8
Hayley
Icried out in pain as I moved my leg, jerking myself from my peaceful sleep. Tears filled my eyes as I quickly threw back the blanket, slowly breathing in and out to control the pain. The fire burning in my leg was enough to make me want to throw up.
Damien rushed out of the bathroom with a towel slung carelessly around his waist. Steam filtered out of the bathroom behind him, and I could hear the water running in the shower. “Are you okay?” he asked, walking over to me.
“I’m in a lot of pain,” I choked out, a couple of tears sliding down my cheeks.
He slid open the nightstand drawer on the side of the bed that I was sleeping on and grabbed a bottle of medicine. He grabbed the water bottle off the top of the nightstand and opened it. “Here,” he said, handing it to me. I took the bottle of water from him, watching as he took a pill out of the bottle. “Take this.”
I took the pill from his hand and swallowed down half of the bottle of water to take the pill. God, I hated swallowing pills. “Give it a few minutes, and then the pain medicine should kick in, alright?”
I nodded, leaning my head back against the pillows. “I need a shower or something,” I grumbled. I felt disgusting. Dried sweat clung to my skin, and I smelled like it, too.
“I can get the housekeeper—" he started, but I shook my head at him.
I wanted Damien to take care of me. Was I stupid for wanting that so badly? Possibly. Did I care at that moment? Not a bit.
I chewed on my bottom lip nervously for a moment before I spoke up. “I know you can help me without letting me hurt myself,” I finally said, staring down at my lap. “Can you just help me instead?”
“Of course, baby girl,” Damien told me without any hesitation. “You can’t get that wound wet, so let me get a bath started.”
I nodded, watching as he walked back towards the bathroom. The muscles in his back deliciously flexed as he walked off, and I sighed.
Damien still looked like a damn god.
I heard the shower turn off, and then I heard the bath water begin filling the jacuzzi style tub up. I pushed myself up into a sitting position, looking towards the door as someone knocked on it. “Who is it?” I called.
“It’s Miles.”
Damien stepped out of the bathroom, the towel now more secured around his waist. I subconsciously licked my lips at the sight of his eight-pack which led to that delicious V that had always driven me wild. He crossed his arms over his chest as he told Miles to open the door, and I bit my lip as the muscles in his arms flexed, and his chest muscles tightened with the movement of his arms.
Damien turned his head to look at me, and that devilish smirk twisted his lips as he caught me checking him out. I blushed and turned my face away from him, instead looking at Miles as he opened the bedroom door.
“Drake is demanding to talk to Hayley,” Miles stated, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his jeans as he casually leaned against the doorframe. He shot me a small smile before he looked back at Damien.
Damien clenched his jaw. “As far as I’m concerned, there’s not a goddamn thing he can say to her.” Damien snapped. “She was almost killed because he was stupid and careless. I want him as far away from her as he can get.”
“Damien—" I started, clamping my lips together as he swung his dark, angry eyes to me.
I cast my eyes to my lap, keeping my opinion to myself. I had forgotten how much Damien hated being defied. Damien sighed. “Do you want to talk to him?” he softly asked me.
I swallowed hard. “Not if it will make you angry,” I told him, but I didn’t deny wanting to talk to Drake, to sort this mess out. It wasn’t his fault that I had gotten shot. No matter how much his wanting me freaked me out, he didn’t deserve to feel guilty over this.
I felt Damien’s finger under my chin, and he tilted my face up to look at him. “If you want to talk to him, you can talk to him,” he told me gently. “I told you I’m a changed man, baby girl.”
I blew out a breath, chewing on my bottom lip nervously. “Are you sure?” I asked him.
He nodded before he looked at Miles. “Tell him to call back in an hour,” Damien told Miles.
Miles nodded and left the room, quietly shutting the door back behind him. I looked up at Damien. “Four years ago, you would’ve destroyed this room at the thought of me talking to another man,” I quietly reminded him.
Damien sighed and gripped the hem of my shirt. I lifted my arms so he could pull it over my head. “Sitting in that prison cell for four years knowing I had lost you changed me, Hayley,” he quietly admitted, his voice filled with pain. My chest ached for everything we had lost as well as all the pain we had suffered through together despite how much we loved each other.
“When you told me why you wanted to end things that day you gave your ring back to me, I realized all of our problems were because I was a controlling, bipolar asshole. I vowed I would change who I was because I wanted you more than anything else in this fucking world.”
I grabbed his hand in mine, lacing our fingers together as I looked up into his blue eyes. “Damien, you were perfect when we first got together,” I quietly told him. He had been an asshole, yes, but he had given me choices—choices that he later ripped from me.