Challenge: A Contemporary MMA Romance: Oni Fighters Book 3 by Natalie Gayle Read Free Book Online Page A

feeling a little warm.
    Xander looked directly at Eden. “No relationship happening there what so ever.”
    “Nope, none. Can’t understand what we were all thinking.”
    “Okay, okay you two. We have something, we just haven’t labelled it. We’ve just been going with the flow.”
    “Progress, Gem.” Xander gave Eden his cheeky, little-boy grin.
    “Was hard work getting there.”
    “Ah, sweetheart, you know the course of true love never runs easy. Except where we’re concerned.”
    “Right, that’s it!” I couldn’t take it anymore. I knew they were doing it for my benefit. “Go take a walk or something.”
    Xander stood and offered his hand to his wife. I didn’t miss the sneaky little smirk he passed to Eden. Yeah, they’d done it to lighten the mood a little and break the ice in this very strange situation.
    “We’ll let you know when Dane and Arianne get here with the food,” Eden threw over her shoulder as she gave me one last supportive smile before they headed off for a few minutes.
    I looked over at Seth and I felt more nervous than ever, which was ridiculous. We knew each other’s bodies intimately; we’d shared all sorts of physical and erotic experiences.
    Gingerly, I reached over and took his hand. Any other time, I would have been all over him and he would have had me wrapped up in his arms quicker than I could blink. He was just so still .
    It was so very disconcerting.
    His hand was warm in mine—the skin of his palm and fingers a little rough from all the building work he’d been doing at his place. Everyday, he got a kick out of showing me what he’d managed to achieve, and I was constantly surprised at his skills.
    It seemed he was just at home with power tools and building materials as he was in a dojo, or pouring over geological reports.
    Then it really occurred to me why all this was so weird—strange. Seth was never still. He was the type of person who was on the move from the moment he woke to the second he finally gave into sleep.
    “Ah, Seth, why did you leave? Did I do something to make you flee? Was it something else? What happened out on that road? Were you awake? Did you fall asleep at the wheel? Were you awake after the crash? Did you feel the pain?”
    I squeezed his hand and realized I’d whispered the questions aloud and immediately felt stupid.
    “Why did I drink so much. I remember you taking me against the wall. It was so hot…everything just gets hazy after there. What happened?”
    I sat there for a few minutes with his right hand in both of mine, just looking at his fine body, but not at the Seth I knew. Then, I realized what I was doing. I was distancing myself from him emotionally and starting to look at him as a being or entity other than the Seth I knew. That was something I couldn’t do. I had to treat him exactly as if I expected him to answer my question or talk to me.
    “I know you need some time to recover, Seth, but you have to come back. We’ve got something, whether you want to recognize it or not. I know it’s there and, God help me, I’m going to find a way to get you to come back. I need you to come back. We all need you to come back.”
    A few moments later, Nurse Michelle returned with a large folder tucked under her arm.
    “Time for some more obs.” She placed the folder on the mobile table beside the bed and took the blood pressure cuff from the machine and secured it around Seth’s left bicep, then pressed the button on the electronic monitor and the cuff began to inflate.
    While that was doing its thing, she peeled back the white waffle blanket and took a look at the surgical bandage across the centre of his lower pelvis. “This one is where they went in and did the bladder repair. I’m just checking to see if there are any signs of infection or irritation.”
    His pelvis was bruised and swollen compared to how it normally looked. The “V” that was always there was less pronounced because of the swelling. Although Michelle