Just The Right Black

Chapter 36

Ariana couldn't stop thinking about that day, the day he made her feel things. It'd been almost two weeks since she was physically close to Jace. Two weeks since he held her so close to him, since she started feeling something; something new and unfamiliar.

She had no idea who was avoiding the topic because they've both been quiet around each other ever since. Asides from their time at the gym and at night, he was never around. Always working somewhere she wasn't which was all good because if he wasn't the one avoiding her, she would be the one avoiding him. Jace could feel the tension between them building up and it was becoming palpable and difficult to ignore.

Ariana had gotten her balance back. She'd gone from trying to stand upright to walking on the treadmill, while holding herself up, of course, hopefully soon, she'd be able to walk with her hands by her side. When she'd started on the treadmill, every move of her injured leg made her want to wince but over time, the pain had slowly disappeared and she was able to walk without wanting to wince every single time. She wanted to go faster, but Jace said she could go faster once she was able to walk without holding onto the side handles. He thought she'd been trying really hard and she'd come a long way in such a short period of time.

As for her limp, it'd gotten more pronounced when she stopped using the crutch but every step she took was her way of learning to walk without support. Jace didn't want her on her feet without the crutch because he thought it was too much too fast. So, he mostly got everything she needed, so she wasn't on her feet for more than a few minutes at most.

At night, she still snuck away to the living area and fell asleep on the sofa and then woke up before Jace did to avoid any other embarrassing mornings like that morning. Of course, Jace knew she had been sneaking off at night to sleep downstairs. He just didn't want to bring it up because he figured it was because of what happened that morning.

Ariana, who was seated upright, her back against the headrest and her laptop in front of her, couldn't wait to get back in the ring and on the field. But first, she needed to learn to walk before she ran.

Jace cursed as he spilt water on the floor at the top of the stairs as he headed to the bedroom that evening. He had just wrapped up a deal with Mr. Payton of Payton Industries and he was beat. His head throbbed and he needed an Aspirin before he went to sleep.

He opened the door to his room and immediately, their gazes met and they were both breathless for a second before Ariana shifted her gaze back to her laptop. Jace walked inside the room and shut the door behind him and headed towards his side of the bed. He placed the glass of water on the bedside table and checked the drawer for an aspirin. He popped one into his mouth and downed the glass of water.

Ariana turned her gaze to look at him,
"Are you alright?"

Jace set the glass on the bedside table and turned to look at her,
"I will be," He sat on the bed, "I just need to rest."

She gave him a small smile before she looked away. Jace got into bed and under the blanket, he fell asleep to the sound of her clicking away on her keyboard.

Ariana thought he'd looked so tired. He'd been working harder from home with Bridget rescheduling his office meeting to video conferences with the other party. She'd also been coming once in a while to check up on her and also used it as an opportunity to brief Jace on what's been going on at the office.

Jace told his Charlotte he'd gone out of the country on business because he didn't want anyone to know about the accident. The director had put Shay on the watch out in case something or someone was out of place at the office or sticking their nose in Jace's business. But so far, they had nothing which got Ariana thinking.