again and then a few months ago, he’d told himself that he could have more and now…and now…
“Hey, we’re not doing this,” Sloane said as he registered the feel of her climbing onto his lap as he felt her small hands wrap around his and pull them away so that he was forced to look at her.
“Take me home, Sloane,” Chase said, struggling to hold it together.
“No,” she simply said with a slow shake of her head as she released his hands so that she could cup his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her when he tried to turn his head away. “Talk to me, Chase.”
“There’s nothing to fucking talk about, Sloane. Just take me home,” he said, reaching up to push her hands away.
“No,” the stubborn woman said, forcing him to look at her.
Beyond fucking furious that she wouldn’t even let him have this, Chase snapped at her. “You want to fucking talk?”
“Yes,” she said softly as she gently caressed her thumb along his jaw, making it harder than it needed to be.
“I’m going to spend the rest of my fucking life in that wheelchair!” he yelled, moving to shove her off his lap only to find his hands grabbing hold of her hips, knowing that he would fucking lose it if she left him now.
For a moment, she sat there, searching his eyes for something while she continued to caress his jaw as he struggled to catch his breath and–
“No, you’re not,” Sloane said, shaking her head as she carefully climbed off his lap, leaving him sitting there, struggling to make sense out of what she was saying as he watched her grab hold of his wheelchair and finish pushing it the rest of the way to his door. “But you will if you decide to give up now.”
“There’s nothing to give up on. I’m never going to fucking walk again,” Chase bit out evenly.
“Says who?” Sloane demanded, folding her arms over her chest as she waited for something that wasn’t going to fucking happen.
“Says the fucking doctor!” he snapped.
“I didn’t hear him say that,” the stubborn woman said, pissing him off.
“He said that I have less than ten percent chance to walk again,” he said evenly as he watched her, praying that she just let it go.
“And ten percent is more than most people get, Chase. You can move your toes, which means that there is hope for you, but not if you sit there feeling sorry for yourself,” Sloane said with a firm nod as she gestured for him to get in the chair.
When he just sat there, staring down at the chair that he was going to spend the rest of his life in, Sloane continued, “I don’t know if you will ever walk again, Chase, and I’m not going to lie to you, but I do know that if you don’t get your ass in that chair and try, that you will regret it for the rest of your life.”
He tore his gaze away from the chair to find her watching him through pleading eyes. He opened his mouth to tell her that he couldn’t do it when she said the one word that broke him, “Please.”
Helpless to do anything else, Chase forced himself to get in that chair one more time.
Chapter 25
One Month Later…
“How exactly did I let you talk me into this?” Chase asked when Sloane walked into the living room and handed him a Coke.
“Don’t pretend that you don’t love this house,” she said with a teasing smile.
It had taken most of the day, but they’d finally managed to get their bedrooms and bathrooms unpacked and had started unpacking the kitchen. It had been a long day and an even longer month. Between packing, paperwork, Chase’s physical therapy, volunteering, and moving, she was exhausted.
She was definitely sleeping in tomorrow, Sloane thought as she looked for somewhere to sit only to decide that it would probably be a good idea to unpack the living room tomorrow when she spotted all the boxes surrounding the couch.
“I didn’t say that,” Chase grudgingly admitted.
“This house is perfect,” Sloane said with a look that dared him to argue.
Chuckling, he took a sip of his Coke before he said, “Maybe.”
Sighing heavily, she shook her head and said, “You don’t deserve this house.”
“Would it make you feel better if I told you that I loved this house?” Chase asked as he placed his Coke on a box so that he could reach over and