Come by tomorrow, if she needs to rest up more.”
“Yeah, OK. We’ll see how she feels.”
“I’ll be staying here until they kick me out tonight,” Dallas said. “Then I’ll be back first thing in the morning. So I’ll see you, no matter when you can get here.”
“For sure. Take care and say hi to Griff for me. Tell him he’s an asshole for freaking us all out like this.”
“Consider it done.”
Luke disconnected, turned the phone to silent. He shot off a text to his boss Jax, apologizing and telling him that he wasn’t going to make it to work that night. Luke didn’t feel too badly about this: the new bartender and cook, Dante, was always looking for more hours to pay for his education, and Luke was happy to throw the kid some extra bucks.
He walked back to the bedroom, stood in the doorway and checked on Selena again. She hadn’t moved and he narrowed his eyes, thinking. Then he saw her extra house key hanging next to her closet.
His mind made up, he pulled on his jeans. He tightened his leather belt, tight enough that the two sides of the button-fly were almost touching, but leaving room for his hand to slide in against his stomach. Then, using his one hand, he slowly, methodically, worked the buttons in to the button holes. Three years of doing this meant that getting dressed one-handed was pretty easy, but it still took time.
He went in to the living room, zipped his jean jacket up over his naked chest, stepped in to his boots, laced them up. He was getting tired and unfocused now, and the laces tangled more than once as he hooked them one-handed, driving him crazy. He took a breath, undid them, started again. This time he got it done and he stood and stretched, demanding that his body produce energy from somewhere.
He filled Selena's prescription, then he walked to the corner store and bought some groceries. Nothing fancy, just the basics, but he hoped that she’d be hungry when she woke up later and he at least wanted to make her an omelet and toast and a strong cup of coffee.
He hurried back to the apartment, hoping against hope that she hadn’t woken up. Luke had promised to stay with her, and he didn’t want her thinking – not even for one damn second – that he’d left her alone.
He needn’t have worried, though: Selena was still out like a light and he sighed in relief. He unpacked the food and checked his phone for messages. Jax had written back that Dante would take his shift, no problem, so Luke wrote back a quick thanks.
An icon in the top left corner of his phone caught his eye now, and Luke frowned when he saw that he’d missed five calls, all from the same, all-too-familiar number. So despite Luke ignoring her calls, she still hadn’t gotten the message, not at all. Shit. Well, he’d deal with her later. Right now, all he cared about was Selena. He turned off the phone with an annoyed sigh and set it on the kitchen counter.
At last , Luke felt like he could sleep. He undid his belt, stripped off his jeans again and crawled in to bed with Selena. She murmured something and rolled towards him, reached for him. He liked the way that she looked for him in her sleep, liked how she seemed to miss him already. Most of all, he liked how she seemed to need to be close to him, because God knows, he needed to hold her.
Luke gathered her tight against his chest, dropped a kiss on the top of her head. Closed his eyes. Slept.
Chapter Nine
Luke woke up seven hours later, with a start of shock at not being in his own bed. Then he saw Selena still sleeping next to him and he relaxed. He lay back again, moving slowly and quietly so as not to disturb her.
He studied her face in the early-evening autumn gloom. She looked better, he was happy to see, but she was clearly exhausted. He supposed that she’d be awake soon, probably because of the pain in her chest. Stab wounds burned like a son-of-a-bitch, Griff had told him once.
Griff .
Luke sat up now, swung his feet over the side
“Yeah, OK. We’ll see how she feels.”
“I’ll be staying here until they kick me out tonight,” Dallas said. “Then I’ll be back first thing in the morning. So I’ll see you, no matter when you can get here.”
“For sure. Take care and say hi to Griff for me. Tell him he’s an asshole for freaking us all out like this.”
“Consider it done.”
Luke disconnected, turned the phone to silent. He shot off a text to his boss Jax, apologizing and telling him that he wasn’t going to make it to work that night. Luke didn’t feel too badly about this: the new bartender and cook, Dante, was always looking for more hours to pay for his education, and Luke was happy to throw the kid some extra bucks.
He walked back to the bedroom, stood in the doorway and checked on Selena again. She hadn’t moved and he narrowed his eyes, thinking. Then he saw her extra house key hanging next to her closet.
His mind made up, he pulled on his jeans. He tightened his leather belt, tight enough that the two sides of the button-fly were almost touching, but leaving room for his hand to slide in against his stomach. Then, using his one hand, he slowly, methodically, worked the buttons in to the button holes. Three years of doing this meant that getting dressed one-handed was pretty easy, but it still took time.
He went in to the living room, zipped his jean jacket up over his naked chest, stepped in to his boots, laced them up. He was getting tired and unfocused now, and the laces tangled more than once as he hooked them one-handed, driving him crazy. He took a breath, undid them, started again. This time he got it done and he stood and stretched, demanding that his body produce energy from somewhere.
He filled Selena's prescription, then he walked to the corner store and bought some groceries. Nothing fancy, just the basics, but he hoped that she’d be hungry when she woke up later and he at least wanted to make her an omelet and toast and a strong cup of coffee.
He hurried back to the apartment, hoping against hope that she hadn’t woken up. Luke had promised to stay with her, and he didn’t want her thinking – not even for one damn second – that he’d left her alone.
He needn’t have worried, though: Selena was still out like a light and he sighed in relief. He unpacked the food and checked his phone for messages. Jax had written back that Dante would take his shift, no problem, so Luke wrote back a quick thanks.
An icon in the top left corner of his phone caught his eye now, and Luke frowned when he saw that he’d missed five calls, all from the same, all-too-familiar number. So despite Luke ignoring her calls, she still hadn’t gotten the message, not at all. Shit. Well, he’d deal with her later. Right now, all he cared about was Selena. He turned off the phone with an annoyed sigh and set it on the kitchen counter.
At last , Luke felt like he could sleep. He undid his belt, stripped off his jeans again and crawled in to bed with Selena. She murmured something and rolled towards him, reached for him. He liked the way that she looked for him in her sleep, liked how she seemed to miss him already. Most of all, he liked how she seemed to need to be close to him, because God knows, he needed to hold her.
Luke gathered her tight against his chest, dropped a kiss on the top of her head. Closed his eyes. Slept.
Chapter Nine
Luke woke up seven hours later, with a start of shock at not being in his own bed. Then he saw Selena still sleeping next to him and he relaxed. He lay back again, moving slowly and quietly so as not to disturb her.
He studied her face in the early-evening autumn gloom. She looked better, he was happy to see, but she was clearly exhausted. He supposed that she’d be awake soon, probably because of the pain in her chest. Stab wounds burned like a son-of-a-bitch, Griff had told him once.
Griff .
Luke sat up now, swung his feet over the side
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