He didn’t.
“Y-you like me w-weak,” he growled, then got out of the car.
The entire vehicle shook when he slammed the door. I sat, flabbergasted, staring blindly at the dashboard in front of me, trying to rein in my temper.
I climbed out as he tapped in the code on the garage, sending the door up.
“Are you saying I get some sort of satisfaction from watching you flail?” I shouted across the driveway. “Do you think I get off on your verbal hesitations?”
He sent me a scathing glare, but instead of disappearing inside, he bared his teeth and took one step closer to me as he said, “Yes.”
“Well, I don’t!” I stomped over to him, my hands balled into fists as I considered pummeling him where he stood.
I wasn’t an evil person. I was his friend—the only one who’d stuck around and waited on the ambulance when he was crumpled over his steering wheel bleeding all over the interior of his Audi.
“Know what I like?” I asked, hurt by his accusations but also wanting him to know. I blatantly looked at his mouth.
His mouth softened from that hard line and in an instant I remembered the firm yet gentle force when he kissed me. His eyes went to my lips and I knew he was thinking about the same moment. He came the slightest bit closer, his hand wrapping around my wrist. “Yeah. I do.”
I wanted the kiss his eyes promised, but then the front door opened, and the tension between us shattered. Cade dropped my wrist and took a purposeful step away from me as his dad appeared on the porch.
Paul offered us an innocuous smile.
“Oh, hey, guys.” Paul walked toward us, leather briefcase in hand. “Sorry. Didn’t meant to interrupt.”
Cade shot him a glare before turning and leaving me behind. I watched him vanish into the murkiness of the garage and listened as the door leading to his room opened and shut.
“Still nothing?” Paul asked me, sounding tired and sad. He cared about Cade. He’d screwed up, and I knew that his and Cade’s relationship was strained, but at least he was trying. Though, to be fair, now Cade was trying too. A moment ago he’d accused me of liking him weak. I hoped Paul wasn’t accidentally holding his son down for that same reason.
“He’s doing much better.” So that I didn’t sound defensive, I added, “The exercises were effective, and getting out of the house helped.” I couldn’t stop the slight blush from coloring my cheeks because now I was thinking about the kiss.
“Good. That’s good.” Paul pulled a set of keys from his pants pocket. “Nice car, Tasha.”
“Thank you.” Cade had parked my Z4 squarely in the center of the two-car garage. “I’m in your way.”
“You can move back after I leave,” he offered.
“No, that’s okay. Cade and I are done for the day.” Apparently, I thought with a sigh of defeat.
“I appreciate what you’re doing for him,” Paul said. “Oh, I almost forgot.” He reached into his bag and brought out a skinny envelope. “For this week.”
Paul had been paying me, so the offer of a paycheck was nothing new. But now that the dynamic had shifted between Cade and me, taking money felt…wrong.
“I didn’t tell you,” I said as I took a step away from the proffered payment. “The rehab center offered me full-time work.” I pasted on a grin and hoped Paul didn’t think I was being unforgivably rude.
“That doesn’t mean you didn’t earn this for your services.”
“I wouldn’t feel right about it.” Another step back. “Cade is my friend. And I’m not an actual speech therapist. Keep your money, Paul.”
“It’s not gambling money.” His smile wavered. “Sober for sixty-five days now,” he said of his Gamblers Anonymous meetings. He’d had one setback right after the new year. Devlin told Rena and Rena told me.
“No, I didn’t think that at all.” Shit. I was making this worse. “Honestly, Paul. I want to help Cade because…” Kissing him is its own reward. “Because.” I gestured to my car and offered a dab of humor I hoped would clear the awkwardness from the air. “Besides, it’s not like I’m wanting for anything.”
He finally lowered the envelope. “Okay. I just don’t want your dad to assume—”
“No!” I shouted almost desperately. “He, um, you know, he doesn’t need to know about any of this. He worries about my homework even though I’m getting straight A’s.” I tacked that last part on with a sweet smile. I’m not quite in “straight A” territory, but one C-minus isn’t going to prevent me from graduating. “I told him Cade was cured and I’d done my job.” Also a lie. I clasped my hands in front of me. “So you can imagine what he’d say if this got back to him.”
Paul sucked in a breath of his own, and I could tell his newly sprouted conscience was eating at him.
“Fair enough.” Paul tucked the envelope back into his briefcase. “You know you’re welcome here anytime.”
That was nice to hear. Paul walked into the garage and I headed back to my car. But as I ducked to slide into the driver’s seat, I noticed Cade standing at his window, his eyes on me, his expression unreadable.
Shit.
He’d seen me decline the money for his therapy. Which left me open and exposed. Unless he thought I was doing this out of charity and not because my morals had been recently turned upside down. I simply couldn’t allow Paul to pay me when I would spend time with Cade for free.