39. Adventure Dating You

39

ADVENTURE DATING YOU

R aine wasn't sure her heart was going to slow down at all, but once they were out of the hospital and she was driving Aster back to the plant to get his truck, then waiting for him to leave, she finally felt as if she could breathe some more.

If he even thought for one second he was going to go back to work today, he knew better by her look.

It was three at this point anyway. Might as well leave for the day and not get a ton of questions from people. That was how she phrased it to him.

When Ivy texted her hours ago to call right away, she was lucky she could find another teacher to watch her room while she called her sister-in-law. At first she'd thought it might be something that happened to Brooks or her parents. She hadn't expected it to be Aster.

They got to his place and, instead of going inside to talk, they walked down by the water.

"It's so nice down here," she said.

"It is," he said. "Go ahead. Say what is on your mind."

She sat and waited for him to do the same. "I'm really hurt."

He sighed. "I didn't mean for that to happen."

"I know," she said. "You wanted to protect me. I don't need to be protected from those things. I love you. I thought you loved me too, but maybe you don't as much. If you did, you'd know how I'd feel."

"I do love you," he said.

"Then what do you think or how would you feel if it was me in the ER and I decided to call my parents or siblings over you and then said not to tell you?"

"I'd be pissed," he said.

"Exactly. So put yourself in my shoes."

"I didn't do that," he said. "And I'm sorry."

"At least you can admit when you're wrong," she said. She held her hand up when he went to talk more. "And this has to have been going on for a while and you haven't said a word to me. Right?"

"Yeah," he said.

She sniffled a little. She wanted to be mad, but the hurt was overriding it. "Why? Did you not trust me? Did you think I'd freak out and not be able to handle it? I'm guessing Daphne doesn't know either."

"She doesn't," he said. "Nothing more than you. Maybe I didn't want to admit it to myself. I didn't want to think there was anything wrong. No man wants to have that weakness hanging over their head."

"It's not a weakness," she argued. "You survived something that not many could. Didn't I tell you to start living your life? That you survived it, but it wasn't the same."

"You did tell me those things," he said. "And I think I've been doing a great job of it. Look at all the activities and adventures we've been on."

She snorted. "Don't be cute. I see you want to smile. It's an adventure dating you, that is for sure. Or it feels it now."

"Sorry for that," he said. "I'm relieved. I really am. You know I go to the doctor. I take my health seriously. They never found anything major and I didn't want to come off as a wuss that just had to deal with pain. Or struggled to deal with it."

"I understand that. I'm sure my brothers would be the same way. But in this case, you have lived with the worry and pain for no reason. Maybe if you'd said something before, they could have looked into it more."

"I have," he said. "It's always dismissed. Maybe I needed what happened today to come about and River to be the one to question things."

"Then it worked out on that end," she said. "We need to decide if it's going to work out on our end."

She didn't want to be the one to put this out there, but she was going to be damned if she went into this blind again.

If she didn't notice something wasn't adding up or wasn't right and waited to be blindsided.

Maybe looking back there were signs of things with Colton and she'd tried to pretend it wasn't there.

Raine was sick of pretending now. She wanted the air cleared completely so she could feel as if they could move on.

"What are you saying?" he asked. "Did I mess up that badly by not calling you?"

She turned in her chair to look at him. She could see the fear in his eyes. It might be the first time she'd seen any kind of emotion that way.

Before, she'd seen the love and caring, but never this.

Never worry or almost tears.

It broke her heart a little.

And reminded her that none of this was there with Colton. Ever.

It told her without words that what she and Aster had was real.

But that didn't mean they didn't have some things to work out.

"No," she said. "I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is we have to be open with each other. We have to be honest. I don't want to worry again that something is going to happen and I didn't see it coming."

"Never," he said. "I've been honest with you. I might not have complained about the pain in my arm. I wasn't lying when I told you it was scar tissue. You heard your brother. That is true. I even told my doctor about it and that was their answer. I'm not sure what more you want from me other than I didn't want to come off like a wimp who couldn't handle pain. That isn't the case. I can and could handle it."

