Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 78231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
I finished the eggs, but only managed a few bites of the French toast before I had to reach for the soothing tea instead.
“Go on,” I invited, waving at the food. “I know you want to.”
She didn’t need a second invitation.
“When did A call you?” I asked.
“Which time?” she asked, holding a hand in front of her face since she’d just shoveled in a huge bite of the French toast.
“He called you more than once?”
“I think he called four times?” she said, trying to remember. “Yeah. Four.”
“When? Why?”
“Well, he called right after he brought you to the hospital, to tell me what had happened, but also that he didn’t think you wanted me spreading it all around. Then he called after your scans, telling me what they said. Then he called when you were moved up to this floor, letting me know you were sleeping, and would probably continue to do so for the night. And then, finally, he called me this morning, telling me to come and see you.”
Four times?
He’d called Vi four times?
That was incredibly, well, sweet of him.
“I get that you and he might have some complicated shit going on,” Vi said. “But I just want to go on record saying that I like him. Any guy who will call your kin not only to tell them you’re hurt, but also give you updates, that’s a solid guy. And, I mean, look at this place.”
“It’s ridiculous, isn’t it?”
“If by ‘ridiculous,’ you mean ‘hella cool,’ then yes.”
“What’s it like out there?” I asked, nodding toward the door.
“The hallway is like a normal hospital, except it has the wood floors out there too. But there is art on the walls and a waiting room like you’d see at some rich-ass specialist’s office, not a hospital. But the other rooms are probably like this.”
“How many other rooms are there?”
“I think eight in total? I’m not sure, I think they went around the bend a bit. Not as many as on the other floors, for sure. I mean, obviously,” she said, waving toward the oversized space. “For the record, if I am ever seriously injured, I fully expect everyone to put me up in this fancy-ass place.”
“Noted,” I agreed. “I don’t even know where I am,” I admitted.
“You’re in North Jersey. Almost an hour away from Navesink Bank.”
So, I had been right. The ride was longer than it should have been if we were going to a local hospital.
“Why would be bring me all the way up here?”
“He probably has some kind of arrangement with them here,” she said, shrugging. “Or, he just wanted to spoil you, and he couldn’t do that with our basic-ass hospitals.”
“I doubt spoiling me was on his mind,” I said.
“Is denial, like, your favorite state to be in?” she asked, rolling her eyes at me. “That man clearly cares about you.”
“He feels guilty that I got hurt on his case.”
“I mean, yeah, I’m sure that is part of it. But it’s more than that. We both know it’s more than that.” I couldn’t deny that, so I took a sip of my tea instead. “So, how was he?” she asked, making me choke on the tea I’d been trying to swallow. “I mean, I can imagine him both ways, you know?”
“No, I don’t know,” I said, still coughing, and wincing each time at the pain it caused.
“Well, I can see him being like… savage. A hard, fast fuck. Maybe even with some dirty talk. But the sexy kind, not the cheesy kind. But I can also see him being kind of really intimate. Slow and intense. That sort of thing. So… which way was he?”
“Vi, it was a two time thing. That’s all it will ever be,” I insisted.
“God, what is it with you?” she asked. “Are you allergic to fun? I’m gonna have to ask that fancy doctor of yours if she can set you up for surgery to remove that stick from your ass.”
“Hey!” I said, both amused and mildly offended. Which wasn’t an entirely uncommon occurrence when interacting with my cousins.
“Well, it’s true, isn’t it?” she asked.
“I have fun.”
“When? When was the last time you had fun? You haven’t been to karaoke with us in ages.”
“I’ve been—“
“Working,” she filled in for me. “I get it if your job is important. My job is important to me too. But you have to have a life outside of it. And I’m just thinking that including that sexy-ass man in that life would be a great time.”
“He’s in the middle of a coup,” I told her. Because, she was right, I did trust her. Even with A’s sensitive information.
“He said,” she agreed, nodding.
“He told you?”
“He said something like ‘Think you deserve to know, since I’m the reason she’s in that bed right now,’” she told me.
“In his defense, I hadn’t been paying attention. I should have heard him coming.”