Love Simmers

Chapter 8

My head and arm throbbed in equal measure the next morning. I felt like death would be a welcome relief from the pain. My tendency for melodrama was clearly in overdrive from the night's events.

I opened my eyes as Nate entered the room, the effort to sit up exhausting me enough that I wanted to lie back down and go to sleep.

"Water, painkillers and eggs and bacon," Nate's voice was quiet as he placed the breakfast tray on my lap, his eyes searching my face for signs of discomfort. He didn't need to search hard.

"Eggs are cooked through?"

"Of course."

"Bacon is crispy," I checked to make sure.

"I wouldn't dare bring you bacon that wasn't crispy," he pretended to be irritated that I had checked.

"I thought you might have forgotten."

"I haven't forgotten anything about you."

I smiled and looked down at the meal in front of me.

"It's perfect."

I threw back the painkillers with a gulp of water, digging into the hot breakfast with gusto. I was hungry and food always made a person feel better. Comfort eating was a problem of mine. Pilates was the solution.

"We're going to head over to Sails..."

"I'll come," I interrupted Nate to say, eating the rest of my food quickly and heading to the bathroom to shower. The painkillers had numbed my arm and head enough that I was able to face the day.

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather rest?" Nate helped get the shirt off and wrap my cast up.

"I want to help you guys fix the mess that I'm responsible for." I hopped in the shower, gasping in surprise as Nate stepped into the stall behind me, his hands taking the soap.

"Nurse's usually give sponge baths while dressed," I leaned into his chest, his hands tenderly washing my arm before moving along to my neck and shoulders. I moaned as his firm hands moved onto my breasts. His finger's teased my nipples and I lost all train of thought.

"I guess that means I'm your nurse with benefits."

His fingers slid down my stomach. I held my breath as he lathered more soap on his hands and knelt down to wash my feet. I stared down at him with anticipation. My legs trembling with need once there was only one place he had yet to touch. This felt better than the painkillers.

He put the soap bar down and stepped out of the shower.

"What?" I cried, staring at him in shock. "Why?" I practically sobbed in frustration.

"Your doctor said not to exert yourself for a few days," he smirked boyishly as I chucked the soap bar at his head. "That was just a taste of what's to come."

"You're a tease," I stepped out of the shower, standing before him proud and naked. His eyes couldn't help but skim over my wet body. I smiled as his body began to react to the sight of me naked.

"I promise I'll put out next time." He left the room quickly.

"There won't be a next time!" I shouted after him playfully.

I cursed his name as I finished my shower with cold water.

I walked down the steps with what I imagined to be a pretty frustrated look on my face.

"Trouble brewing in your pointless relationship?"

You'd think my brother would know better than to poke the bear but obviously not. I was widely considered to be the intelligent twin. In moments like this I understood how I got the title. The bar wasn't set high.

"Don't start," I snapped as we headed to the car.

"Nate left laughing a couple of minutes ago."

Ollie opened the car door for me, enjoying my meltdown. I hated baby brothers. They were a plague on the earth.

I put on my darkest sunglasses, the bright light killing my head. It was a reminder of last night's narrow escape.

"You know you're about to leave, why are you starting something you can't finish?" I fought the urge not to smack his arm with my good hand.

"Do you have to delay the opening?" My tone becoming serious as my focus shifted to the problem at hand.

"Hopefully not. We're on our way there now to meet the contractor," Ollie told me as we pulled into the parking lot. Nate was standing beside an older man when we walked into the dining room, his expression brightened when I walked in. No doubt he was deeply amused by his earlier antics.

"I'm Oliver Blake. This is my sister, Logan. Thanks for meeting us on such short notice." My brother shook hands with the contractor.

"Liam Turner." The man greeted us both.

I took his hand with my left awkwardly.

The men surveyed the damage, discussing options and costs while I hung back and stared at the writing on the wall. Idiots with a cause did a lot of damage to people's lives. When I had filmed the segment where I'd cooked an animal that I'd seen alive it had changed my perspective on eating meat quite a bit. I mean, it never bothered me eating steak but when I'd see a cute rabbit bouncing with life one moment and dead the next in order for me to eat, I'd felt bad. Was it enough to turn me vegetarian? Probably not, but it was enough to make me want to contribute to animal welfare charities and campaigns. I guess the more extremist animal activists remained unimpressed. Aside from going full vegan, animal products were a part of most people's daily lives. I wasn't sure what else I could do.

"To get the place done in three days you're looking at around $6000." Liam gestured at the state of the walls, shelves and broken windows. I heard Ollie sigh softly. We hadn't even figured out the cost of replacing the furniture and liquor that had been broken yet.

"That's fine. Start work." I walked over to the group, thanking Liam before he left to call in his workers.

"It'll take a few weeks for insurance to process the claim," Nate said, "They need the police report."

"I'll pay all the bills needed for the place to open on Saturday, no problem." I eased their worries, glad that I could help. Even if it hadn't been essentially my fault their place had been trashed, I would have been there with my chequebook. I believed in their business, I believed in them.

"I wanted to ask-"

My phone interrupted whatever it was Ollie had been about to say.

"Charlie walked out," Maddie whispered when I answered and my heart broke for her.

"I'm on my way," I hung up and turned to Ollie and Nate.

"Charlie's gone."

"I'll drive you to her place." Nate wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

"Why do you think he left her?" I asked Nate as he drove, he hung out with Charlie regularly.

"He's an idiot who's afraid there's better out there for him than Maddie. Probably got it in his head that unless you play the field a bit you'll regret what could have been." Nate's words hurt. I felt like they were directed at me as much as Charlie.

"Is that what you think that about me?" I asked a stupid question. You never asked questions you didn't want to hear an answer to. Better yet, you never asked a man a question when the answer could hurt you badly.

"I think you didn't want to settle down with the first guy you kissed, the first guy you had sex with because you thought it was dull." He pulled up in front of Maddie's house, watching as I reacted to his words.

"I didn't want to settle down with you because I wanted to leave Chester, to live in the city. You didn't," I knew there was an element of truth in those words. But I also knew there had been an element of truth in his.

"Cause we talked about future plans together so much back then," he said sarcastically. I grimaced at the implications of what he was saying.

"Go comfort Maddie. She needs you," he silenced me before I could say anything more.

I left the car, without saying goodbye.