Page 20 of Crossing the Line

I didn’t know what he was going to say or if I was even ready to hear it. I felt fragile this morning, like I was about to break into a million pieces. Hearing him talk about the night we spent together, revisiting his rejection, felt like too much right now.

Before he got his thoughts together, my phone dinged with a text message. Welcoming the distraction, I went to the nightstand where Damien must have plugged my phone into the charger for me last night.

“It’s Jess,” I said, not looking at Damien as I typed out a quick reply to her message. “She says everyone decided at breakfast to leave early for the spa.”

“You’re going now?” Damien asked.

“Yeah. I just need to get dressed. So…”

I didn’t want to tell him to leave again after the wounded look he’d given me the first time I said it, but I hoped he’d take the hint. Instead, he lingered while I started pulling clothes out of the dresser.

“How do you feel?” he asked. “Are you sure you’re up to going out today?”

“It’s a spa day, Damien. I don’t think I need to worry too much about overexerting myself.”

“The bachelor and bachelorette parties are tonight.”

When I turned to face him with clothes in my hands, the concern was back in his eyes, and my heart softened. Why did I have to be so weak for this man?

I offered him a small smile. “I know, and they start more than twenty-four hours after my slight bump on the head. I’m sure I’ll be fine by then.”

Damien looked torn for a moment, like he wanted to argue further, and I wasn’t surprised. He was a caretaker, the type of man who went out of his way to make sure the people he cared about were safe and happy. He even looked out for strangers. That was part of what made him so well-suited to be a firefighter.

“Alright,” he said, nodding stiffly. “But I’m going to text you throughout the day to check on you. Please… please just respond, okay?”

The vulnerability in his voice made me want to cross the room and throw my arms around him. Instead, I murmured an agreement and forced my feet to carry me back to the bathroom. I changed my clothes and brushed my teeth. I even took a few minutes to carefully apply my makeup, making sure to cover the bruise on my temple as much as I could. It was hardly noticeable by the time I was done.

Stepping out of the bathroom, I saw that Damien had finally done as I asked. He was gone.

It should have been a relief, a chance to breathe without the undercurrent of tension that existed between us now. But life and emotions were more complicated than that. The silence of the room didn’t feel like peace the way it should have. The hurt I felt around him didn’t disappear with his absence. Instead, there was a hollow, sinking feeling in my stomach.

I hated the way that my mind and body were in such conflict. Sharp logic told me that I shouldn’t want Damien to still be here, but my heart ached knowing that he’d left, even though he only did it because I asked him to. Exhausted with myself, I grabbed my phone and hotel room key, stuffing both into my purse before heading down to the lobby to meet the girls for our spa day.

When the elevator doors opened, Jake was alone inside. His eyes went straight to my temple, and I knew that he could see the slight discoloration there despite the makeup I applied. A frown pulled at his mouth.

“Shit, Kelsie. I’m sorry about yesterday.”

I waved a hand as I stepped into the elevator, dismissing his concern. “Don’t be. It was an accident, and I’m really fine. I dealt with worse when I played on my high school volleyball team.”

“Oh yeah?” Jake leaned against the back of the elevator and grinned. “I’m sure you had a few bumps and bruises, but I played football, so I had some real injuries.”

I rolled my eyes. “Really? You want to make it a competition?”

“What’s the matter? Afraid you’ll lose?”

That led to a ridiculous comparison of sports-related injuries we’d both seen and experienced during our high school days while we rode the elevator down together. By the time we reached the lobby, I was laughing at his claim that a hamstring sprain he experienced was worse than a broken leg that my team captain got from a particularly nasty in-air collision and rough landing.

“You’re insane,” I said, shaking my head as we stepped out of the elevator. “Nadia broke a bone. That’s got to be worse than your little pulled muscle.”

Jake’s jaw dropped in exaggerated offense.

“You wound me,” he said, placing a hand on his chest. “So harsh.”

We were walking toward the rest of the women in the wedding party, gathered around a seating area in the lobby with modern furniture and fake tropical plants. Leanne spotted us and made her way over while the others seemed to be looking at brochures for the spa.

“Don’t even think about trying to come to the spa,” she said to Jake. “No boys allowed.”

“You’re cold, Leanne,” he said, but the teasing lilt of his voice and the way she rolled her eyes at him reminded me of watching two siblings bicker. He was Ryan’s brother, but I knew that he and Leanne got along well enough. Maybe even better than he got along with Ryan himself. I didn’t know much about their history, but I had the impression that there was some rivalry between the brothers growing up that still affected their relationship today.