Semua Bab Diagnosis: Love: Bab 151 - Bab 160

NOAH"Now, was that so bad?" Juliet beamed at me as we stood on my front porch. She was allowing me to unlock the door, even though I knew damn well she still had the key Zeke had given her. Fucking Zeke. Talk about betrayal. What the hell had he been thinking?"It was brutal," I answered her flatly. "I'm in agony. That therapist is a sadist. She gets a kick out of making me hurt." "That's bullshit, and you know it. How long have you been playing football, Noah?" She posed the question just as I opened the door, and though I wanted to slam it in her pretty, heart-shaped face, I had enough of the manners my mother had drilled into me to refrain. "A long time." I tossed my keys into a bowl on the front table. "Since I was a kid. Six years old." "Uh-huh. I thought so. And has it been all sunshine and roses, buddy? Or was there a lot of pain along the way? Practice, conditioning. Running sprints. Building muscles and endurance. Not to mention hits on the field." "Yeah, but that p

ALISON"Oh, Ms. Wakely! It's been a long time since we've seen you. How are you?"I paused at the reception desk of Peaceful Gardens Home for Care, returning the smile of the nurse who sat there greeting visitors. "I'm fine, thanks." Except for a slight case of pregnancy . . . I swallowed the words. Making the trip across the country from Florida to northern California had been a last-minute decision. An impulse, maybe. It had just seemed like serendipity at the time; Dr. Johanson, from whom I'd bought my practice when he'd retired, had stopped by to let me know he was back in town for the winter and willing to give me a hand if I needed him. I could tell that his real reason for visiting was that he was bored, but still, it had been a generous offer. And then, shortly after we'd spoken, I'd gotten a call from this nursing home where one of my foster mothers had been living for many years now. When Daneen's doctor had called to let me know that in addition to the progressing de

NOAH"Juliet?" I called out as I stumped out of my bedroom. Sun beamed through the windows of the living room onto the tile floors and gleaming wood accents. The housekeepers had been here the day before, I remembered. That was why everything smelled so nice and looked even better. I'd been at physical therapy while they worked. Juliet had driven me there as she shuttled me any place I had to go these days. In the week since I'd lost to her at strip blackjack, she hadn't left me alone for longer than an hour here or there. But now, it seemed, I might finally be alone. On the kitchen table, a single sheet of white paper was covered with loopy handwriting. Honey Bear~I had to run into town for a meeting at the stadium, then I'm having lunch with Daddy-he's in town just for the afternoon, or I'd have insisted he come out to the house to eat dinner with us.

NOAH"Was that the doorbell I heard?" I stepped out of the bathroom, using a towel to dry off my hair. It was longer than I'd ever worn it, I observed absently to myself. I should probably think about getting a haircut."What?" Juliet was perched on the bed, her pink robe wrapped around her, her face still flushed from the hot water. Or maybe it was more than just the water . . . as a reward for getting through a painful, challenging session at physical therapy, she'd joined me in the shower and given me an incredible blow job. "I thought I heard the doorbell ring right after you got out of the shower. Who was it?" "Oh." She frowned, and I saw a shadow of something I didn't recognize pass over her eyes. "No, it wasn't the doorbell. It must've been on TV.""Really?" I glanced at the huge blank screen that hung on the wall. Juliet's face flushed even redder. "I turned it off, okay? I was checking something on ESPN, and when I saw what I wanted to see, I clicked it off. Why are y

NOAHI shook off that vague worry now, though, as Deacon and Emma climbed the porch steps. Emma's expression was guarded as she approached me, and I noticed that Deacon kept his hand on her back. They both stopped a few feet short of me. Emma cleared her throat. "Hello, Noah. You look-good." Her eyes roved down me, and one of her brows rose. "I didn't realize this was the kind of party where people could go shirtless."I tossed back my last swallow of whiskey. "Em. You look good, too." I smirked. "You should know that in my mind, topless is always an option when it comes to you." Ignoring her small gasp of outrage, I shifted my gaze upwards a little. "Deacon. Glad you could both be here today. Gotta wonder who's saving the world at St. Agnes while you're gone, though." I'd meant the words to be a light jest, just a little tease, the way we always joked around. But I could see from the way Emma's eyes flared that she wasn't taking it that way. "I'm happy you're feeling better, N