Full Contact (Worth the Fight #2) - Sidney Halston Page 0,5
fighter, and she was grateful that he was in her life. “Slay?” He looked down, their hands still connected. “I know I’ve already told you, but I really appreciate everything you did for me while I was recovering.”
The last two weeks had consisted mostly of Slade taking Jessica to the doctor and tending to her. She couldn’t lift a finger without him helping. In the evenings they would watch television or movies while he cooked or ordered in. She continued to tell him she was okay to stay on her own, but Slade refused. She slept in his room and he slept in Chrissy’s old bedroom because he said his bed was “better.” When Slade had to work, he would make sure Chrissy wasn’t far and that she’d check in on Jessica repeatedly. Since the moment he rushed into the hospital, she’d not been alone. Pushing aside the circumstances that led them to cohabitate for the last two weeks or so, it was the most at peace and safe she’d ever felt.
He smiled down at her. “Don’t mention it.”
Jessica let go of the doorknob, turned to him, and wrapped her arms around his waist. She looked up, and up, and up at him, and smiled again. “No. I have to mention it. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you and your sister.”
Slade looked a little uncomfortable with the hug, but he finally wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back. “You’re thanking me already by agreeing to go out with me tonight.”
“Well, I want to make sure you know that I’m grateful. If it wasn’t for you, I probably would have had no choice but to call my parents for help, and they would’ve begged me to go back with them to Charlotte, and I would’ve probably gotten fired from work and lost my house and everything I’ve worked so hard for.”
“I still think you should’ve told them the truth.” He leaned down and kissed her head, her arms still wrapped around him.
“You don’t know them. They’re kind of intense. Good people, but intense. I’m telling you, I wouldn’t have been able to come back here to Tarpon Springs.”
He smiled down at her. “I hope I got everything out that belonged to Dennis. If I left anything, you just tell me and I’ll get rid of it. You sure you’re ready for this?”
She nodded as he opened her front door. Jessica spent the next few minutes looking around and was surprised to see how normal everything looked, with absolutely no sign of the terror she had lived through. It felt strange, as if something should be off. That night had changed her so much, it was as if something should look different. She should feel something walking into her house. But she didn’t. It just felt…like her house.
“I’m going to go unpack and get ready for our date.”
Slade nodded. “Before I leave, I want to see if I can fix your television. The screen’s not cracked, but it was on the floor.”
“Yeah. Jerk pushed me against it. I don’t know how it didn’t break. I definitely thought my skull did.” She heard Slade mumble a few very descriptive expletives about Dennis behind her as she walked down the hall.
—
Slade ran outside half naked. He was in the middle of getting ready for his date with Jessica. Their first date. He looked around for the source of the yelling that he’d heard from his bedroom window. He was still pulling the drawstring at the waistband of his black gym shorts when he saw his sister in a tug-of-war with old Mrs. Weatherby, Chrissy and Jack’s other neighbor.
“Don’t do it, please. I’ll keep them all, I promise.” Mrs. Weatherby’s Dalmatian was on a leash, and Chrissy was pulling on the leash with one hand while holding a growling Drogo (aka spawn of Satan) with the other.
“What the hell’s going on here?” Slade asked, reaching for the leash, but Chrissy used her body to shield it from his grip. At the same moment, Drogo leaped out of her grasp and began snarling at Slade.
“Language, Slade Martin!” Mrs. Weatherby reprimanded, giving him a judgmental once-over as she looked at the tattoo that ran down the right side of his bare chest. “Your poor ol’ father is rolling over in his grave hearing you speak like that. Bad words, I tell you, they’re the work of the devil! And speaking of the devil, keep that mutt away from my Daisy.”