Chapter 17

17

B rent looked down at the text message containing Candace’s address. Travis had given it to him and promised he wouldn’t tell Jessica. Brent had no idea how long he’d keep that promise, so he wanted to get over to her place before Jessica told Candace.

The way things ended with Candace wasn’t how he planned. The roads had cleared, and he left before he could think things through. Despite everything that happened between them, the comments Candace made had stung. He would have figured they were friends after everything, but clearly he hadn’t been able to redeem himself.

Now he needed to show her he was better than what she thought. They were perfect together. She could take his sense of humor. They had been through similar situations with loss. They understood each other.

And the sex. Wow!

Mind-blowing sex.

They could feel each other and knew the way to move. Her body fit perfectly with his. The chemistry was unlike anything he had ever felt.

He knocked on her front door and waited. It had been four days since he left Wintervale. A few minutes passed, and no one answered. He leaned over and peeked through the window. The lights were on and it looked like someone was on the couch.

“Candace? It’s me, Brent,” he called through the door.

“Brent?” she asked, sounding puzzled. “There’s a key under the flowerpot.”

He pushed the pot aside and picked up the small metal object lying on the ground. He unlocked the door and then put the key back where he found it before stepping inside.

Candace was lying on the couch with her foot elevated in its boot. She looked miserable. Her hair was a mess and her face was streaked red as if she had been crying. Food wrappers littered the coffee table and a few empty cups sat in the middle of the table.

“Hey. Are you okay?” he asked.

“Great.” Her sarcastic tone was exactly what he expected, especially after the way things had been left.

He motioned toward the table. “I mean, you look…”

“Terrible?” she asked.

He cringed. It wasn’t what he meant to say, but that was certainly how it sounded. “I was going to say ‘uncomfortable.’”

She rolled her eyes. “No, you weren’t.”

“No, I wasn’t,” he conceded. He took a step toward her. “Are you feeling okay?”

“What does it look like?” Her sarcastic tone bit at him.

“Candy, let me help,” he said softly. “What can I get you?”

Her bottom lip trembled, and he stepped forward, sitting beside her and pulling her into a hug the best he could. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him to her, letting out a shaky breath.

“Honestly? I really need to pee, but it’s hard to get to the bathroom by myself.”

Before he could stop himself, he laughed out loud. “What’s the best way to do this?”

“Help me stand, and then help walk me there. I’m not supposed to put any weight on my foot yet.”

“Do you still have the crutches?”

She smiled, sheepishly. “Yes, but they’re difficult, and I don’t like them.”

He helped her stand and wrapped an arm around her waist as they made their way toward her bathroom, with her pointing out directions as they walked. “So instead of getting used to the crutches, you’re just not peeing?”

“Don’t judge me.”

He laughed again and helped her over to the toilet before stepping out and closing the door behind him.

He stood outside the door for a second before realizing she probably would want a little more privacy than that.

“Just shout for me when you’re ready to come out,” he called through the door.

“Thanks.” The relief in her voice was evident.

He stepped away from the door and out into the living room. Aside from the mess on the coffee table, the place was fairly clean. A few blankets were folded neatly on the arm of the couch. An overnight bag sat in the corner. He frowned.

Did she have a boyfriend who had been coming over?

“Brent! I’m ready!”

He pushed his thoughts aside and went back to the bathroom. She opened the door and was leaning against the vanity when he rounded the corner.

He wrapped an arm around her waist and held her securely against him, holding most of her weight as they made their way back to the living room couch. When she was settled, he sat down next to her.

“Have you eaten?” he asked.

She looked sheepishly at the empty potato chip bags littering the table. “Nothing substantial.”

He pulled out his phone and asked what she wanted. They settled on just doing pizza and placed the order. He leaned back on the couch.

“I’m assuming you haven’t eaten much since you’re struggling to get around.”

She gave him a guilty look.

“But why not just order takeout? They can bring it right up to the door.”

“It’s just too hard, and I’m too scared of falling with the crutches. I already took a small tumble, and it hurt so bad. I spent probably an hour on the floor until Jessica showed up and helped me back to the couch.”

Concern flared up in him. “Are you all right?”

His eyes roamed over her, but with the boot on, he couldn’t see anything—not that he’d know what to look for, anyway.

“Yeah. It was more embarrassing than anything. I’m glad only Jessica was here to witness the aftermath.” She chuckled.

He glanced over at the duffel bag in the corner. “Has your boyfriend been helping you?”

Her head snapped over to look at him. “My boyfriend? What boyfriend?”

“You don’t have a boyfriend?”

She tilted her head. “That I found and started dating in the four days since we last saw each other?”

“Oh. I just assumed with the bag...“ He tilted his head toward the corner. Her eyes followed it.

“That’s Jessica’s.”

Relief flooded through him. “Oh.”

“She’s been staying the night to help me out, but she had to run into work today.”

“There wasn’t anyone else you could have called to help you?” Like me? he added to himself. But of course she wouldn’t call him. He walked out without saying anything to her at the resort. They hadn’t spoken since. He probably hadn’t even crossed her mind.

“I didn’t want to inconvenience anyone.”

She shifted her gaze away, and a pang hit him in the chest.

“I would have helped you if I had known,” he said.

She shrugged, and a beat passed before she asked, “So, what brought you by today?”

