he repeats as he pushes hair off my face.

“Yeah. It feels better to sit up, actually.” He nods his head in understanding and places the tray over my lap.

“You’re not hungry?” I ask as he sits down beside me.

“No. I’ve been up for a while. I ate earlier.”

I take a bite of my toast as he reaches over and grabs something out of his nightstand. “Take this,” he says as hands me a pill.

I give him a questioning look. “Is that what I think it is?” It looks like the muscle relaxer he gave me last night.

“Yes. You need to take it. It will make you sleepy, though, and when you wake up you may feel light headed again, but it will pass. You will feel better by tomorrow.” He leans over and kisses my forehead as I take the pill from his hand.

“Okay.” I pop it in my mouth and rinse it down with a drink of juice. “You look like you feel good,” I say through a mouth full of toast. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until now.

He chuckles. “Yeah, I feel all right.”

“Have you talked to Josh or Micah this morning?” I shove another piece of toast in my mouth.

“Yes. Josh called earlier this morning. He’s good. Micah called a couple hours ago. He said he has a few bruises, and his hand hurts, but other than that he’s fine.”

“You guys were lucky,” I say to my plate.

He wraps his fingers under my chin, pulling my head up to face him. “
You
were lucky.”

He bends down slowly as his baby blue eyes search mine. I push myself up to meet him. It was soft, just our lips touching, and I open my mouth a bit to let him know he can give me more. He doesn’t hesitate as his tongue enters my mouth softly, slowly exploring as his hand moves from my chin to cup my cheek. He continues kissing me as I feel him shift his body on the bed to get closer to me. He pulls away and moves the tray out from in front of me, then returns to me. His lips make contact with mine, and he kisses me harder. I place my hand on his sweatpants and feel his erection.

“No.” He pulls back. “We can’t. You need your rest.” Before I can say anything, he picks up the tray at the end of the bed and walks out, turning the light off behind him.

What the hell was that about? He is confusing the hell out of me!

I don’t get much time to think about how odd that situation was because within minutes I’m snuggling under the covers and falling asleep.

*****

The next time I wake up, it is bright in the room. I sit up and realize that it is a lot easier. I feel a bit heavy, but not nearly as sore.

I push the covers back and slide my legs off the bed. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to walk.
They feel like jelly!
As I stand up slowly, the room starts to spin, so I place my hand back on the bed to keep myself standing up.
Damn.
What kind of muscle relaxers are these?

I make my way slowly to the bathroom to brush my teeth. It is hard work and took a lot of effort. Once I’m done, I brush my hair, then start to search for Slade. As I’m walking down the hallway, I hear him talking on his phone. His office door is open, so I lean my body against his door frame to help hold myself up.

He has his back to me as he shuffles through some papers. He has a light gray shirt on that fits him like a glove, pulling along his broad shoulders and muscular arms, and a pair of black shorts. His hair is damp and messy, and he looks mouthwatering good.
I just want to take him back to bed!

He turns around, and our eyes lock. He doesn’t look surprised to see me, and as he talks on the phone, his eyes look me up and down. The heat that comes off of them makes me squirm.

“Okay, email me the documents and I’ll look it over.” He pauses. “Absolutely. Have a great day.” He hangs up and sits his phone on his desk. He comes to stand in front of me, never taking those beautiful blue eyes off of mine.

He bends down and gives me a sweet long kiss. “Good morning.”

“Good morning. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you.”

“No, you’re fine.” He looks down at me. “How do you feel? You look like you feel better.” His eyes roam my face and my arms as I nod. “What’s wrong, Angel?”

“Nothing. I feel fine,” I lie. I don’t feel fine, and I’m having a hard time staying upright.

He continues to stare at my arms as an awkward silence fills the room.

“Well, I’m going to get out of your way.” I turn slowly, hoping I don’t fall over from dizziness. I would hate to fall flat on my face in front of him, especially since I’m only wearing his t-shirt. I walk out of his office, heading back to his bathroom to start packing up my stuff.

How the hell am I going to get home?

“Why are you packing your stuff?” He leans up against the countertop and crosses his arms over that glorious chest as I start packing my stuff into my purse.

I have to take a deep breath, when I look up at his face. The messy hair and baby blue eyes do funny things to my body. “Because I figured you would take me home sometime today.” I look down and place my hair brush in my bag.

“You want to go home?” He tilts his head at me while his baby blue eyes look down at my things.

“Uh, well I figured you’d want me to go home.”
Am I missing something?

He pushes off the sink and comes up to me, placing his hands on my hips and looking deep into my eyes. “I want you to stay. Stay with me.”
God, those blue eyes make me go weak at the knees.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” I shake my head. “Plus, my car isn’t here.”

“Look...I want to tell you something.” He lifts me gently from the hips, careful not to touch my side, and places me on top of the counter. Putting both hands on either side of my body, he bends over to look in my eyes.

“I want you to stay,” he repeats. “I’ve never done this before, so I don’t know how all this works. I just know I want you here with me. I want you to stay here as often as you want to, even if that’s every night.” He softly pushes some hair behind my ears. “I know you’re probably worried and want to be cautious, but I’m being honest. I would never lie to you, Angel. Never. I only want you.”

I shake my head. “You’ve already lied to me, Slade. How do I know you won’t do it again?” I whisper, looking down at the floor. He had lied to me about Jax and Bridgette, but can I really hold that against him? What would I have done if I had been in that situation? Would I have told someone I didn’t know that their boyfriend was cheating on them over the phone?

He places a hand under my chin, and pulls my face to look up at him. “I’m sorry for that, Angel. I never meant to hurt you, or for you to get hurt. I will never lie to you again.” He straightens himself up and takes both of my hands gently in his. “I know I don’t have a clue of what I’m doing here, and you deserve someone who does, but I want to be that person. I want to try for you. You make me want to be someone better. I want to have a relationship with you, Angel. Please give me that chance, and tell me you want that too.”

Are we ready for a relationship?
I mean, Jax and I took our time becoming friends first before we took the step for a relationship.
Yeah, but look at how that turned out.
Would this relationship end differently? Yes. It would. I already know I would be much more heart broken when it ends with Slade. The way he looks at me as if I’m something special. The way he is always touching my face or tangling his hands in my hair. The way he speaks to me, whether it’s soft and sweet or vulgar and demanding. This man holds the power to bring me to my knees as I beg for more, and that’s just what he offered me.
More
. I would be dumb not to take it, even if I know the outcome is a broken heart.