Chapter Twenty-Four
Jason
I was picking up the last batch of oil I needed to store on the top shelves as overflow when I felt this twitch in my arm. The box fumbled in my grasp, but as I tried to catch it, a searing pain ricocheted all the way up my shoulder. The box tumbled to the ground, spilling the plastic bottles all over the fucking floor, and as I went to lean against the palm of my hand, the pain got so intense, it made my eyes water.
My arm had been hurting ever since Lucy and I had last gotten together. I could still hear those beautiful words fluttering along the inside of my mind, and they made me smile every single time I played them on repeat. Never in my life did I ever think I’d find someone who captivated me as much as Lucy did. But when those words flew from between her lips, the only thing I could do was kiss her.
My heart had been so filled with joy and happiness and completeness that it choked the very life from my throat.
“Hey, Jase. You good back there?” Mike asked.
“Yeah, just this fucking arm.”
“Still? You sure you don’t wanna go to the doctor, dude?”
“What do you mean ‘still’?” I asked.
“Ain’t that hard to see you’re struggling, man. Been massagin’ your shoulder and fumblin’ the equipment and shit. You should really get it looked at,” he said.
“I’m fine.”
Honestly? I wasn’t fine. But hell if I was gonna look weak on my job. Sure, my arm had hurt for a couple of days, but that wasn’t anything. God, Lucy had ridden my hand like it was the last horse she’d ride on this planet. I was cocked at angles I didn’t even think were possible while that sweet pussy dripped into my palm, and I was sure that’s why I was so sore.
I mean, Lucy had really gotten into it. I hadn’t been sure if she would’ve gone for something like that, but I knew part of cultivating a relationship with her—especially with how we were both feeling toward one another—was getting her to experience new things she didn’t associate with David. She was already doing that with me, and she didn’t even realize it. I loved my late wife more than life itself, but there were many things about Lucy that were different.
Like her putting mini candy bars in her coffee or her swallowing my dick the way she did.
And if I could get her to experience a few new things that were just for the two of us as well as learn things about one another that separated us from our dead spouses, we could really make something out of this. If we could differentiate ourselves from the people we had loved and lost, we had a spit-fire chance at making this work.
I smiled at the memory of her hips bucking against my fingers before Mike clapped his hand down onto my aching shoulder, and the searing pain pulled me from my memory and caused me to wince away.
Holy shit, that really had hurt.
“The fuck, Mike?” I asked.
“You’re in some serious pain. Quit being a fuckin’ idiot and go to the doctor. Pain like that you shouldn’t let go. One day, you’re fine and the next, you can’t work, and you’ve lost your job.”
“What the fu—that shit isn’t gonna happen,” I said.
“You really wanna take that chance with lil’ Jenna?” he asked.
“Don’t bring my daughter into this bullshit, Mike. I’m just sore from some good pussy is all.”
I was hoping a redirect would get him off the topic, and for a second, Mike’s eyes gleamed. I could tell I’d piqued his interest, and I was bracing myself for the questions that would rattle off his tongue. I started thinking about the details Lucy wouldn’t be too upset with me sharing while leaving out all the good bits for our memories alone, but Mike’s face settled back down into a stern look, and I knew what that meant.
It meant he was on a train that wasn’t going to be changing tracks anytime soon.
“I know what you’re tryin’ to do, and that was a good try at redirecting me. But, I’m not lettin’ this go. You’re gettin’ laid? Perfect. You lose that arm, she probably ain’t gonna wanna ride those fingers of yours anymore,” he said.
“The fuck’s wrong with you?” I asked. “And how the hell did you—”
“Hey, you’re the one that brought up good pussy,” Mike said with his hands up. “But seriously. My uncle ended up getting tuberculosis one year, and it started as a small pain in his arm. He put off the doctor and put off the doctor and just kept poppin’ drug store painkillers for the pain, but eventually, it took its toll. His kidney crashed from all the store-bought meds, his eyes turned yellow, and he lost all this fucking weight. Dude, my uncle almost died.”
“Are you saying I have TB?” I asked.
“I’m saying that with you havin’ a daughter and apparently gettin’ your dick wet with some decent pussy, you should take into consideration those around you. My uncle was selfish with not gettin’ a doctor’s help, and it almost forced my aunt to bury the selfish fucker. Go to the damn doctor so you don’t lose your job or your life.”
“You’re serious right now, aren’t you?” I snickered.
