Chapter 7
SEVEN
SLADE
Amy’s judgmental brow shot up the second she walked into the room and caught me taking a slip of paper from the very cute, very helpful hospital volunteer.
I folded the paper in my fist. “Hey, Street. Hey, Jade, this is Bonnie.” I double-checked her nametag.
“Yep, this is Bonnie. She just brought me a magazine to read. Freakin’ awesome room service at this hotel.
” I winked at the blue-eyed hottie leaning over my bed.
“Thanks, and I’ll see you later, Bonnie. ”
My brothers squeezed into the room next, and Bonnie looked a little frightened as she scooted past them and out the door.
Amy glowered down at me.
“What? She was just bringing me a magazine. She’s here volunteering.” I grinned up at my sister-in-law. “She’s racking up those community service hours for college.”
“Bingo,” Amy said. “For college, which means she’s in high school.”
“She said she’ll be eighteen in six months. I won’t call her until then.”
Amy’s hand shot out, and she held up her palm.
I dropped the paper with the phone number into her hand. “Fine, but you sure have become a bossy woman since you married my brother.”
Jade sat on the edge of the bed and took my hand. “How are you feeling, sweetie?”
I looked at Amy. “See how nice Jade is and she called me sweetie.”
“Oh no, I completely agree with what Amy just did.” Jade reached up and pushed my hair back off my forehead. “You still look pale.”
I rested my head back. “I’m starting to feel myself again. The painkillers are a nice bonus.”
Jade pulled her hand from my forehead, but I grabbed it and placed it back. “I was one step from the grave, you know?”
Hunter pulled up the only visitor chair and sat. “The blade missed all the important stuff. Not that you have much of that inside of you. It was basically a flesh wound.”
I turned to him. “Yeah, well you looked pretty fucking scared when you saw my flesh wound.”
Hunter ignored the comment. “You were sleeping when we got the call that they hauled those dicks into jail. You’ll have to give a statement. I already gave mine, but since you still haven’t told us why the hell it happened, I wasn’t much help.”
“It’s kind of a weird, long story, and I don’t really want to go into it right now.”
“I’ll tell you,” Cleveland said enthusiastically as he jammed his pillowy, six foot plus frame into the already crowded room.
Nurse Simmons walked in. She was a cool lady who’d raised six foster kids and was now raising two grandchildren because, as she so creatively put it, her daughter had been great at coloring and was the best finger painter in her kindergarten class, but it had all gone downhill from there.
Nurse Simmons jammed her fists on her hips.
Her gaze moved around the room. “I guess this is what they call wall-to-wall visitors.” She shook her head.
“Don’t stay too long. Even though he’s recovered like Superman, he needs his rest. Oh, and the three of you”—she pointed at Colt, Hunter and Cleveland—“try not to scare people on the way out. The three of you together look a little intimidating.”
Jade covered her mouth to stifle a laugh. Nurse Simmons walked out. Colt turned to Hunter. “I’m not sure I like her attitude. What about us says intimidating?”
“You’re right,” Amy said. “Choir boys, that’s what people will obviously assume when they see you strutting down the hallway.” She looked at Cleveland. “We’re all ears. How did this happen?”
“He doesn’t know the whole story.” I shot Cleveland a look that told him he really didn’t need to go into it, but he ignored my silent warning. He had everyone’s attention, and if there was one thing Cleveland loved, it was having everyone’s attention.
“So, we’re sitting at this bar, Cuckoo’s Nest, a place an hour or so north of here, good beer and low prices.” He added a little plug for the place before continuing. It earned him a sharp throat clearing from the owner of Lazy Daze.
Cleveland realized his mistake and offered a hasty apology. “Of course, it’s nothing like Lazy Daze, the finest beer drinking establishment this side of the Pacific.”
Amy nodded. “That’s better.”
“Anyhow, this fine little creature walked in,” Cleveland said, stepping in it again.
“Creature?” Jade asked. “You’d better be talking about a pretty little mouse, Cleveland.”
“Fine little woman.” He bowed in another quick apology.
I was hoping this second misstep would put an end to the topic, but apparently, even negative attention was enough to push the big, furry guy on.
“She was really pretty. Looked like a little wood sprite or one of those magical fairies.” He shifted a quick glance toward the girls to see if he needed to offer yet another apology.
Neither of them looked stoked about his storytelling method. Cleveland looked at me for support.
I waved a hand at him. “Carry on, dude, I don’t think I could fuck it up any better than you’re already doing.”
He shrugged his round shoulders. “Anyhow, I’m busy gawking at the newcomer, and smooth as stone here—” Cleveland waved his hairy, meaty hand at me. “He comes up with some funny line about her losing her fairy dust or something.”
Jade looked over at me.
“Trust me, it sounded much smoother coming from me,” I said.
Cleveland chuckled. “Yep, I’m barely finding my tongue to speak, and Slade is firing off some catchy opener. But the funny thing is, she ignored him.”
Colt chuckled. “Maybe it wasn’t much smoother coming from you after all.”
“Oh, it was smooth all right,” I said. “She just had other shit on her mind.”
Cleveland’s beer belly wobbled as he laughed. “I’ll say, the chick walked to the back of the bar and pulled a gun on three assholes sitting in the corner.”
“Nice. Sounds like your kind of woman,” Colt said to me.
“In more ways than I care to bring up here in mixed company.” I looked over at Jade and Amy.
“Yeah?” Colt asked with a questioning lift of his brow.
“Oh, yeah.”
“Would you two stop it,” Amy said. “Pretty soon you’ll be spelling out the dirty words so that Jade and I won’t be able to figure out your code talk for Slade getting laid.”
Hunter grunted and stood from the chair. “This story is getting long and boring, and I’m hungry. Cut to it, Slade. Why were those guys after you?”
“Not completely sure about their connection to the girl, but I had to mess them up a little to get her out of the bar safely. Apparently, I humiliated them on their home turf, and they weren’t too stoked about it.”
“Ahh, you saved the little wood sprite?” Jade asked. “How sweet.”
Cleveland snorted. “How come she can call her a wood sprite and I can’t?”
Hunter dropped a heavy hand on his shoulder.
“You really need to learn more about women, buddy.” My brother looked over at me.
I thought briefly about the expression on his face when he’d reached me after I’d jumped from the van.
I’d never seen him look that scared in my life.
Even with all the shit we’d endured as kids and teens, he’d never looked the way he had out on that onramp.
Hunter stopped in the doorway, nearly filling it completely. “Glad you pulled that one leg out of the grave. Now enjoy your hospital dinner of cream and mush, I’m going out for a double cheeseburger.”
“Double cheeseburger.” Colt turned to follow him. “I’m all over that.”
“Real nice. I hope you get heartburn,” I called to them as they walked out.
The lure of cheeseburgers made Cleveland follow close at their heels. Amy kissed my head, and Jade did the same. “Hey, butt-pain”—Amy smiled down at me—“glad you’re all right.”