The Rules Regarding Gray (14 page)

Ian finally reacted. “No. I didn’t,” he responded through gritted teeth. But as Jasper looked at him, Ian looked away. “How about you take me home? You’re clearly in a peachy mood,” he muttered.

Jasper took his foot off the brake.

Chapter Twelve

“So … this doesn’t look like three-way bliss to me.” Anna commented as she slid into the booth at the coffee shop across from Gray.

“And
this
doesn’t look like step aerobics to me,” she replied.

“I need fuel first. Now spill it.”

“It’s complicated.”

“Duh. All relationships are complicated, then you throw in a tall, dark, and handsome third party into the mix… Did you really think it would simplify your life?”

Gray chuckled. “Not necessarily. But I didn’t bargain on it being this complicated. I thought it was supposed to be exciting, fun, and casual. Remember? Sex doesn’t have to be about intimacy all the time.”

“A concept that seemed lost on you a few weeks ago, if I recall.” Anna picked up her bagel, tearing off a hunk and stuffing it in her mouth.

“I think it still is.”

“So, tell me about that. Does it lack intimacy?”

“No,” she thought about it for a moment. “Not with him.”

“You have two hims. Which him?”

“The wrong one.” She was cringing on the inside when she said it.

Anna took a deep breath. She was concerned, but she was holding her peace for the time being. “Is the sex that good with him in comparison to Ian?”

“I can’t say the intimacy is even related to the sex. Besides, we haven’t even had sex in the traditional sense. I’ve only been with him twice, but … it’s incredible. The intimacy is…” She shook her head. “Like nothing I expected. Like nothing I’ve experienced before. In fact, it’s making it blatantly obvious just how much that intimacy is lacking between Ian and me.”

Anna watched her, staying quiet and waiting for more.

“I feel … close to Jasper.” Gray peered up at Anna over the rim of her coffee mug.

“Then what makes you feel like you have any business being in a relationship with Ian?”

“Am I in a relationship with him? I don’t even know what that means anymore. I certainly don’t understand what it means to him.”

“Well, you’re sure as hell not in a relationship with his best friend.” Anna’s words were biting, and after she said it, her face softened. “I’m sorry. But if you want my take on this…” She studied Gray until Gray finally nodded her head. “…this is going to end badly.”

She wasn’t at all sure she could disagree with that one, so she stayed quiet, and she smiled at Anna over her coffee cup for a moment. “Well, it’s nothing step aerobics can’t cure I’m sure,” she commented sarcastically.

Anna stuck her tongue out at her for a moment, and then she wrapped up the rest of her bagel for the road. “Fine. Time for Sunday step aerobics.”

* * * *

Gray and Anna had the damn video practically memorized, and they didn’t bother stretching as they popped the DVD into the player. Butler Center had a large Pilate’s room and exercise room as well, and this was where she and Anna spent most Sunday mornings. But, however boring the video was at this point, Anna always made it interesting. Whether it was the morning she refused to put her coffee down when they started and spilled it all over the place, or the time she showed up with a squeeze bottle full of what she called mimosas, which had turned out to be ninety-nine percent champagne, it was, without doubt, fun.

And on this morning, Anna chose to liven the mood by mocking the scantily clad woman on the large video screen.

And one and two…
Came from the large television.

“…Now wiggle your booty!”

And three and four…

“Get your ass off the floor!”

And five and six…

“Stick out those tits!”

Gray was nearly ready to pee her pants, and as she stopped and bent over, she clasped her hands between her legs as she laughed loudly. It wasn’t helping matters that every move the woman on the television screen made was not only being verbally mocked by Anna, but Anna was prancing on and off her step block as though she were a stripper.

“Okay, okay, okay,” Gray gasped out. “You have to stop!” She shook her head as she cleared the overwhelming laughter from her system, and then she stepped onto her block…

And then something popped…

It felt as though someone had just delivered a swift kick to the back of her ankle, and it gave out as she fell off the block, collapsing to the floor. She clutched at the back of her ankle. She sat on the floor, shocked and saying nothing as Anna’s own laughter and lewd aerobic moves trailed off.

