Love & Hate (Book Two: Love) (6 page)

“
Paige? Darling, are you okay?” I look up to find Cutter staring down at me.

“
Get away from her you asshole. Look what you did now. Just leave her alone before you actually kill her this time.” Cutter looks at Millie with shame in his eyes. He doesn’t respond to her, he just turns and walks toward the stairs where Laney watches with horror.

“
Cutter…” Laney says as he pushes past her to storm down the stairs. She follows after him.

“
Are you alright Paige? What do you need?” Millie is kneeling next to me looking terrified.

“
I’m okay. I just landed hard.” I tell her as I try to sit up. Millie grabs my hand and steadies me.

“
Give her a second Millie. She needs to let the nerves in her leg get feeling back before she tries to stand.” Holden tells her as he crouches down on the other side of me.

Seeing his bloody nose I instantly feel horrible. “Oh Holden I’m so sorry.” I tell him.

“
You have nothing to be sorry about.” He says simply shaking his head.

“
I should have known better.” I tell him apologetically.

“
Look we all have at least one crazy ex, right?” He says smiling at me. “Plus I think the blood is really improving my tough guy image.”

I let out a small laugh. I can’t believe how easy-going Holden is being about all of this. He is quickly becoming more and more interesting to me.

“
I think I can get up now.” I tell him and Millie.

They both help me to my feet and I limp a little bit but not as bad as I expected. Thankfully we are only a few minutes from shore and we will be leaving this nightmare cruise behind.

When the boat docks I stay up above with Holden until it is time to leave. I’m hoping if I wait long enough I will miss Cutter, but of course I can never be that lucky. Holden holds my hand, steadying me, as we descend down the stairs to the main deck. When we reach the bottom I spot Cutter in the corner. Tanner has him pushed against the wall and is talking to him in harsh low tones. Our eyes lock and I can see he is seething with anger. I grasp Holden’s hand tighter and walk past him. Cutter must have noticed Holden has my hand because he growls and starts to try to push past Tanner.

“
Let it go man! If she wants to be with him now, there’s nothing you are going to do about it. You have to let her go.” Tanner yells at him as he pushes him back against the wall. I can’t hear what Cutter says in response and I’m not sure I want to.

I duck my head and look at the floor as Holden and I exit the boat. I take a deep breath and let it out once we are safely in Holden’s SUV with Millie and Brooks. We are all pretty quiet on the long drive back to Pullman. It’s clear the night was spoiled thanks to the drama between Cutter and me. The boys pull up outside our house and we say our goodbyes. Millie helps me to my room. She lays out my meds for me and gets me a glass a water to take them with.

“
You sure you don’t want to go see a doctor?” She has asked me several times but I have refused.

“
If I feel this bad tomorrow I will make an appointment. I think I just need to rest and then I’ll be fine.” I know she is concerned and frankly I am a little as well, but right now I don’t want to sit in an emergency room. I just want to try to fall asleep and forget this night ever happened.

“
Okay. You make sure to wake me if you need anything or you get worse.”

“
I will.” I tell her as she shuts off the light in my room and clicks the door shut.

I know it’s the pills I have taken; I have the most amazingly vivid dream. I dreamt that Cutter was in my room sitting in the vintage high back chair next to my bed. He was telling me how sorry he was for everything that happened tonight. He said he understood that he repeatedly breaks his promise to never hurt me over and over again even though he tries not to. He tells me he loves me and then tells me that he knows I will never love him again and that’s okay, he deserves that. He then stands up and bends over next to me lightly kissing my forehead and that’s when I wake up. My eyes dart around the room looking for him but I know he isn’t actually here. I know it’s all in my head.
The real Cutter Daniels does not give a shit about hurting me; in fact I think he is making a career out of it.

CHAPTER 6

It has been a couple weeks since the epically bad cruise date that Holden and I shared. I’m walking home from my afternoon real estate law class. It’s still warm out but not as hot as it has been. I’m wearing a cute floral sun dress with a navy sweater and cute brown sandals. I have my short hair half pinned up. I’m thinking about how much homework I have for the week and dreading it when I hear someone call my name. I look up to see Holden striding toward me. I instantly smile. There is something infectious about Holden and his good looks.

“
Hi.”

“
Hey I thought that was you. Are you headed home?”

“
Yeah I just finished my last class of the day.”

“
Me too. I’ll walk you home.” He says as we begin our leisurely pace down the hill.

“
So how are your classes going?” I ask him.

“
Pretty good. I have this horrible chemistry class but other than that, I’m surviving.” He says with a heart-melting smile. “What about you? How are your classes going?”

