Chapter 21
Shotgun
Remington had just finished signing her release papers and was waiting in her wheelchair for the nurse to take her downstairs.
After an hour of back and forth with her folks, she’d convinced her parents she was fine and didn’t need to go home with them.
Neither was happy about leaving her, and to be honest, I couldn’t blame them.
They didn’t know shit about me, but I gave them my word I’d take good care of her and was relieved when they finally gave in.
Once they were gone, we gathered up all of Remington’s things and were waiting on the nurse to take her downstairs when she looked over to me and asked, “Would you mind if we stopped by to visit Thomas before we leave? I’d really like to see how he’s doing. ”
“You sure you’re feeling up to it?”
“I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t.” When his eyes narrowed, I knew he wasn’t exactly keen on the idea, so I pushed a little harder. “I just want to know that he’s going to be okay. Besides, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to make sure we’re still on the same page as far as all this stuff with Mathews.”
“Okay, we’ll go see about him, but only for a few minutes.”
“Understood.”
I wheeled her out of the room and over to the nurses’ station to get Long’s room number.
Once they’d looked it up, I let them know we’d be going to see him and wouldn’t need any further assistance.
As soon as we were in the elevator, Remington stood and pushed the wheelchair aside. “I’ve had enough of this thing.”
“That’s too bad. I kinda liked the idea of wheeling you around.”
“Yeah, sure you did.” She stepped over to me and wound her arm around me, waiting patiently for us to reach Long’s floor.
When the doors finally opened, she followed me down the hall and into Long’s room.
I stood back and watched as she crept over to his bedside.
While he looked better than he had the day before, he was still a fucking mess.
His forehead was wrapped in gauze, his hand was in a cast, and there were various bruises and bandages all over his arms and legs.
His face was still swollen beyond recognition and his eyes were closed, but that didn’t stop Remington from whispering, “Thomas? It’s Remington. ”
“Hey.” He kept his eyes closed as he muttered, “Didn’t expect to see you here.”
“I couldn’t leave without checking in. I wanted to see how you were.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“Well, I’m here just the same.” Her eyes skirted over his broken body, and she winced when her eyes landed on the cast that extended from his knuckles to his elbow. “So, how are you doing?”
“Better than I look.” He chuckled, then eased his head to the side so he could look at Remington. “I’m really sorry about all this, Remington. I never would’ve asked you on that date if I had known what was going to happen.”
“None of this was your fault, Thomas.”
“Still feel bad about it.” He glanced over at me and said, “I owe you one for getting me out of there like you did.”
“You just hold up your end of the bargain, and we’ll consider ourselves even.”
“You don’t have to worry about that,” he assured me. “I’ve already made it clear to the chief that Remington isn’t to be pulled into this any more than she already has.”
“I appreciate that.”
“You know, I’ve heard a lot about you Sinner boys. Always thought you were just like all the rest, but you proved me wrong yesterday.” He did his best to look me in the eye as he told me, “You’re one of the good ones.”
The words had barely left his mouth when the door flew open and a young woman with dark auburn hair came barreling into the room.
She had at least twenty bracelets wrapped around her wrists, and she wore thick, dark eyeliner around her wide, green eyes.
Without giving me a second glance, she walked right by me and straight over to Remington, who was still facing Thomas.
The woman rushed up behind her and wrapped both arms around her waist, giving her a tight squeeze as she shouted, “Oh, my God, Remington! I can’t believe it! Is it really you?”
Even though her back was to the girl, Remington had no problem identifying the sound of her friend’s voice. “Yes, Madeline. It’s really me.”
“I thought for sure I’d lost you.” Madeline held on to her for several moments before finally releasing her. It wasn’t until then the feisty young woman noticed Thomas lying in the bed looking like he’d been hit by a fucking hand grenade. “Oh, Thomas! What did they do to you?”
Remington was quickly put on the side burner as Madeline turned all her attention to Thomas.
The way they looked at one another, I would’ve thought they were more than just friends, which made me wonder why Madeline would’ve set Remington up on a date with him.
They carried on for a good while before Madeline finally turned her attention back to Remington.