“I wanted to apologize for how I left things. As soon as I found out the roads had cleared, I left.”

“You didn’t say anything to me. I thought—“ She shook her head. “I thought we had become friends.”

“Honestly, I was a little upset that you implied we weren’t friends. You made it sound like anyone knowing that we had been together was the worst thing that could ever happen to you.”

She cringed. “I know. I’m sorry. I’m just having a hard time viewing you in a different light. I have spent years thinking I knew who you were, and then come to find out I was wrong.” She shook her head. “It’s just going to take me some time to change my thought process—to rewire my brain.”

“I can understand that.” He had never thought negatively of Candace, so to hear that she had thought so poorly of him was hard. And his leaving so abruptly hadn’t helped her view of him. “Let me make it up to you.”

“Make what up?”

“I want to change your opinion of me.”

“Brent, I already know I was wrong about you. You don’t need to make anything up to me. Our history in college was a misunderstanding. And I carried that with me when I saw you again. It wasn’t fair to you.”

He reached out and took her hand. She startled, but didn’t pull away. “Let me try anyway. If anything, we might have some fun together.”

She smirked. “Is this your way of getting in my pants?”

“No!” he blurted. “No. I’m just trying to be a friend. And the best way I know how to do that is to take care of you in your time of need.”

She tilted her head. “What does that entail?”

“I’m going to stay here tonight and be at your beck and call.”

She laughed. “That’s not necessary.”

“Too late. It’s happening.”

“What about your job? I thought you had to get back for it?”

He shrugged. “It’s Christmas Eve. The office is closed, and even if it wasn’t, I won’t be returning.”

She raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“I’m tired of my boss. I got the biggest eye-opener of my life when he demanded I drive back from Wintervale or lose my job.” He shook his head. “I already hated working there, and that was the final straw.”

“So you quit?”

He nodded. “I did. So I’m here to help you for as long as you can stand me.”

She watched him for a bit before her tongue darted out and licked her lower lip. “Does that also mean you’ll be here to take care of other needs?”

His head jerked toward her, wondering if she meant what he thought she meant.

A knock on the door interrupted the moment. He gave her one last look before standing and going to the door to pay for the pizza. Once he dished her up and then himself, they settled back on the couch and ate their food in silence.

“I’m kinda gross, aren’t I?” she asked.

He laughed before he could stop himself and looked over at her. “What?”

She stayed silent.

“You aren’t gross. I don’t even know why you would ask me that.”

“Just look at me,” she whispered.

“I am. All I see is a beautiful woman.”

She glanced at him before shifting her gaze back to her pizza. “Who’s gross.”

He set his pizza on the coffee table and scooted closer to her. He took her hands in his and squeezed them quickly. When her gaze met his, he spoke. “You are incredibly beautiful regardless of your state of dress. I’m here because I’m incredibly attracted to you. I always have been. Clearly I was in college as well, despite not remembering meeting you. I will always be attracted to you.”

She sighed, and her face turned a bright shade of red. “I’m only saying I’m gross because of my comment earlier and you not responding.”

“Are you referring to the other needs comment?”

When she nodded, he continued, “You honestly took me off guard, but I would be more than happy to service any need you have.” His hand moved to her thigh and gave it a squeeze. “Although, I think it might be a good idea to wait until you’ve healed a bit.”

“You’re right. It would.” Her hand landed on his leg and skirted along his groin. His eyes shot to hers, and she smirked. “But no one said anything about you,” she whispered.

Her hand brushed him, and his body immediately roared to life. His cock twitched, and a groan tore from his lips.

He captured her hand in his to halt the movement and took a deep breath. “I’m not going to let you do that if I’m not equally pleasing you.”

She tilted her head. “So, what’s off the table?”

He swallowed… hard. A thousand different pictures ran through his head of the different ways he could please her, and he mentally tossed out anything that could jostle her ankle.

“I think the only thing we shouldn’t do is have sex. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“But we’ve already done that.”

“Yes, because I was a horny teenage boy, finally getting the girl he wanted. But now I’m an adult with a rational mind.”

She giggled. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.”

She tugged her hand free from his and brushed his cock again. He squeezed his eyes shut and sucked in a breath.

Damn. She knew exactly how to get him going.

“So how are you going to equally please me?” she murmured.

He closed his eyes when she slipped her hand into his pants, taking his erection into her hand. She gave him a gentle squeeze before gliding her hand up his length at a painstakingly slow pace.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked. Not even an hour ago, she was mad at him. The last thing he wanted to do was make her uncomfortable.

“Brent, I’m pretty sure I’m the one who started it,” she whispered.

“Honey, I’m home!” Jessica called out as soon as she opened the front door. “I grabbed us some dinn?—”

She stopped abruptly and quickly slapped a hand over her eyes before slowly backing out of the room. “Oh, gross. Gross. Uh, I’ll take this dinner to enjoy with Travis. See you both tomorrow.”

Then she hightailed it out of the house.

Candace’s hand was down Brent’s pants with a clear erection pressing against the fabric. Jessica wouldn’t have been able to see much, but it was far more than she bargained for.

Candace looked at Brent, and they burst into laughter.

“Think we just scarred her for life?” Brent asked.

Candace wiped her eyes. “I’d say so.”