Chapter Fourteen. The room was dark when they returned

The room was dark when they returned. Laurel needed more help walking along the hallways and getting ready for bed than she would have liked. She was incredibly stiff and sore even though two days had passed since Rochelle attacked her. But Stef offered without asking and it felt amazingly good to be in contact with another body, especially Stef’s body. Laurel kept telling herself that Stef was her friend, her close friend. But even she, so accustomed to denial of reality, couldn’t keep up that pretense.

Stef was her rock, she had been there for her, offering shelter and friendship, but so had the others. Laurel frowned, feeling dizzy and fearful suddenly. Two days had passed without her going to work. As usual Rochelle would have made excuses for her, but by now she had to be wondering where Laurel was and waiting for her to walk back in the door full of apologies. Without her realizing it, her breathing must have changed or her body slackened, because suddenly Stef was holding her close, crooning reassurances as if to a child.

“I’ve got you,” she whispered sweetly. “I won’t let her hurt you anymore. You’re safe, you’re safe.”

They were on Stef’s bed and Laurel hardly remembered getting there. But Stef’s tone, and the certainty of her words, broke the dam that had been crumbling for some time. Laurel lost what self-control she had. Ignoring her painful ribs and sore face, she sobbed into Stef’s shoulder, burrowing into her chest, trying to hide and be safe from the monster that was her life.

Rochelle wasn’t the monster, she was. She had allowed their dysfunctional relationship to continue. She had let her life be ruled by an out-of-control narcissist who thought nothing of sacrificing Laurel to her own wishes and desires. She was so pitiful, she had even started to believe all the hateful things Rochelle had said over the years. It was her own fault that she was in this mess. Between racking sobs, she confessed it all to Stef, knowing that, in the end, Stef would be repulsed by her weakness, but not able to stop herself.

Stef held Laurel, brave and steadfast, letting her cry. She heard the self-loathing, the blame she had taken on, the shame for allowing it. When Laurel’s body softened into a deep slumber, purged of the venom that had ruled her life for so long, Stef gently extricated herself, slipped out of the bed, and left the room, sure that Laurel wouldn’t wake for some time.

After locking her door, she walked to the service elevator, deciding at the last minute to ignore it and take the stairs instead. Running up seven flights seemed like nothing, and she propelled herself into the room Jock and crew would start demolishing in the morning.

She plugged in one of the portable lights and found the sledgehammer Jock liked to use. Without hesitation, she hefted it as though it were a baseball bat and started swinging, all the while screaming at Rochelle Jacobs, her brother George, her family, the Bohos, and anyone else she could think of. The plaster was reluctant to give at first but the rotten backing and boards didn’t last long against the onslaught. Again and again she swung, until her arms hung unresponsive at her sides. Then she kicked the wall repeatedly and when one foot ceased cooperating, she tried the other one, ending up in a heap on the floor, almost howling in frustration that she couldn’t force her body to work well enough to keep attacking the wall.

Then she listed onto her side and lay in the midst of her destruction, chest heaving.

“Having fun, Squirt?”

Jock’s voice made her start. The gentle tease was at least better than “Stump,” and her tone bore no trace of mockery. She hauled Stef to a sitting position and supported her while she righted herself.

“How did you know I was here?”

“You mean aside from the yelling and crashing?”

“I guess I got a little…absorbed in what I was doing.” Stef couldn’t quite hide her embarrassment.

Shaking her head, Jock said, “Poor Ember left her backpack up here and came to retrieve it. She got about ten feet from the door and came running back to tell us.”

“Oh.” Stef was lucky to give that much of a response. She was spent.

“I have to admire your work. Took a sizeable chunk out of the wall. Always looking for ways to cut costs, eh?”

The gentle teasing paid off. Stef had to laugh at the comment. Jock was turning out to be a good person, nothing like the woman who tormented her in college. “Got to save those pennies. Wouldn’t want to mess up George’s new hotel. Prick.”

Sitting back on her heels, Jock said, “I presume that’s George’s nickname and not mine.”

