Chapter 13 #2
Shiloh sighed. “Fine. I’ll give you the PG-13 version. Holden has touch aversion.” I nodded. Flynn had told me as much so I wouldn’t overstep with Holden when we met. “He wanted to feel close to people, so the cam sessions were the next-best thing.”
“Until you needed a sugar daddy,” I said.
Everyone laughed. “It didn’t go down exactly like that, but he did save me from a lot of trouble,” Shiloh said.
Shiloh and the guys shared pieces of their history with me and we ate our weight in carbs and drank too much. It was the most fun I’d had since that wild night in Omaha with Knight.
I didn’t have all the inside stories yet. Didn’t know all the jokes. But they were inviting me in, and even if it was only while I was here this year, I didn’t want to be on the outside anymore.
Didn’t want to be alone.
Maybe being strong and independent didn’t have to mean staying isolated. Maybe, even if it was just for another eleven months, I could experience a new kind of family. One of my own choosing. Full of love and laughter instead of rage and pain.
“Remove the clamp.”
I leaned forward for a better view of the heart—with its newly repaired aortic valve—beating on its own once more.
Dr. Rose had invited me to come in early to observe an emergency surgery. That was six hours ago. I was tired from staying up far too late with Knight, both of us so insatiable, but I’d gotten my ass out of bed at five a.m. anyway.
Totally worth it.
Dr. Rose glanced over her shoulder at me. “Not too bad for a day’s work, is it?”
“It’s amazing.”
Dr. Rose lived up to the hype. She made the complex procedure look easy. Foley was in sync with her, anticipating her every need.
She turned back to the table. “All right, let’s place the TEE and then close. Dr. Foley, would you do the honors?”
“Of course.”
The TEE was an ultrasound probe that was placed in the esophagus to verify the valve was working correctly. Once Dr. Rose was certain there was no leakage and the repair would hold, she motioned for me to follow her out of the OR.
She pulled off her surgical cap and mask and pushed them into a recycling bin. I followed suit.
“We got lucky with this one. If he hadn’t gotten that free health screening, he’d have been dead before he made it to my table.”
My chest tightened. It was sad that so many rural residents didn’t have easy access to routine health care.
Between money and travel time, many of them skipped doctor’s visits.
Without the free screenings held in several rural towns, Theodore Pascal’s aortal stenosis diagnosis might have come too late.
But those screenings took place once or twice a year, at most. It wasn’t enough.
I tugged off my gloves, adding them to the bin. “It really puts my research into perspective. Before it was just data, but now…”
She started walking briskly down the hall, and I fell into step with her.
“You’re seeing it in action. The work you’re doing could directly impact patients like this one.” Her pager beeped, and she glanced at it. “I’ve got to update the family. Go grab some lunch. I’ll check in later.”
“Thanks for letting me observe.”
Her smile was warm. “How else will you get comfortable in the OR?”
I detoured to the staff lounge to change out of scrubs, thinking I’d probably never be comfortable in an OR. Not like her, anyway. It was cold, sterile, and tense. Dr. Rose made it look easy, but there was a lot of pressure when holding someone’s life in your hands.
After I changed, I met up with Liliana in the cafeteria for a quick lunch, filling her in on my outing to Glitter Balls. I’d gotten home around nine. The guys were so much fun, I’d stayed a lot longer than I expected.
I jumped Knight the instant I was through the door, before he could even get a full sentence out.
I’d torn his clothes off in the middle of the living room, so desperate to get my mouth on him that he’d laughed.
“We should get you drunk more often,” he’d murmured, hands carding through my hair as I sucked his cock like it contained the essence of life and I needed it to survive.
“Goddamn,” he’d groaned. “You’re destroying me. ”
I made a muffled sound of inquiry, looking up his body, enjoying the quiver of his abs, the rise and fall of his rapid breaths. The hard, pointed nipples that needed my attention. I’d reached up to pinch one.
“Too good,” he murmured, eyes falling shut and head tipping back, exposing his strong throat. “Fuck me, Angel. You’re too good.”
That didn’t sound like a bad thing, so I kept sucking—until he spilled down my throat. Then he pulled me up his body, until I straddled his shoulders, and returned my pleasure tenfold.
I was still glowing from a contentment I wasn’t sure I’d ever felt before.
It should have scared me, but I was too intoxicated to care.
I worked so hard all the time to do the right thing.
To follow the rules, to excel at my job, to achieve enough that it would be worth all the trouble I’d caused Flynn.
But for once, I just wanted to feel. To enjoy myself without overthinking everything. Maybe I’d regret it later. I probably would. But right now, I didn’t want to let anything ruin my afterglow.
The rest of the day was quiet. I got a lot of work done. Not enough to make up for the hours I’d spent in surgery, but I’d pulled plenty of extra hours in my first two weeks.
I headed home at six. When I got there, Knight and the Redemption Road guys were on the porch, kicking back with beers.
This time, a Hummer wasn’t blocking the drive, so I parked and got out.
