Author: Olivia Cunning

Chapter 33

Sed stood on the landing outside the hotel room and stared out at the parking lot. What did Jessica want from him? He couldn’t figure her out. Didn’t she hate his overbearing nature? The way he took charge without even considering what anyone wanted? She’d said that was the entire reason she’d left him. But when he exerted his will over Trey, she praised him for it. Like it was a good quality to have. How could she praise him for it and hate him for it at the same time?

He sighed and wiped a hand over his face. If there were a Jessica Chase instruction manual, it would be written backwards in Arabic Pig Latin and twelve thousand pages long with random pages missing. Sometimes he wished she wasn’t so damned complex. He couldn’t puzzle this out right now; he needed to call Brian and get reamed for snatching Trey from under his nose.

He checked his phone. He’d had it turned off for a reason. Twenty-three missed calls. Ten voice mails. Sixteen text messages. All from Brian and Myrna. Even a couple from Eric. He dialed Brian.

“Where the fuck are you?” Brian answered on the first ring.

“Nice greeting,” Sed murmured.

“Is Trey with you?”

“Yeah, I’ve got him. We’re weaning him off his pain meds. If it works, you might actually recognize him the next time you see him.”

“What do you think you’re doing? You can’t just take someone off narcotic painkillers without medical consultation. Myrna said he’ll go through all sorts of horrible withdrawal symptoms.”

“I consulted his father. Dr. Mills entrusted his son to me and told me how to do this properly. Trey doesn’t want the media to find out about his little addiction, so we’re discreetly taking care of it on our own. If anything goes wrong, I’ll say to hell with what he wants and check him into a hospital, but for now, we’re trying this.”

“Let me talk to him.”

“No. He’ll have you over here doling out Percocet like its jellybeans in ten minutes flat. I just called to let you know he’s safe with me and Jessica. I’ll call you in a couple of days with an update.”

“Don’t turn off your fuckin’ phone again, Sed.”

“Have a nice day.”

“Sed!”

Sed ended the call, turned off his phone, and tucked it back in his pocket. He supposed the next time he saw Brian, Brian would punch him in the face. Eh, he probably deserved it. Pissing people off was Sed’s forte.

Now what was he going to do about Jessica? He thought she’d freak out when he told her that he loved her, but she’d frozen up on him. Her body had gone all stiff and she hadn’t said a word. That couldn’t be good, could it? He shouldn’t have told her how he felt, but it was too late to take it back now. Maybe she’d forget about it.

Not fuckin’ likely. If Trey hadn’t cried out in pain right after he’d said it, she’d probably have already dumped him.

“Why am I such an idiot?” he asked aloud before returning to the hotel room. Their friends with benefits relationship worked just fine and he had to go and mess it up with a love confession. Dumb, Sedric. Real dumb.

Jessica still sat beside Trey on the bed, rubbing his back with a soothing touch. Sed almost wished he were sick so she’d take care of him like that. He loved this tender, caring side of her. It was such an important part of who she was and she worked so hard to cover it up. As if it were a weakness instead of one of her greatest strengths. Sed closed the door and crossed the room to sit facing Jessica on the free bed.

“Well, we can add Brian to the list of people who think I’m an asshole.”

“That’s not a list, Sed. It’s called a phone book,” Trey quipped, his eyes still closed.

“Apparently, you’re feeling better,” Sed said.

“I’ve never felt worse in my entire life, but Jessica has a magic touch.”

Sed grinned crookedly at Jessica, who blushed. “I am very aware of that.”

“A little lower, please,” Trey murmured.

Jessica shifted her hand to his lower back.

“Lower.”

Just below the waistband of his jeans.

“Lower.”

“Trey!”

“Now move your hand around to the front and rub,” he said, sounding like he was on death’s door. “Rub.”

She spanked him instead. “You are so naughty, Trey Mills.”

“Oh yeah, spank me, baby. I’m naughty.” He scowled suddenly and emitted a pained whine. His body curled into a tighter fetal position. He gasped as he tried to breathe through the pain, his fists clenched. “Please, Sed. I need… I need… You don’t know what this feels like. Please, give me a pill. Half a dose. Whatever. Just make it stop hurting.”

“You’ve got an hour and a half to go,” Sed reminded him, though he knew he wouldn’t be able to watch Trey suffer for that long.

“I can’t wait. Please. I feel like I’m dying. Like someone is hammering nails into my bones. I can’t… Can’t…”

Jessica took the cloth from the back of Trey’s neck and mopped the sweat from his face. She looked like she might burst into tears at any moment.

“How long can you wait?” Sed slid his hand into his pocket where he had half dosage pills in a small envelope. Dr. Mills had told him never to cut Percocet in half, because they would dissolve too quickly and might cause a fatal overdose. So he’d called in a low dose prescription for his son and they were supposed to space them apart until Trey didn’t need them anymore.

“I can’t wait at all. I need it now,” Trey insisted.

“Thirty minutes.”

“Give me a fuckin’ pill, Sed.”

“Maybe we should give him one now,” Jessica said.

“Thank you!” Trey said.

“Fifteen minutes.”

“You’re so goddamned stubborn,” she said, scowling at Sed.

