Just a Kiss Read Free Page A

be finished for a month at least,” Aunt Trudy said.
    “No worries, though.” Paige patted his shoulder. “I told them from the beginning I wanted you at my place. I’ve got that nice master suite on the main floor. It’s perfect. The old doorframes are nice and wide, and your brothers have already built a ramp and put in handicap bars . . .”
    Everything faded as his thoughts spun. He was staying with Paige? His eyes flew to Zac, who was sending him some kind of telepathic apology, then back to Paige, whose words died off—probably at the look on his face.
    Her eyes clouded with confusion. “Is—is that not okay? You want to stay someplace else?” A flicker of hurt flashed in the blue depths, but she shut it down quickly, covering with a smile he’d known her too long to buy.
    Darn it. He was trapped. He forced a smile, crinkle lines and all. “Yeah. I mean no. That’s great. Wicked awesome. But I can’t take your room. I’ll sleep on the couch or something.”
    She straightened. “You will not. I’ve already moved my stuff upstairs. It’s a done deal.”
    His eyes flickered off Zac before returning to Paige. He held the smile, not an easy feat with his jaw knotted as tight as a dock line on a cleat. “You’re a pal, Warren. Hey, why don’t you guys go get the car, and Zac can help me with the chair. We’ll meet you out front in a few.”
    Moving behind him, Zac edged Aunt Trudy aside. “Sooner we get home, sooner we get a taste of that roast.”
    “That’s what I’m thinking,” Riley said.
    The others headed toward the exit, and Zac set the chair in motion. Riley rubbed his mouth with the tips of his trembling fingers, trying to calm the rising storm. How was he going to spend the next however many weeks cooped up with Paige?
    But what choice did he have? Wasn’t like he had a pile of cash in the bank for his own place. And even if he did, he was nowhere near ready for total independence—much as he’d like to deny it.
    Just the thought of her fussing over him, helping him with clothes and all the other things he still needed help with . . .
    God, are You trying to kill me here? Can’t I have just a little dignity? Would that be too much to ask?
    So much for his plans to put space between them. He’d be trapped in the six hundred square feet of the bungalow’s main floor. With Paige.
    This was all Zac’s fault. He squeezed the metal armrests until his hands ached. He worked to get himself under control as he watched his family exit the building. Then he turned to Zac.
    “What the heck were you thinking? I’m staying with Paige? Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
    “Whoa, now.” Zac stopped in front of the moving baggage carousel. “First of all, it was a group decision, so it’s not like—”
    “But you’re the only one who knows. I thought you had my six, man.”
    “It’s not like there were so many other options, Riley.”
    “ Any option is better than this!”
    “All right, calm down. I get it, this isn’t what you were expecting.” Zac set the brakes. “But maybe you could look at it as an opportunity, you know?”
    “An opportunity for what? To have Paige help me with my gory dressings, help me get in the shower, take care of me like a flipping invalid? Is that the kind of opportunity you had in mind? Because I’m pretty sure my pride’s already in the toilet, but maybe if we try a little harder, it can sink even lower.”
    A curtain of guilt closed over Zac’s face. He grabbed the folded wheelchair from the moving carousel and set it up. “You’ve been through a lot, I get it. But she’s your friend, and she wants to help. Shoot, actually being able to help feels a lot better than having you hurting thousands of miles away and not being able to do a thing. Maybe this could bring the two of you closer together. Maybe this is your chance.”
    Riley gave a humorless laugh. “Yeah, just what she always wanted. A cripple.”
    Something flickered in Zac’s