“You hurt your back?”
He cast her a glare as best he could without fully turning his head. “What does it look like?”
“No, I mean before last night. Why didn’t you say so?”
“Would that have made any difference?Oh god.Can you please open the door?” His words came out in a rush like even breathing hurt.
They’d reached the bedroom’s back door and Olivia hurried around him to open it so that they could pass inside. “Of course it would have made a difference. If I’d known you were hurt, I wouldn’t have—”
“Ow.” He cut her off with another guttural groan. He took tiny little steps to the foot of the bed, where he turned around and stiffly fell back onto it like a tree going down in the forest.
“What do you need?” Olivia said from where she hovered over him as she tried to gather her bearings. She’d been asleep not five minutes before.
Chuck reached up for a pillow and shoved it under his head. “You didn’t happen to pack a massage gun, did you?” His voice was pinched and tight.
Olivia’s mind flitted to the inappropriate dinner table gift Mansi had bestowed on her as the closest possible thing—which she had in fact packed—but she was not about to offer it up on camera, and it certainly wasn’t strong enough for his needs anyway.
“No.”
“Damn.” He lifted into an arch that looked like it did more harm than good and winced again. “Nope. Bad idea.”
“Chuck, I’m so sorry,” she said, truly feeling it.
“It’s fine,” he said through gritted teeth. “I just need to lie here for a little bit. It’ll loosen up.”
She gazed down at him having gone rigid in pain. “It doesn’t look fine. And isn’t lying still only going to make it stiffer?”
“Well, I can’t move, so it’s the best option right now. Just give me like ten minutes. I’ll be fine.”
“Okay, but what if I—”
“Liv, I’m fine.” He turned his head to look at her where she stood wringing her hands at the bedside. He gave her a soft smile that landed closer to a grimace. “I mean, I’d give up a million dollars to have you give me a back rub right now, but since that’s not on the table, I’ll work with what I’ve got, which is over-the-counter anti-inflammatories. Could you actually get them for me? In my toiletries bag in the bathroom.”
“Yes. Definitely.” She hurried off and left him there flat on his back. In the bathroom, she pawed through his neat case of balms and creams and hair products until she found a rattling bottle of blue gel pills. She filled a glass at the sink and carried it all back to him.
“Thank you,” he muttered when he did his best to sit up and swallow the pills. “One day in and you’ve already taken me down,” he said with a smirk.
“Chuck, I’m—”
“I’m kidding. Don’t worry about it. It’s been tight for days and was basically a bomb waiting to go off. I’ll be better in a little bit.”
Olivia chewed her lip, feeling truly awful for him. “Is there anything else I can get you?”
“Nope, I’m good,” he said on another tight breath.
“Okay.” At a loss and still feeling guilty, she wandered through the hallway and out into the kitchen area. She was certainly wide awake now, but a cup of coffee was still in order. When she opened the pantry to find the coffee, she saw a bag of potato chips. The sight of junk food inspired a thought that eased some of her guilt, and if she was lucky, it might make the man in the other room feel a tiny bit better.
She grabbed her phone and pinched it between her ear and shoulder to call Tyler while she set about making coffee. To her surprise, he answered right away.
“Good morning, Ms. Martin,” he said.
“Oh, hey, Tyler. I wasn’t sure you’d be up. Sorry it’s so early.”
“Of course I’m up. What can I do for you?” he asked without a hint of bother.
Olivia lowered her voice; she wasn’t sure why. Perhaps because she still felt bad about what had happened and speaking it softly would lessen her guilt. “I need you to pick something up at the store.”
“Oh sure! That’s what I’m here for. What is it?” His eagerness made her imagine him clicking a pen, ready to jot a note.