"I don't think there is anyone on the face of this earth that would call you a wimp," she said.

"Probably not," he said.

She reached her hand for his. "This needs to be an open space for us. I know you were mad I didn't tell you when Colton showed up and I explained why. I was probably wrong not saying it then."

"I thought you were," he said, smirking.

"And I think you're wrong not calling me today. So we'll call it even."

"I can handle that," he said.

"Good," she said. "We both learned from it and I can let it go. I promise. I might need a few days or weeks, but knowing it's nothing major and you can make an appointment with an orthopedist to get it out if you choose, that is good enough for me."

"I'll make the appointment," he said. "I promise. I'm not stupid enough to let it stay there and maybe cause more damage. I'll see if I can get an appointment with Theo. All things considered, he's probably the best person to do it and keep everyone in the loop. I'm not sure Daisy would let me live it down if I didn't call him."

"Probably not," she said. "But that is your choice. Is there anything else going on I need to know about? I just want you to know I'm all in and want to feel like you are too."

"Tucker called me right before everything happened," he said. "The two guys got twenty years and they gave up the name of who hired them for the reduced sentence. That person was arrested. It will be another long trial, but for the most part, it could be over. I talked to Carrington. She's relieved to start getting back to a somewhat normal life."

Raine knew that Aster talked to the teen a few times a week. Even if it was a text.

She'd found the whole situation sweet and healing for them both.

"That's great news," she said.

"They are coming to visit this summer. I want you to meet them both."

"I'd love to," she said.

"One more thing you should know," he said. "They gave me a large sum of money after I was released from the hospital. They felt horrible that my military career was over and grateful I saved Carrington."

"Wow," she said. "That's great."

"You're fine you didn't know?"

She shrugged. "It's not my business. I mean what if I told you I had fifty thousand in debt right now? How would you feel about that?"

Raine held back the giggle when his eyes got wide. "Student loans or like credit card debt?"

She burst out laughing. "Neither. I'm just saying, those are things I would have done before you. And if I had it, I wouldn't expect anyone to help me get out of that hole just like what you've got or earned before me isn't mine to claim or want."

"It's not a secret," he said. "Well, kind of."

"I get it now," she said. It just hit her. "You didn't want anyone to know."

"Daphne does," he said. "She's the only one that knows the full amount. And I'll tell you. It was two million. They wanted me to have enough after having been taxed on it to start any life I wanted. If that meant going to college I could do it comfortably."

"Dang," she said. "Even better for you." She stopped and then her jaw dropped. "Your parents know, don't they? Is that what a lot of this is about? They want you to give them money?"

He threaded their fingers together. "They don't know the amount. They have guessed it's over a million and I've never verified. They only knew because I didn't want anything. You know my father works for Tucker's company. The company attorney got all my personal information from my father and he put it together for them to set up the account. You know what my parents are like. Even last month they thought I was going to give them money to put a down payment on the place they wanted."

She had heard bits and pieces of that. Not from Aster, but rather from Daphne.

She felt that Aster would be embarrassed over his parents' behavior and didn't want her to know. Daphne had been disgusted over it.

"I'd never tell you what to do with your money," she said. "If you want to give it all to your family, that is your choice."

"I know," he said. "And I'd never do it. Daphne barely takes anything, but I've helped her through the years. Before I got Tucker's money."

"As is your choice," she said. "We've helped my parents for years too. Me not as much as my brothers."

"Your family is great," he said. "If my parents had been as loving and giving, I would gladly help them, but they weren't. Maybe I'm jealous over it now that I've seen how you all are with each other."

"They are pretty great," she said. "And they've accepted you into our family. No one judges. Least of all me. Are we good? Anything else we need to confess?"

"No," he said. "Just know I love you. What I feel for you is nothing I've ever felt before. Maybe I'm not the best at expressing my feelings, but I feel as if I'm getting there."

"You are," she said. "I'm good at teaching people things."

He laughed and pulled her over onto his lap. "Yes, you are."