Chapter Nine

Kayla

I fell asleep after Jase confessed his strong feelings for me, the same ones building inside me. I wanted to tell him I’m feeling the same way, but he made love to me until my eyes closed and I didn’t even have a chance. I hear ringing in the background of my dream state, and it pulls me into consciousness.

“Hello,” Jase answers his cell, fresh from sleep as well. I’m sprawled out on his chest and looking up at him. “Fuck, Mom, is she okay? I’m on my way. I will be right there!”

Suddenly, I jump up and he follows, hurrying toward the bathroom where he put our clothes.

“Jase, what’s going on? Is it Avery?” I ask, panicked, following him so I can get dressed.

“She fell and hit her head. They had to give her stitches. She’s at the hospital, and I have to get to her,” he explains, and I drop the blanket and grab my nearly dry clothes, dressing quickly. “It’s still raining out, so throw some more wood on the fire and I’ll come back and get you once I find out if she’s okay.” He’s a wreck, his face contorted in pure pain and near hysteria.

“No, I’m going with you.”

He stops once his shoes are on and gives me a look of uncertainty. “But the rain, baby.” He grabs my face, and I can tell he is trying to go slow and be in the moment with me, yet still trying to get out the door.

“I don’t care. I’m worried for her too, and I’m not going to make you go alone. Besides,” I mimic him, grabbing his face in my hands, “I’m not scared of the rain so much anymore.” I smile and give him a brisk kiss, turning to head for the door. He doesn’t move until I put him in place. “Dump some water on the fire and let’s go, baby!” That sets him into motion, and within five minutes, we are in his truck and leaving the way we came.

I’m a mess, my insides torn up with nausea, but I hide it. I may be convinced I will one day not fear the rain, but that comes with time. I’m nowhere near fearless of the slippery roads and the heavy rainfall, but I care more about him and Avery. I want to be here for him and make sure she is okay. I don’t even know her, yet I’m more worried for her than I am my own mental health.

“You didn’t have to do this, Kayla. I really can’t thank you enough.” He breaks the silence, his eyes never leaving the road as his jaw tics. I appreciate his safety precautions for me, not speeding, even though I know he’s dying to.

“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. I just want to get you to Avery.”

He smiles this time, and comfort washes over both of us. “Thank you.”

We stay silent, and within twenty minutes, we are screeching to a halt at the ER entrance. I don’t wait for him to open my door; I’m out and right beside him as we run through the sliding doors.

“Avery Riding, my daughter was just brought here. Which room is she?” he asks frantically.

“She is in room 104, but it is family only, sir.”

“That’s fine. This is my wife,” he lies, but the title still makes my stomach flip. A good kind of flip. She smiles and nods, pointing us in the right direction, and Jase takes my hand, walking us briskly down the hall. Coming into the room, I see who I believe is his mother holding a sleeping Avery’s hand in hers. His daughter lies in the bed with a bandage on her right temple.

“Mom, what the hell happened?” he questions, keeping his voice low and letting me go while hurrying to Avery’s side. I watch him cling to her hand, kissing it over and over again, his eyes welling with tears. It’s a beautiful, raw moment, and once again, it shows me a different side of Jase. One that I fall for. I have seen many sides of him in just twenty-four hours, and they are all beautiful.

“I put her to bed upstairs then went back down to clean up our mess and watch some TV, when suddenly I heard a bang. I ran up and saw she tripped and hit her head on the edge of the desk by the bedroom door. I think she was trying to go to the bathroom and was a little out of it and tripped over the rug.” His mom finally looks at me where I stand, still in the doorway, not wanting to interrupt their private family moment. She gives me a genuine smile that reaches her eyes, and I immediately don’t feel as nervous. I’m sure she is curious who this random woman is with her son in her granddaughter’s hospital room.

“Shit, Mom, sorry. This is my girlfriend, Kayla.” Girlfriend? Another little flip in my stomach. I’m his girlfriend?

“Watch your mouth around the sweet girl. Kayla, nice to meet you. I’m Paula.” She stands and heads toward me, and I mentally kick myself into gear. I meet her at the front of the bed and reach out to shake her hand. She waves me off and pulls me in for a tight, welcoming hug. Jase looks at us briefly, giving a soft smile, but his eyes go back to Avery just as quickly.

“It’s so nice to meet you, ma’am.”

We separate and she chuckles, tucking my hair behind my ear. “Please don’t call me ma’am. I already feel old with all my gray hairs. Please, call me Paula, or Ma, whichever you like, sweetie.”

“I can do that.”

“Excuse me, can I speak to the legal guardian outside?” the doctor interrupts, and Jase turns to face him.

“Uh, yeah, sure thing.” He stands eagerly, and Paula follows him out to the hall, leaving me with Avery.

I look over her sleeping face, and I see so much of Jase in her. Going to take a seat next to her, I set my bag down on the floor, and when I turn back to face her, her eyes are now open and on me. “Oh, um...hi, sweetheart. I didn’t hear you wake up,” I say stupidly, mentally kicking myself for being so nervous around a five-year-old.

She gives me a soft smile. “It’s okay. Who are you? Are you a nurse lady?”

