Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 126589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
“It’s no—”
“We’re wasting time,” Gideon gritted out, rudely interrupting the man and whatever the hell was going on with him and Beth. “We’re neighbors, it makes sense for me to take you. Cam, can you take care of my bike? The keys are in my jacket pocket.” He tossed his locker key at Cam, who caught it deftly.
Gideon possessively took hold of Beth’s uninjured elbow. “We’ll take Lizzy’s car.”
“But—”
“Let’s go, Lizzy-bit,” he interrupted her brusquely, quickly shepherding her off the field. Their personal items were in lockers and they made a quick stop there for her personal possessions and her car keys.
Beth was very quiet, which was concerning. As they walked toward the car park, Gideon sneaked a peek at her, and found her staring at him, her pretty eyes clouded with pain and confusion. Still she didn’t speak, and she stood by silently while he opened the passenger door of her car. He ushered her into the seat, he knew he was hovering and coddling, but he couldn’t stop himself from fussing. Keeping a hand on her uninjured arm while she lowered herself into the seat. He drew her seatbelt down and clipped it into place, leaning over her to gently guide her sore arm until it was tucked against her body.
“Try not to move it too much,” he urged, and she snorted.
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” she joked weakly, and he offered her a tight smile.
He closed her door before hurriedly rounding the front of the car and opening the driver’s side. The Fiat was tiny, and the interior was cramped. Naturally the driver’s seat was pulled all the way forward and he moved it as far back as it could go before sliding into the seat, which he had to lower because the top of his head brushed against the ceiling of the car. He still felt ludicrously cramped, but after the adjustments he could manage.
Barely.
She giggled and he slanted a glance toward her.
“You look ridiculous,” she said, her voice burbling with laughter.
“Feel it too,” he said, with a grimace.
The paintball venue was set up in a wooded area on a farm about half an hour’s drive from their neighborhood in Newlands. Gideon didn’t want to drive all the way back without Beth receiving some kind of medical attention, so he searched for the closest hospital. He found a small private clinic about five minutes away from the paintball venue and quickly drove there.
Beth remained silent on the drive, and he kept slanting glances at her downturned profile.
She was pale, her soft lips pinched between her teeth, and she remained rigidly still. Her stiffness betrayed the amount of pain she was in. Instead of asking her if she was okay again, he drove even faster, and parked the car haphazardly in front of the clinic three minutes later.
He had his seatbelt unclipped and was reaching out to help her when a security guard rapped on the driver’s window.
“You can’t park in the ambulance bay,” the surly looking guard shouted through the window. Gideon grimaced and swore beneath his breath. He glared at the man, who met that glare with a stern glower. The guard pointed authoritatively toward a small parking lot which Gideon had missed in his haste to get Beth the help she needed.
Annoyed by the delay, he put the car back into gear and moved it.
A sound resembling a giggle spluttered from Beth’s lips and—concerned that she was sliding into shock—Gideon’s head jerked up in alarm as he gave her another assessing once over.
“Man, that guy looked pissed off at you. How is it that you manage to have that effect on even perfect strangers?” she mused, her voice thick.
“It’s a skill,” he said absently, his eyes zeroing in on hers. The tears were back, which would explain the thickness coating her words. “Come on, let’s get some painkillers into your system.”
“We’ve been here for three hours, she’s in pain, how much longer do we have to wait?” Beth watched through slitted eyes as Gideon once again harangued the nurse at the reception desk about their hours long wait.
Initially—about two hours ago—Beth had attempted to intercede, embarrassed by his take charge bossiness, but after the interminable wait, she was in too much pain to care about Gideon’s behavior any longer.
He got the nurse’s standard response. So sorry, but there were more urgent cases waiting, people who had arrived before them, Beth would have to wait her turn.
Beth sighed, and wriggled in an attempt to get more comfortable on the hard plastic chair. He’d been sweet and solicitous toward her all afternoon and she’d wondered if he felt guilty about her injury despite it being that dick, Kyle’s, fault. At the same time she couldn’t help but wonder if these displays of temper and impatience were signs of his regret at “volunteering” for this task.