“
Good actually. I thought I would be farther behind but I’m not surprisingly.”

“
That’s good. How is everything else going?” I know Holden is really asking about how I’m feeling since my awesome fall backwards on the cruise.

“
Oh, I’m doing alright. Some days are a struggle and others are better.” I say nonchalantly.

“
Paige, I really think you should give swimming a try. I know it could really help your strength.”

This pushiness would annoy me if it was from anyone else, but Holden has a way of being persistent but without the judgment. I appreciate that about him.

“
Alright, why not.” I say even half surprising myself at my acquiescence to this idea.

“
Really?” He looks at me in disbelief. So apparently he didn’t believe I was agreeing either.

“
Yeah, why not. It’s worth a shot right?”

“
Great! What are you doing this afternoon?”
Oh man, he wanted to start today?

“
Uh, nothing I guess.”

“
Perfect, I was headed up to the therapy pool to do some laps anyway. How long will it take you to be ready?”

“
I just need to change and then I’m good to go.” I say feeling nervous now.

“
Alright it’s a date.” He says through his gorgeous smile. Holden knows how to put on the charm, I will give him that.

I quickly changed into my swimsuit and cover up when I got home. I met Holden outside my house and we drove up to campus to the private indoor pool in my truck. The therapy pool is reserved exclusively for athletes and training staff. Holden had explained to me that he got a part-time job at the pool working with different athletes helping them do strength training and recover from injuries.

I must admit I’m nervous now wading into the empty pool. It is warm but I still shiver, I know it has nothing to do with the temperature and everything to do with the half-naked man swimming out in front of me. Holden is all long lean lines. Seeing him now glide through the water it is clear he has a swimmer’s body. When he reaches the far end of the pool he treads effortless back through the water toward me. His head snaps up when he gets close to the edge and I feel his eyes roam over my body that is on full display in my black bikini.

“
You ready?” He asks with a grin.

“
I guess.” I say and dip low into the water to get over the initial shock of being wet.

“
Don’t be nervous Paige. We will start slow.” He says as he treads water watching me.

“
Alright.”

“
Okay, let’s start by doing some light laps. I’ll swim next to you and if you have problems just let me know and I’ll help you.”

I shake my head and we begin swimming out to the middle of the pool. I’m not the strongest swimmer, I’m actually pretty slow but I don’t think we are really going for speed here so that puts me at ease.

Holden and I swim laps back and forth in the pool several more times. I can feel my left leg is fatigued but it doesn’t ache like it typically does.

“
How do you feel?” Holden asks as we come to rest on the edge of the pool.

“
Pretty good. I’m a little tired but not bad.”

“
Do you want to try floating for a minute? It really helps stretch your back.”

“
Alright.”

“
Okay, I’m going to stand over here in the shallow end and help you while you float on your back.

I follow him to the shallow end of the pool.

“
Now just float Paige. Look up at the ceiling and kick your legs. Don’t worry about going under, I will catch you.” Holden says as he looks down at me. I can see the heat behind his eyes and it makes my stomach jump with excitement. I try to ignore it by looking up at the ceiling and counting the lights overhead. “Good, just relax.”

I can feel Holden’s hands underneath me. If I’m truly honest with myself they feel nice but they also make me think of him, always of him.

Holden has me float for a few more minutes before he helps me find my footing in the shallow water.

“
You did really good Paige. The true test will be tomorrow to see how sore you are, but I think you did great.”

“
Thanks Holden. I really appreciate you helping me.” I say and smile up at him. For the first time since my accident I feel really hopeful and I owe that to Holden.

“
You’re welcome Paige.”

Our bodies are intimately close still and I can feel the tension in the air between us. I know Holden is attracted to me and I would have to be blind not to be attracted to him. He hasn’t made it a secret that he is interested in me, but the question is am I interested in him?

I shyly step back from him and begin to climb out of the pool. Holden follows and hands me a towel from a rack beside the wall. Holden towels off and I can’t help but admire his body. He is in incredible shape. His long lanky body is chiseled to perfection in all the right places. I can’t help but admire that sexy V-shape that disappears under his swimming trunks. I am sure there is a long line of women that would kill to have his attention, but am I one of them?

“
Paige can I ask you a question?” He says as he hands me a towel.

“
Sure.” I don’t know why I’m nervous for his question but something in his face tells me to be.

“
That guy from the cruise, your ex, is it over between you?”
Great, I should have seen that question coming a mile away.

“
Yes, it was over a long time ago.” I say wrapping myself in my towel.