“Gray?”

“It popped. It’s my Achilles.” She nodded, still not really reacting, but the pain was starting to set in, and as it did, she whimpered. “It popped,” she repeated herself in a stammer. “Oh, God.”

Anna stared at her for a moment, but then she snapped into action. “Okay. Don’t move.”

“Should I go to the emergency room?” Gray was starting to tremble—her body, her lips, every part of her was panicking. It stifled the pain that was radiating up the back of her calf, but the pain
was
there.

“No.” Anna knelt beside her. “There’s no reason. If it snapped the ER is going to do nothing but refer you to someone else. Besides, the company has those sports surgeons on contract.” Anna nodded. “Uh… Okay. I need to call Daniel.”

“Anna, it’s Sunday.”

Anna nodded. She looked as shocked as Gray felt, but she was concentrating hard as she stared at the floor mat between them. “It’s okay. Remember when Greg blew out his AC? It happened on the weekend too, and one of the surgeons from the practice was able to see him that day. They have people on call, I think.”

Anna snatched up her phone from the nearby window ledge, and Gray just stared at the floor, trying not to move. It hurt like bloody fucking hell, and with every passing second the ache was intensifying. It felt as though her calf muscles were curling around the back of her leg, and clenching down tight. And, as the pain increased, she started to whimper quietly. She knew her tension was only going to make it worse, but she’d be damned if she could calm her muscles.

“Hey, Daniel. It’s Anna. I’m at the center with Gray. We were exercising, and Gray felt a pop on the back of her heel. She thinks it’s her Achilles. We’re here, and I’m not sure—” Anna quieted for a moment. “Okay. Yeah. We’ll hang tight. Thanks.” She hung up.

“Okay, he wants us to stay here. He’s going to call one of the docs, and see if someone from the practice can take a look at you today.”

Gray just nodded, and Anna knelt back down beside her. “I’m so sorry, sweetie. I shouldn’t have been goofing around.”

“It’s not your fault. I didn’t stretch. It just—”

Anna’s phone suddenly rang, and Anna reached for Gray’s hand as she answered the phone. She was silent for a moment. “Okay. Yeah we can do that.” A pause. “Okay. No, it’s fine. I’ll call you later with an update.” And then she hung up.

“One of the doctors is coming. He has to stop at the clinic and pick up a couple things, but he said we should stay here and get ice on it to help keep the swelling down. Daniel isn’t in town right now, so he can’t get here.”

“Okay,” she nodded, biting on her lip.

“Should we call your parents?”

“No,” she said quickly. “Definitely no. They’re out of the country for the next week on that Italy tour. I can’t… I can’t—”

“They’ll want to know, Gray. You have to—”

“I’ll tell them once they’re back in the country. If I call, they’ll come home, and they… No. They’ve been planning this vacation for a year. No.”

Anna stood then. “I’m going to go get an ice pack. I’ll be right back.” She eyed Gray sadly, and then she shook her head and stood up.

Gray started crying once she was alone, and as she grabbed her phone from the floor mat beside her, she pulled up her recent calls. Anna was at the top of that list, but right under her was Ian—in red thanks to the fact he couldn’t be bothered to answer that call. She hit the send button, wishing she was calling someone else but knowing how wrong it would be if she did. She shook her head as she rolled her eyes at herself, but even as she did, her tears fell.

Ian’s phone went to voice mail, and by the time Anna returned a few minutes later, she’d reached his voice mail a few more times. Anna caught the frustrated look on her face as she sat back down beside her with the ice pack.

“He’s not picking up,” Gray muttered. “I’ve tried him a few times.”

Anna studied her, her lips pursing. Anna was, just as Jas had pegged, a very protective friend, and what happened to Gray most certainly affected Anna.