Stubborn? He’d compromised. Why did that make him stubborn?

She rubbed Trey’s back. “He’ll give you a pill in fifteen minutes,” she said. “That’s not very long. You can make it. You’re a tough guy.”

Trey snorted. “Tough guy? What tipped you off? Was it the whining or the crying?”

“It was the wailing.”

He grinned, and then shifted to his back, his hands over his eyes. Into fetal position again. Onto his stomach. Back to fetal position. Pale and sweating. Panting. Clutching his abdomen. Absolutely miserable.

Sed checked the clock. Only five minutes had passed. He fished an oval-shaped, pink pill out of the envelope and handed it to Jessica. “Here. Go ahead and give it to him.”

“He’s got ten more minutes.” She handed the pill back to Sed.

“Yeah, ten more minutes,” Trey gasped. “I can make it.”

“Since when did I become the softest one in the room?” Sed asked.

“Since you told Jessica you love her so much you can’t breathe sometimes.” Trey chuckled halfheartedly.

Sed frowned. “You heard that, huh?”

Jessica hit Trey with a pillow. “Just how long have you been awake?”

He grinned sheepishly. “I haven’t slept in over two days.”

“You ass.” Sed shook his head in disbelief. Trey had heard a hell of a lot more than a love confession then.

“Is my ten minutes over yet?”

“You still have an hour and ten minutes,” Sed told him, tucking the pill back into the envelope.

“Don’t joke around like that, man.”

“Who’s joking?”

Chapter 34

“Do you feel like going out for dinner tonight?” Sed asked Trey.

“Why don’t you take Jessica out? You have to be sick of looking at me.”

To be honest, Sed would like to spend some time alone with Jessica, but Trey had only been drug free for forty-eight hours. Sed wasn’t sure they should leave him by himself just yet.

“We could order a pizza,” Jessica said from the table where she’d settled down with the laptop to edit the research journal article Myrna had emailed her.

“We’re going back tomorrow, right?” Trey asked.

“Are you ready to go back?” Sed asked.

“Hell yeah. I miss Bri… my guitar. I’ll be fine here by myself. You guys get out of here. Seriously. Bring me a doggie bag or something. I’ll watch a movie. Take a nap.”

“Check your email,” Sed added.

Trey glanced at Jessica who’d been hogging the laptop for two days. He grinned impishly. “Okay, you’re on to me. I need to check on my internet love interests.”

“All twenty of them,” Sed teased.

“Give or take.”

“You sure you’re okay with this?” Sed gave him one last time to change his mind before he swept Jessica off her feet.

“Do I need to kick you out of the room and lock the door?”

Sed leaned over and messed up his hair. “I’m glad you’re back to yourself.”

It surprised Sed to see tears in Trey’s emerald green eyes. “Thank you, Sed. You saved me. I won’t ever forget that.”

Sed punched him in the shoulder before they both turned into blubbering messes.

Trey hit him back. “Get out of here, asshole.”

Sed chuckled. “I could be a real asshole and make you wait in the bathroom while I take out my sexual frustration on my woman for a couple of hours.”

“Don’t talk to me about sexual frustration,” Trey said. “If I had any energy I’d go hunt some tail of my own. Maybe tomorrow.”

And only then would Sed believe that Trey was actually back to normal.

Sed moved to stand behind Jessica’s chair and rested his hands on her shoulders.

She looked up at him. “I’ve got to get this done for Myrna.”

“It will still be there tomorrow.”

“I don’t have anything to wear.”

His eyes skimmed over her sexy bare feet, baggy pink sweats, gray T-shirt, and haphazard ponytail. “You look beautiful.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “If you think I look beautiful, then you must be sexually frustrated. It’s causing hallucinations.”

“You’re always beautiful.” He leaned over to kiss her temple, his hands moving from her shoulders to wrap around her waist. “Are you ready to go then?”

She covered his hands with hers and smiled. “That depends. Where are we going?”

“I don’t care. Anywhere. Nothing fancy. Just… out.” He kissed her temple again. “Get your shoes.”

“Do flip-flops count as shoes?”

“They do to me.” He released her and went to the dresser to retrieve his ball cap. He put it on backwards and added his sunglasses. He did not want anyone to recognize him tonight. He just wanted to be a regular Joe out with his girl. He slipped his wallet into his back pocket and fastened the chain to the belt loop of his jeans.

He turned to find Trey and Jessica grappling over the laptop. “I have to save this file,” she insisted.

“It’s my turn.”

She poked Trey in the ribs and he twisted sideways, but didn’t release the edge of the screen. “You’re going to break it,” she said. “I’m almost finished. Calm down.”

Trey released the laptop and sighed with over-exaggerated exasperation. Sed caught the mischievous gleam in his eye and knew he was just messing with her. Sed smiled to himself. Yeah, Trey was back. Maybe Brian would forgive him now.

While she saved her file, Jessica hummed the Final Jeopardy jingle under her breath. She was as ornery as Trey was. God, he loved her. She still hadn’t said anything about his love confession. He’d expected her to dump him, which might have been easier to deal with than her not saying a goddamned word about it for three days.