Page 68 of Protective Love

"Great, now I'm surrounded by more mushy, lovey-dovey couple shit," Jess groans from across the room reminding me that she's witnessing this little moment between us.

I try to move away from Jaylen, but he keeps me close, looping his arm around my shoulders and pulling me into his side as he turns to glare at his sister.

"You're just jealous and miserable because you're single and not getting laid," he retorts.

"So, same as you then, yeah?" she argues back.

I struggle to contain my laughter when I see the offended expression on Jaylen's face.

Jess looks away from her brother and her eyes land on me.

"Good luck putting up with him. I promise, he'll drive you crazy, and soon enough, you'll be sick of him just like the rest of us," she says, shooting a faux disgusted look at her twin.

"Oh, please. Rory would never be sick of me, would you darling?"

He looks down at me with a playful smirk, and I smile back at him in appreciation because without me having to ask him or point it out, he called me Rory even though he knows the truth now.

"Never in a million years," I reply, feeling my lips stretch wide as my smile grows.

"Okay, that's my cue to leave. I can't watch this shit anymore," Jess says, bustling out the room.

As soon as we hear the door close behind her, he swoops down and presses his lips against mine, kissing me within an inch of my life before he finally lets up and lets me breathe.

"I've been waiting for that," he mutters, pecking my lips once more.

"We were with each other about ten hours ago, Jaylen."

"Ten hours is far too long," he groans, releasing me from his hold and moving over to his bed, groaning as he sits down and starts massaging his thighs with his knuckles.

"Are you okay?" I ask, concern laced in my voice as I watch him grimace.

"Yeah, just think I might've overdone it a little bit this morning."

"What have you been doing?"

"Jess and I walked around the ward," he says, sheepishly.

"You didn't use the crutches, or the walking frame for support, did you?"

He shakes his head in response.

"Jaylen," I sigh, sitting down beside him. "I know you want to be able to do everything by yourself, but you're going to need some help every now and then."

"There's no chance I'm walking around this hospital with a Zimmer frame, looking like some frail old man."

"You're walking around the ward, not the hospital. Half of the people here are in comas, so they won't be looking at you. Plus, I personally don't think it'll make you look like a frail old man at all, baby."

His eyes connect with mine and a smirk slowly crawls onto his face.

"Even though that was a blatant lie, I'll forgive you for it because I love when you call me that."

"It just kind of slipped out."

"Well, you should let it slip out more often," he says, winking at me.

I cover my mouth, physically holding my laughter back.

"I thought that would sound sexy, but as soon as I said it, I knew I'd fucked up," he mutters, cringing at himself.