I chuckle, leaning closer. “No, I’m actually your dad’s g— friend, Kayla. I was with him when we got the call about your head. Are you feeling all right?” I leave out the girlfriend part and focus on comforting her until her dad gets back. I reach forward and move her hair from the side of her face that isn’t hurt, and she suddenly grabs my hand. Little tears fill her eyes, and I worry it’s because of me. “Sweetheart, don’t cry. It’s okay.”

“No, I don’t like hospitals. They make my daddy really sad. I don’t like it here.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I’m not a fan of them either, so what do you say we play a game?” I think of something quick, something to distract her and put her at ease.

“Mm-kay.” Her voice is a low excited whisper, and it steals my heart. What a precious little thing.

“Okay, so I’m thinking of an animal, my favorite one, and if you can guess what it is, I will give you a dollar,” I tell her. She smiles and perks up suddenly, and my throat clogs with emotion when she wraps her tiny little hand around mine. I look from her to my hand then back again, and she wears a beautiful smile, the same one as her father’s. I cough through the emotions. “Okay, go ahead and take a guess.”

“Okay, I think it’s a…” She pauses and thinks long and hard. I go with the obvious in my mind, which is a dog, because who doesn’t love dogs?

“I think it’s a puppy!” I drop my jaw in mock surprise.

“You are one clever little girl. You won! Okay, now you think of one, and the same goes if I lose. You get a dollar.”

“Oh, I like this game.” I squeeze her hand and watch her close her eyes, thinking of the best answer. “Okay, ready. You go.”

“Hmm, I’m thinking it’s probably a...a cat!”

“Ew, no! I love puppies too!”

“Well dang, looks like you are the best at this game. That’s two bucks!”

She giggles, and I see her forget where she is at the moment. I keep it up, and we share a few more laughs, and of course I let her win each time.

“Hey, angel.” Jase and Paula return, and they both watch us, soft smiles on their faces.

“Hey, Daddy!” she says excitedly, completely unfazed by her injury.

“What am I going to do with you? You about gave me a heart attack,” he says, coming to her side and bringing her little hand to his heart.

“Daddy, you say that about everything I do. You’re such a weirdo.” We all laugh, and I get what he means; she is a handful, and the cutest one there is. Jase will need a cardiologist by forty at this rate.

“Now you know why. You did this at grandma’s house.”

She shrugs him off. Looking up at me, she gives me a toothy smile. “So, Daddy, is Kayla your girlfriend?”

My jaw drops, and Paula snorts, covering her mouth to mask it.

“Why would you ask that, little one?” He sits down in the chair next to her bed and looks at her then to me, and I see amusement in his eyes, unlike what’s in mine. I’m mortified. I don’t want to tell her anything that will upset her. I can’t imagine she would be ready to share her father with anyone, especially someone she just met.

“Because you need one. Then you can quit telling me what to do all the time. You know, pick on someone your own size.”

Jase shakes his head, and we all share laughs as we watch her. “No more TV for you, pipsqueak. Well, I would like her to be my girlfriend, but I may need some help convincing her. You think you’re up for the challenge?”

“Jase!” I shake my head. He is incorrigible and apparently mentally unstable.

“Please, Kayla! I like you a lot, and I want Daddy to have more friends! Especially girls, because he’s bad at doing hair and yours is so pretty. You can maybe do mine sometime!” She claps, and just like that, she steals my heart after only a short time of knowing her. I think it must be a Riding thing, because she is just like her handsome father.

“As long as you and I get to have girls’ nights,” I bargain, and her eyes light up.

“Yay! Daddy, I have a new friend, and you have a girlfriend! But no kissing in front of me. That’s how you get germs.”

Jase looks guilty, and I give him a head tilt, imploring with a look.

“I told her kissing gives you germs, so she shouldn’t kiss any boys. I got desperate; I don’t have the stomach or blood pressure to deal with her dating.”

“Jase Riding, you are something else. She’s five.”

“Gotta teach ‘em young. And right back at you, baby.”

Shaking my head at him, I look back to Avery’s little dimpled smile and I ponder the thought for extra effect. She waits excitedly and barely able to contain herself, before I speak. “I think I like your daddy a lot. How about I give him a chance?”

“Yes! Oh, yay! Nana, did you hear that! Now my hair wont look like such a mess all the time.”

I peek a look at Paula and she is smiling adoringly at Avery and I sneak a look to Jase. He watches me, shaking his head and softly asking, “who are you.”

I shrug and recite the same remark, because his guess is just as good as mine.

But what I do know. Is who he is, is exactly where I want to be and who I want to be with. I want to chase this new beginning and ride the wave of instant connection. I don’t want to run from my past now, I want to heal and I know indefinitely that my parents placed Jase in my life, just when I needed him and he needed me. We are a match made to last, a touch of faith built in the hands of the loved ones we lost.

I love Jase and it has only been one day. What in the hell would a lifetime with him be like?

Until Jase Riding and sweet little Avery, I didn’t know what feeling again would be like. And little did I know, it was everything all at once. Powerful, beautiful, reckless, and healing. He let me in his life, and I let him in mine, faster than you could say “boom.”