I lean over and give him a pat on the back. “I won’t, but stop trying to give me reasons to,” I add smiling, patting his chest as I stand to go.
“I’ll check in on you later,” I tell him, noticing whatever the nurse gave him is already taking effect.
It won’t take away all his pain, but it’ll help him sleep for now.
Returning to Stacey, I’m surprised she’s awake and even more surprised she doesn’t want to see her old man.
She’s a chip off the old block, really and I tell myself it’s just time all of us need to get through this.
Time for me to show Stacey I can care for her and support her dad while he recovers. And time for her and her dad to come to terms with everything that’s happened.
As long as she knows how much I love her, how much I love her dad too. That’s all that really matters.
I’m eager to get her home, and even more eager to have her heal fully so I can show her just how much I love her.
It’s a long drive from the hospital, but the sun’s shining and it really looks like the weather cell that threatened to come back is gone for good.
I can almost feel the dozen questions Stacey has as we get closer to home.
Her rental car, her dad’s car. All those hospital bills.
“All taken care of,” I tell her quietly, registering the huge silence that follows until her hand slips into mine and I let it rest on my knee while I keep my eyes on the road.
“You’re pretty amazing, Ranger Ben,” she tells me, the slightest hint of pride swelling in my chest.
“You do pretty well on your own,” I reply. “But there’s nothing like someone who’s got your back,” I tell her, meeting her eyes in the rearview mirror.
“Or my front,” she adds quickly, shivering as she draws my hand up her thigh, letting it rest between her legs.
“You must be feeling better,” I quip, not even trying to move my hand, glad to feel the warmth radiating from between her legs as we drive home.
“Oh, I think I know what will have me up and around in no time,” she observes, squeezing her thighs together, letting me feel all of her and just how ready she is for some more of my bedside manner.
I make a low sound of satisfaction, careful though not to rush us home.
We wouldn’t want any more accidents.
Chapter Twenty-One
Stacey
Ben doesn’t waste any time in proving he’s a man of his word, as well as putting my own testimony of wellness to the test.
He can be the gentlest lover as well as the most active, depending on what I need.
And our first night back home sees him handling me with kid gloves, until that moment we both sense how close we are. And then, he lets me take over.
Confining me to bed afterward, and definitely banning me from the kitchen until it’s rebuilt, he makes us both a simple meal which we share in bed as he updates me on each set of questions I have for him.
“Is my dad really that mad at me?” I ask, worrying about him and having forgiven everything he said and did.
The memory of our own recent trauma setting in.
“He was never really mad at you,” Ben assures me. “Just with me. He clipped me good the other night, which I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing, but no. He’s only shocked I think, not mad. Not with you at any rate,” he explains.
He collects our plates and piles them up on the bedside table, not worrying about when or even if they’ll be cleaned tonight.
“We’re just both glad you’re in one piece, and although he wouldn’t agree to everything I wanted, I think your dad will come around to my way of thinking, eventually.
“What did you ask dad? I mean. What do you want?” I ask, turning to look up at him, my hand resting on his naked chest.
“Let’s just see how you feel about everything by the time your dad’s well enough to be out of the hospital and you’ve made a full recovery yourself. Then we can talk about it,” he says cryptically.
“So you want me to stay here, with you I mean?” I ask, and he frowns.
“Of course I do, Stacey. You know I do. I never should have let you go in the first place, but I did tell your dad you’ll be here until he gets out of the hospital. Unless you really want to go back home alone?” Ben asks. I don’t even have to think about it.
“No, I don’t want to go there,” I assure him, nuzzling into him and sighing heavily.
“I am home, aren’t I? I mean, you do want me to stay even after dad’s better, I mean,” I ask.