Full Contact (Worth the Fight #2) - Sidney Halston Page 0,64

ankles, when she emerged with only a towel covering her body, still looking a little green.

“Better?” he asked.

She looked at him quizzically. “Uh…yeah. Thanks.”

“Good. Here.” He patted the mattress next to him and handed her a plate with a slice of dry toast. “Eat this. You’ll be good as new.”

She followed his directions without fuss. When she’d finished her toast and drunk some more water she finally spoke again. “Thanks, Slade. Thanks for everything. Again, you took care of me. I don’t even know what to say. You’re always taking care of me.”

“I want to take care of you, Jess.”

Jessica closed her eyes and pushed the plate aside. She took a deep breath and released it. “Slade…”

He saw her face and knew what was coming. “Don’t say it, Jessica. Just…don’t.”

“I have to say it, Slade. I just…” She paused, noticing two sunflowers in a vase on the table. “Where’d those come from?” she asked as she walked over, grabbed the vase, and tossed the whole thing into the garbage.

“They were on the ground outside by your front door last night. No vase, no bow, no card. I almost threw them out because I know you hate them.” He looked at the garbage can. “Guess I should’ve thrown ’em out.”

Dennis had seen them together. That was his warning. Shit. Shit. Shit. “Slade…I’ll be gone soon. Thank you for taking care of me last night, but I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. I don’t want to start something that’s going to make it harder for me to leave.”

“So don’t leave.”

“I have to.”

“You don’t.” Slade looked around and saw the two boxes in the corner. “You’ve barely started packing.”

“I only have a few more days left at work and then I’ll finish packing and leave. I tried to tell Patsy I could only give her two weeks’ notice, but she insisted she needed me longer.”

Slade pushed himself off the bed. “Damn it, Jessica, you don’t have to go. I know I fucked up. I said hurtful things. I’m a dick. I get it. But I didn’t mean to be a dick, and normally I’m not.”

“It’s not just that, Slade.”

“Then why?”

“I have to go, Slade. I just do. I have things I want to do and I can’t do them here.”

“The yoga studio?”

“Yes. For starters. And also I don’t have anyone here anymore. I came here because of Dennis, and now he’s gone. Time for me to move on and get my life in order. Not to mention I obviously have jealousy issues, and I can’t deal with that. There are too many things.” She was pacing the room.

“You know what? I’m sick of hearing you say that, Jessica, and even though right now you’re pissing me the hell off, I’m going to keep fighting for us. I’m not giving up, even if I have to chase you all the way to Charlotte.”

“Can’t we just be friends? Please? I thought we agreed to be friends.”

Slade shook his head as he dressed and made his way out of her bedroom. “Yeah, Jessica. We’ll be friends. You and I, we’ll be friends. I call you, you avoid me, we don’t see each other or talk. Friends. Great.” He stomped out, and then she heard the front door open and slam close.

She grabbed the plate and threw it against the wall. It broke into a million little pieces, just like her heart. Fucking Dennis and his threat. It was destroying her, and now it was hurting Slade, a man who had done more for her than anyone ever had. Why did it all have to be so complicated? She couldn’t stay with him, knowing that loving him could destroy him. She crumpled into her bed and cried—for the pain she felt letting him walk out, for the guilt she felt about pushing him away, for all she’d put up with from Dennis, and for the control he still held over her. But most of all, she sobbed agonizingly for the love that would never be.

For the rest of the day she filled boxes with her belongings. When evening came and she surveyed the stacks of boxes in her house, the reality of the situation set in. Soon she wouldn’t be seeing Slade Martin anymore.

Chapter 11

Slade started his day with his Peeping Tom activities at the Om Spot again. He hadn’t wanted to do it, but he just couldn’t help himself. The Om Spot would be closing in two days, and soon after that Jessica