“As a fucking heart attack. Which reminds me, it is your right or left arm that hurts?”
I shoved him playfully before I winced again. I rubbed my shoulder and tried to massage it off, but every single time I moved it over a certain part of my shoulder that aching pain started up again. Sometimes, it would come from my wrist, and sometimes it would originate at my elbow, but every single time it would shoot up into the deep recesses of my shoulder joint and practically swallow me whole.
This morning, Jenna had come running at me, and I’d thrown my arms out to catch her, and the moment she descended into my arms, I had to drop back onto my ass to keep from dropping her onto the floor. I’d pulled her close so she didn’t see the tears in my eyes, but that was the first time the pain was ever that bad. Sure, it’d been sore, and I had trouble moving some things around the shop, but that searing pain after Jenna jumped into my arms was the first time it had brought tears to my eyes.
The second time? Just a few minutes before when I tried to put that damn box on the fucking shelf.
“Plus, if it is serious and you let it go, you might not be able to treat it once you do break down and go to the doctor,” Mike said. “Then, you’re really fucked.”
“Dude. It’s not like I’ve got cancer or some shit. She probably just rode my arm too hard with that sweet pussy of hers and made me sore,” I said.
“See? On any other day, I’d take that bait, especially since everyone in this damn town knows you’re bangin’ your neighbor.”
“Wait. What?” I asked.
“Yeah. Everyone knows you’re with Lucy. None of us ever thought she’d move on from David,” Mike said. “But looks like your dick convinced her otherwise.”
“Don’t you dare talk about her like that,” I said. “That woman’s strong and independent and has been through too much for some garage monkey to talk about her like she’s some decent piece of ass lookin’ to get over her dead husband.”
“Whoa, dude. Slow the fuck down,” Mike said. “You’re the one who brought up gettin’ laid. Don’t get pissed at me because I know who it is.”
“Losing a spouse is fucking hard as shit. If she never gets over him, it’s understandable,” I said.
“All right, all right. I get it, dude. Yikes. Anyway, small town, man. Get used to it. Now, go to the fucking doctor before I kick your ass outta this garage and lock you out until you go.”
“You can’t do that. You don’t own the place,” I said.
“Yeah, but I do,” my boss said as he rounded the corner. “You’ve been droppin’ shit for two days. Go to the doctor, or I’m canceling your work next week until you do.”
“Seriously?”
“As a heart attack. By the way, did you ask if it was his right or left arm?” my boss asked Mike.
“Yeah. I asked, but he didn’t answer. He’s rubbin’ his right shoulder, though, so I think we’re in the clear for that,” Mike said.
“I’m not having a damn heart attack,” I said.
“Well, you ain’t a doctor. Get to one so you know for sure. And if you don’t wanna do it for yourself or your job, do it so Jenna don’t lose her father.”
“You’ve got no right to talk about Jenna and me that way,” I said, growling.
“I do when you don’t give a shit about your health. You got yourself a beautiful little girl. I see the way she looks at you. Go to the doctor so she can look at you like that when she’s walkin’ across her high school graduation stage, dude. Quit being an asshat.”
“And, if all else fails, I’ll just smoke you out with no paycheck,” my boss said.
“Fine. Fine, fine, fine. I’ll make a fucking appointment. Hell, I’ll do it right now in front of you both so I don’t fucking starve.”
“Good,” Mike said.
I pulled out my phone and scrolled through my contacts until I found our general doctor. The only clinic in town specialized in absolutely every age and condition, and the perky receptionist helped me to schedule an appointment for the day after tomorrow. Mike crossed his arms and smirked while I got the time for the appointment, and my boss took out his phone, no doubt scrolling through the schedule so he could alter it.
“Thank you, ma’am, for all your help,” I hung up. “There, you happy?”
“She sounded hot,” Mike said, grinning.
“Got your schedule cleared for the day after tomorrow,” my boss said.
“All day?” I asked.
“Yep. Get to the doctor, then go rest that damn arm. If you break something in here, it comes outta your paycheck, and I don’t wanna be the reason some little girl around this town starves herself half to death.”
“Fine. Whatever. I got work to do, you guys,” I said.
“Take it easy,” Mike said.
“Let us know what happens,” my boss said.
“But I’m tellin’ you guys, it really is nothing.” I grabbed for another box off the floor.
It went tumbling to the ground when the pain in my elbow shot all the way up to my shoulder.