Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 95080 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95080 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
“The bride caught the groom with her sister.”
“Oh shit,” I groaned.
He regaled us with the juicy details: about things getting thrown, the screaming, and eventually the decimation of the ice sculpture of two swans.
“Swans?” I said, grimacing.
“I know. I told my team, if someone orders any kind of birds—”
“Enough, you two,” Eric said briskly, cutting us off. “Let’s get the hell outta here, Matt. Tracy needs to rest. You heard the doctor.” He indicated Tate with a toss of his perfectly coiffed head. “He’s got a concussion and—”
“Okay, okay,” Matt almost whimpered. “Please let’s not go over it again and again.”
“Then come on,” Eric pressed, then leaned over and kissed my cheek. “Forgive me.”
“What?”
“About before. At the club.”
It took me a minute. “Oh, don’t be an idiot,” I soothed him, hugging him tight. “You just want what’s best for me. I know that.”
“Yes, but if that had been the last time we spoke…” He trailed off, obviously upset.
“Stop.”
He nodded, kissed my cheek again, and then gave me an order. “Get better, baby.”
“I will. Thanks for coming to check on me.”
“Like we would have stayed away,” he replied, walking around the bed to give Alex a hug. He then forced a sort of smile for Breckin, but you could tell it was an afterthought, and for my benefit. It looked more like a grimace, really. And of course my brother noticed. He narrowed his eyes, and I knew he was putting things together. There were only so many reasons people took breaks.
“Mattie, get up.”
“I’ll call you in the morning,” Matt promised, rising from beside me, his eyes purposefully wide, like his husband had flipped out. “And I’ll keep trying until I get you.”
“Good.” I smiled at him, and he hugged and kissed Alex goodbye. Breckin, he ignored completely.
I made the mistake of looking at my brother, who tipped his head and met my gaze. He had it then. Matt’s icy demeanor was a dead giveaway. Once Breckin’s biggest fan, the reversal could only mean one thing.
After they left, I was alone with Breckin and my brother. I hadn’t noticed that Tate and Angela had left.
“You two look decidedly grim,” I said, as Breckin walked over and took hold of my hand.
“We’re fine,” Breckin assured me. “We’re both just tired.”
“Speak for yourself,” Alex said coolly.
Oh yes, he knew what Breckin had done.
“There’s nothing you can do here,” I told Alex. “You should go home. I’ll be fine.”
He shook his head.
“Please,” I pressed, then turned to Breckin. “You should go too.”
“No. I’m going to stay a bit.”
Not wanting to be alone, I scooted over in the bed to make room for him.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay?” my brother asked me. And I knew he wouldn’t have even thought about going if Breckin wasn’t there. Now that he knew, he could barely stand being in the same room with my ex.
“Yeah, go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He nodded, kissed me goodbye, then left without a word to my ex-partner.
“Well, that was fun,” Breckin sighed.
“Sorry.”
“Thank you for not telling him what happened.”
“You’re welcome, but I have no doubt he knows at this point.”
He nodded.
“I mean, he’s really good at ferreting out secrets. It’s pretty much in his job description.”
“’Course.”
I leaned back against the pillows, and Breckin did the same. He was warm there next to me, and he smelled like fresh laundry.
“Why don’t you smell like cigarettes?” I asked absently. He should have smelled like smoke and beer, but instead he smelled like he always did, clean, like soap and a trace of vanilla.
“I wanted to stay with you, and I knew that if I smelled bad, you’d make me go home and take a shower. So I already went there and took one.”
“Christ, how long was I out?”
“A while,” he answered, shivering. “But I knew you were okay, so like I said, I did what I had to so I could stay here with you once you woke up.”
“You’re a very considerate man.” I patted his shoulder.
“No,” he said, chuckling. “I just wanted to be with you.”
I sighed deeply, wondering about how well he knew me, and let him get comfortable beside me. I was suddenly so tired, the night catching up with me. So I closed my eyes and let sleep take me.
FIVE
I woke up early in the morning, and one glance at the clock on the wall told me it was four thirty. A noise caught my attention—dress shoes scraping over the floor—making the hair rise on the back of my neck. I hadn’t realized how frightened I’d been and still was.
“Who’s there?” I asked the darkness, sitting up, careful not to jerk the IV needle in my left arm. My heart was pounding so hard I could barely hear anything. I started panicking as soon as I realized Breckin wasn’t in bed with me. Where the hell had he gone?