Gray tried to relax her muscles as they waited. She couldn’t seem to stop trembling, and her body was rigid as she held her core tight. She needed to relax, but it was the most difficult thing she’d ever tried to do at the moment.

There was a sudden knock echoing through the building, and Anna rushed out of the room. Moments later, a man entered with Anna.

“Hi. I’m Dr. Thomson from the Austin Sports Medicine Clinic. I hear we have an injury.”

“Yes,” Gray said quietly.

“You must be Gracelynn. I’ve treated a number of dancers from your company over the years, but I don’t think I’ve ever treated you before,” Dr. Thomson commented to her casually, smiling as he approached her.

She shook her head. “No. I saw Dr. Bruce about a year ago for tendonitis, but I’ve not seen anyone else there.”

“Okay. How long have you been dancing,” Thomson asked as he knelt down beside her.

That was an exceptionally loaded question for a dancer past her prime, and while Gray wasn’t that over the hill, she was past her peak performance days.

“Umm…” Her lips were trembling. “Uh… Since I was eight. So, nineteen years I guess.”

His focus caught on her face for a moment as he studied her. “As you know, dancing can put a lot of strain on your joints and tendons. What were you doing when you felt the pop?”

“Stepping onto the exercise block.”

“Have you had any ankle pain recently?” He reached for her leg.

“A bit. But it happens off and on.” She could feel the tears pooling in her eyes as Dr. Thomson started palpating the back of her lower leg, and she winced as the ache seared hot, but she gritted her teeth, refusing to give into the tears.

“Now, we may need to do some further testing like an MRI to determine how and where the tear—” His voice cut off abruptly, and his eyes focused on the floor for a moment as his fingers moved along the back of her heel.

She didn’t like this, and even before he said anything more, she started to pant, and her heart started to race.

He shook his head subtly, and when he looked up to her, he inhaled deeply. “I take that back.” His lips pursed for a moment in what appeared to be sympathy. “I can’t feel the tendon. It’s fully ruptured.”

Her tears fell then, and she covered her mouth with her hand. This couldn’t be happening. She shook her head, refusing to believe him. “I was hardly doing anything. I mean…”

“I’m guessing the tendon was already weakened. It’s not unusual for someone who’s been in your line of work for as long as you have.”

She just kept shaking her head for a few seconds, closing her eyes and trying to force the tears away.

“So what do we do, Doctor?” Anna took over communication at that point, and Gray was relieved. The very notion of carrying on an intelligible conversation seemed impossible at the moment.

The doctor studied her face, and Gray brushed her tears away. “Surgery is going to be your best option. The sooner the better as long as we can control the swelling. An Achilles tendon can heal on its own if properly stabilized, but it’s more prone to re-rupture, and surgery is more difficult on a re-rupture than on an initial tear. You’re too active to run the risk of a re-rupture, and surgery gives us the best chance of a good recovery.”

What he hadn’t said was full recovery, and as Gray caught the slip, she started shaking her head again. Her eyelids fluttered, and then she closed them, resting back against the mat and clasping her hands to her forehead.

“Will I be able to dance again?”

Chapter Thirteen

Jasper busied himself cleaning the bar for the better part of Monday morning. It was really just to keep his mind occupied. He’d not talked to Gray for twenty-four hours, and he wasn’t happy about it. He didn’t like the way things had ended, and the fact that simply picking up the phone and calling her was a bit taboo under the circumstances, he felt a little trapped by the situation.

When his cell rang, he pulled it from his pocket. It was Gray. His heart started hammering inside his chest, and he stared at the screen on the phone for a moment before finally swiping his finger across it.

“Hi.” He sounded far too quiet and insecure.

“Yeah. Can you get your douche of a best friend to pick up his phone? I’m with Gray at the hospital. She snapped her fucking Achilles yesterday, and she’s been trying to reach him since then.”