Stef regarded her for a moment. “It used to be yours. You’re so different than the sports star I remember from school. What happened?”

“That woman was an ass,” Jock said with a thoughtful expression. “I guess I realized it was time to grow up. I may have realized it too late to save you from my thoughtless words, but at least you had the good sense not to date me.”

“I don’t recall being asked.”

Giving her a look full of contrition, Jock quietly said, “Denny made it clear that she’d shoot me if I hurt you. I would never go against Den. Anyway, count yourself lucky.”

“Why?”

“I think we both know I’m not good partner material.”

“Is that what you really think?”

Jock reacted to Stef’s soft challenge with an offhand shrug and an evasive half-smile. “Come on, let’s get you out of here. I’m sure Laurel won’t want to wake up alone, and you’re covered in plaster and sweat. You need a shower.”

“I need a few aspirin, too.” More like a bottle. Stef was beginning to hurt.

Jock picked up Ember’s backpack and they strolled to the elevator.

As they rode down, Stef said, “Would you handle the explanations to the troops? I don’t feel like facing them right now.”

“No problem. And any time you need help kicking her partner, pardon me, her ex -partner’s ass, don’t leave me out of the fun.” Jock walked her to her door, adding, “I’m not kidding. I don’t like bullies.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.” Stef touched her arm. “Thank you. For everything. You’re really a friend.”

Jock smiled. “Glad you noticed.”

Before the elevator door closed on her floor, leaving Jock to return to the dining room, Stef faced Jock and said, “Maybe the college kid wasn’t good partner material, but you would make any woman proud.”

A few minutes later, as the warm water sluiced over her aching muscles, Stef found her thoughts wandering to Laurel and the magic of being with her. Although theirs seemed to be a shared attraction, she wondered if Laurel was just reacting to the events of the past few days.

Jock’s comment about Laurel’s ex played in her mind. She seemed to assume Laurel was actually going to follow through and leave Rochelle permanently. Only time would tell if Laurel had broken free. The thought made her try to shutter her heart to protect herself, and that hurt her soul. It was no use, she’d fallen for the beautiful professor, and she was willing to wait for Laurel to make the decisions she would have to make. But if she returned to Rochelle, Stef would not, could not, stand by and repeatedly pick up the pieces.

The next morning Laurel awoke with a clear head and a body that, although painful, was on the road to healing. As she looked around the dingy room, she was content. Hearing a soft snore to her right, she realized that Stefanie was asleep beside her. Against the tightness of her lip, she smiled, inordinately pleased. Then, despite her better judgment, she reached over and gently brushed Stef’s hair from her face, so she could gaze at her.

She studied the rich brown hair, the soft sensuous mouth she kept wanting to kiss, the pale flawless complexion, the slightly crooked nose. Imagining exploring Stef’s beautiful body, tracing her ears with her tongue and touching her spectacular breasts, made her wet, aroused. The reaction was almost foreign to her, it had been so long. Had she ever felt that way?

Her face tingled with a blush as she tried not to react to her thoughts. Her struggle was interrupted by a deep, gravelly, voice.

“Mornin’.” Stef stretched, and the covers came down low enough to show that she was wearing a loose-fitting tank that revealed the curve of a breast and the border of a pink nipple.

Laurel’s body paid no attention to her mind’s desperate plea to stop reacting. She was so wet now that she was uncomfortable. She fought for control. Her own nipples were getting harder by the second, so she pulled her covers up to under her arms.

“You’re red. Are you okay?” Stef’s voice seemed more like a croak.

When she laid a hand on Laurel’s forehead, the warmth of it was almost Laurel’s undoing. She stayed perfectly still and tried to relax.

“I don’t think you have a fever.” Stef had raised up to support herself on one elbow, revealing even more cleavage.

It took a monumental effort for Laurel to tear her eyes away, since they seemed to be locked on Stef’s body. She managed, “A fever? I…don’t know.”

“You’re blushing.”

Laurel met the chocolate brown eyes she had been fantasizing about since the first day they met. “Yes.” She could not deny the truth.

“Why?”