“I can’t tell you how relieved I am that you both are okay.
I don’t know what I would’ve done if I lost either of you. ”
“There’s no reason to worry about that now. We’re both going to be fine.”
They hugged once more, and when they started yammering back and forth, I had a hard time keeping up.
They were talking a mile a minute like they couldn’t get it all in fast enough.
One minute they were gabbing about work, and then the next, they were going on about Remington’s folks and the reports.
And in between all that, there were a few whispers about Thomas.
Hell, I don’t know how they got a breath in, but it did me good to see Remington with that bright smile on her face.
She was clearly happy about seeing her friend again.
I don’t know how long they’d been talking when Madeline motioned her hand in my direction.
“So, I’m guessing the hot guy in the corner is yours? ”
“Oh, yeah, I guess you could say that.” Practically beaming, Remington walked over to me and slipped her arm around my waist, pulling me close. “This is Noah.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Madeline. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Well, I haven’t heard anything about you, and that just won’t do.” Madeline turned her attention back to Remington. “We have more catching up to do than I thought. Maybe we can get together for one of our lunch dates soon.”
“I’d really like that. I’ll give you a call and we can set something up, but for now, Noah and I have to get going.” Remington looked over to Thomas and said, “I hope you get back on your feet soon.”
“You and me both.”
Remington and Madeline shared a quick hug, and after a brief round of goodbyes, we were on our way out to the parking lot.
We stopped by her place, doing our best to avoid a couple of reporters before going inside.
After grabbing some of her things, I drove her over to my place.
Since Remington had only been to the clubhouse or Ada’s, she seemed a bit surprised I actually had a place of my own.
We’d just never talked about it. It was then I realized there was a lot that we didn’t know about each other, but I had every intention of changing that.
When we pulled up at my two-bedroom house, Remington’s eyes grew wide as she asked, “You live here?”
“You seem surprised.”
“I guess I am.” Remington looked over to me with a smile. “It’s so stinking cute. I was kind of expecting something different.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. Something more rugged maybe?”
“Rugged? Really?” I chuckled. “I’m not sure how to feel about that.”
“You have to remember, I’ve only seen the clubhouse. I just assumed you lived there.”
“And your point is?”
“That is my point.”
“Touché.”
“So, are you going to take me in and show me around or what?”
“Absolutely.”
I grabbed her stuff from the back, and then we headed inside.
The house wasn’t anything extraordinary, just a white colonial with a small front porch and swing, but it was in a decent neighborhood and there was a good-sized backyard.
It was enough for me, but if we ever decided to start a family, we’d have to find a bigger place.
I knew it was too early to be thinking like that, hell, we’d only known each other for a few weeks, but I wanted a life with Remington and didn’t want to wait another minute for that to happen.
After she’d finished scoping out every nook and cranny of the living room, I led her into the kitchen.
Like the living room, there wasn’t anything special about it.
I’d done what I could to fix it up. The cabinets and appliances were replaced, and I put on a fresh coat of paint, but it could definitely use a woman’s touch.
Remington looked over to me with bright eyes.
“Did you do all this? The cabinets and the countertops?”
“I did.”
“It’s really amazing.”
“Come on. I’ll show you the rest of the place.”
When we got to the bedroom, it was more of the same. Remington seemed surprised by all the remodeling I’d done, but I was just pleased she liked the place. As she stood there taking it all in, I came up behind her and slipped my arms around her waist. “So, you think you’ll be happy here?”
“What do you mean?”
“Once you get your things moved over here, do you think you’ll be good with it? At least until we can find a bigger place.”
She quickly turned to face me as she gasped. “What are you saying, Noah?”
“I’m saying I want you to move in here with me.” I lifted my hand to her face, ran the pad of thumb across her cheek. “Now that I’ve found you, I have no intention of letting you go. I want us to have a life together, and I’m hoping you feel the same.”
“I do, but this is all so fast.”
“Maybe so, but it feels right.”
“Yeah, yeah, it does.”
“So, is that a yes?”
“Yes, Noah. I’ll move in with you.”