An older man with white hair and the kind of hardened features that said he’d seen some shit started down the porch steps.
“Don’t leave on my account,” I called, and he paused, seeming uncertain as he glanced back at the other guys. “In fact, save me one of those beers.”
“You heard him, Ghost. Get your ass back up here,” another guy called.
With a shrug, Ghost turned and retreated to the porch. I followed him up the steps.
Knight grinned. “I’ve got something better than beer for you.”
I widened my eyes, thinking he was making a sex joke. He laughed. “No, not that.”
A very handsome man chuckled. “Well, nice to meet you. Knight’s told us all about you.”
“He has?”
“No,” he said with a grin. “He’s said very little, but we could tell he liked you by the way he kicked us out of here the second you arrived last week.”
“Oh, geez. Sorry about that. I don’t bite. Promise.”
“Good to know.” He held out a hand. “I’m Hendrix Wood. These guys call me Hollywood.”
I shook. “Nice to meet you.”
He gestured to the quiet man who’d returned to the porch. “This is Ghost.”
“Elias,” he said gruffly without offering a hand.
“I’m Aiden.”
“Flynn’s brother,” Knight said as he came out the door with a glass in his hand. “Who prefers margaritas.”
I took the glass and looked inside. “You…made me a margarita?”
“I aim to please.”
Knight waved me into his abandoned chair, choosing to lean against the railing instead. I sat down and sipped the margarita. A bit strong, but he’d done a decent job with it.
“So, what are you all up to tonight?” I asked. “Do you meet up every Monday?”
“Not always,” Knight said. “We’ve been trying to game plan what to do about one of our wayward members.”
“Oh, this is about Tex?”
Knight had filled me in on the call he’d gotten from Matteo on Saturday. He’d been noticeably worried, but I hadn’t been able to offer much useful advice. Distracting him, though? That had been fun for both of us.
“He won’t return any calls. Not even Ghost’s.”
“Because he knows what we want to say,” Hollywood said tersely, “and he doesn’t want to hear it.”
“Too damn bad,” Knight said flatly. “I’ll head up that way next week. I’m not letting him miss that meeting.”
“Maybe we should be worrying about the kid,” Hollywood said.
Knight groaned. “Fuckin’ brat. I can’t believe he bailed on us again. I thought we made progress last week.”
“Two steps forward, one back,” Hollywood said. “Just like with Carrie.”
“She still won’t let you see your munchkin?” Knight asked.
“Nope. I’ve got a meeting with a lawyer, but I’m not holding my breath. They don’t usually favor the father, especially one with a felony.”
“That’s a damn shame,” Knight said. “I hope you figure something out.”
Hollywood drained his beer and grimaced. “Sorry, Aiden. I’m sure you don’t want to hear all our ex-con drama.”
“Hey, you were all Flynn’s friends in this program. That makes you my friends too. If I can help, please let me know.”
“Flynn’s the best,” Hollywood said. “We miss him. Tell him to get his sorry butt out for a beer.”
I smiled. “I will. He’s still in his honeymoon phase with Bailey.”
Knight snorted. “He deserves his happy. It’s all good.”
Ghost grunted in agreement.
Hollywood leaned in. “Ghost isn’t real chatty, if you hadn’t noticed. He doesn’t really like people. He tolerates us because he has to.”
Ghost rolled his eyes but didn’t disagree.
“Ah.” I nodded. “Well, I hope me being here isn’t intruding too much? I could go inside.”
“No way,” Knight said. “This is your house. You go where you want.”
Ghost nodded. “Yup. I’m calling it a night, anyway.” He pushed out of his chair.
Hollywood stood. “That’s my cue.” He paused, looking over at Knight. “I still think chasing Tex won’t lead anywhere good, but…” He chewed his inner cheek. “If you do find him, let me know how he is?”
“Of course I will.” Knight set his beer down so he could give Hollywood a big hug and a couple of slaps to the back. He murmured something too quiet for me to hear.
Hollywood nodded, his face looking young and vulnerable. He turned away quickly and jogged down the stairs.
Knight picked up his beer and dropped into the chair beside me. “You’re home earlier than expected.”
“Yeah.” I sighed. “I’ve got the clinic tomorrow evening. Thought I’d rest up while I could.”
“Does that mean you’re too tired?”
I glanced over, a smile tugging at my lips. “For what?”
“For a little private party, just the two of us.”
“Hmm, maybe. Does this party include more margaritas?”
“And less clothing,” he said. “In fact, we can’t let you in unless you lose the pants.”
“This party is scandalous!” I said with a laugh and lifted my glass. “I better drink more of this margarita if you want me to get all wild again.”
He took the glass from my hand and gave me a devilish smile. “I think you can handle it, Angel. You’re not the good boy you pretend to be.”
He slid his hand into my hair, tugging me toward him, and I fell into the kiss with a sigh of bliss. Why had I thought hooking up would be such a terrible idea?
This was very, very good.
I stood up and held out my hand to him. “Come on. Let’s go inside, and I’ll show you how bad I can be.”