The question was so innocent, the answer so simple. “Would you mind, please, covering your breasts? They’re… distracting.”

Laurel desperately wished she could have made something up, but her brain had finally disconnected completely from her body. It was receiving signals farther south. Loud and clear. The realization of what she’d confessed must have sunk in, because Stef complied, at first rather shyly, but then a sly grin spread over her face.

“Do you like them?” Now the gravel tone, though still there, had been replaced by a husky quality that only made Laurel’s resolve more precarious.

“Oh, for God’s sake. Yes, yes, yes. They’re magnificent, beautiful, I could never imagine anything so lovely as your breasts.” Her exasperation must have been evident, because the grin was replaced by something more somber.

“I don’t mean to tease you. If it helps, everything about you feels that way to me.”

Laurel bolted upright and just as quickly fell back, pain stabbing her into stillness. Once her breath came back to her she said, “God. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to say that I only admired your breasts, as…special as they are.” She hesitated. “Don’t you see? I’m completely entranced by everything about you. I have been since we first met. I have no right, no right at all. I should have left Rochelle long ago, but I didn’t. I should have stayed with Sika and Denny, but I didn’t. I wanted to be with you because I feel safe with you. Damn, even that is a lie.” She searched the room for the door, the urge to escape almost overwhelming her.

Stef gently squeezed her arm, bringing Laurel’s attention back to her. “Why is it a lie?”

Unable to skirt the truth any longer, Laurel sank back on the bed. “That isn’t why I wanted to stay with you.” Rolling carefully to face Stef, she said, “I think I’ve fallen in love with you. Bad timing, unrequited and all.” Tears seeped out of her eyes at the truth of her confession, the final nail in the coffin.

After a moment, Stef asked, “What makes you think it’s unrequited?”

“Because who could love a pathetic, miserable… Wait.” Studying the warm inviting eyes and the shy smile, she said, “What did you say?”

“I said, ‘what makes you think it’s unrequited?’”

Laurel started to reply only to find those fantastic lips meeting hers. Stef confirmed what had only been a wish, a whisper, and probably a prayer. She pulled Stef on top of her and they both yelped in pain and flew apart.

“God, my ribs.” Laurel tried to calm her panting, because it hurt, then noticed that Stef was grimacing, too. “What’s wrong?”

With a huff, Stef sat up. “I was working in one of the upstairs rooms last night and I’m sore today, that’s all.”

Thinking about that, Laurel said, “I’ve been leaning on you a lot, too. I’m sorry.”

Placing a hand on her shoulder, Stef smiled sweetly. “I went up to the remodel last night after you were asleep. I pretty much took down a wall. I’m sore, that’s all. It’s nothing.”

Looking deeply into her eyes, Laurel understood. “Did the wall have a name?”

“Yes. Fuckface.”

A chuckle started deep in her belly but mushroomed into full guffaws. At the same time, Stef collapsed back on the bed and they both alternated between wheezes and groans because of all the sore and damaged muscles they were using. When they calmed down, they lay side by side on their backs, staring at the stained ceiling.

Laurel asked, “Is it unrequited?”

“What?”

“You know what.”

“Do you love me?” Stef’s voice shook slightly.

Sighing, Laurel said, “Yes. I tried to be honorable, to control myself, to ignore my emotions, but I lost. I’ve fallen in love with you. I should apologize, but I won’t. But I hope for the courtesy of your honesty when you tell me if you return my love. I hope not to lose your friendship. That means so much to me.” Talking to the ceiling was so much easier than face-to-face. Almost like rehearsing her rather long speech.

“Well, you’re no longer my friend, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Laurel’s heart stood still, she was sure of it. She’d blown it and didn’t know how to recover.

“Because now you’ll be my lover.”

Laurel could barely hear what Stef had said, her own recriminations were so loud in her head. “What?” She sat up abruptly, ignoring her protesting ribs.

“I said, now you’ll be my lover. I’m in love with you, Laurel. Bad timing and all.”

Gazing into the brown eyes that revealed the truth of Stef’s words, Laurel asked, “Now what?”

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