Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Nick
I felt like shit.
I groaned as my eyes opened, and bright lights flashed above. My head hurt like a bitch. In fact, every muscle did. I blinked a few times as loud noises whirled around me, and a familiar face appeared in front of mine.
“Nick,” Matthew said firmly. “Look at me. Look at the flashlight. Yep, good. Okay. You’ve got a concussion, okay? We think you broke a couple ribs possibly. We’re gonna look.”
“Matt,” I wheezed out. “My cat. If I have to stay overnight, someone has to get my cat.” Lucky was possibly the most important thing in my life, and he’d be so confused if I wasn’t home tonight.
“Don’t worry about Lucky right now,” Matthew said gently. “We’ll get him if we need to, okay? Evie will take care of him. Hell, June or Avery would too. You’re not alone.”
You’re not alone.
I winced as my body was jostled. My memories started coming back and I cursed, squeezing my eyes shut.
Fucking hell, this was all my fault.
Austin told me not to get on the roof, but I’d been so fucking insistent about helping him. I wasn’t even sure why, but I really wanted him to accept me into his life. There was no possible way for me to be in Evie’s and not his. So I’d tried, but in trying, I hadn’t listened.
“We gotta take your piercings out—”
“Fuck no,” I groaned.
“You fell off a roof. You need a CT, okay? We’re taking them out.”
“Leave cock ones in?” Words were hard to form right now. My head was throbbing and there was a sharp stabbing pain radiating up my left side. I felt like a complete idiot.
There were a couple gasps around me from the nurses, but Matthew wasn’t fazed, given he’d seen every single one less than twelve hours ago. Dammit. This was not how I’d expected my Wednesday to go. Now all of Whynot was gonna know my dick had jewelry.
“We have to take them out in case you also need an MRI. I’ll do it. You’re going to be okay, we just need to be thorough.”
Matthew’s hand slid into mine and he gave me a gentle, reassuring squeeze.
“I have to ask. Did Austin push you?”
“What?” I started to lift my head, but someone pushed it down. Possibly Matthew. I groaned. “Of course not. He might hate me, but not like that. Jesus. Did someone say that?”
“Yeah.” Matthew exhaled in relief. “I didn’t think he would, of course. But I had to ask.”
I shook my head, then squeezed my eyes shut as the room started to spin. Austin was a lot of things, but he’d never hurt someone like that on purpose. And that was saying something, since the two of us used to go a few rounds after school.
“All right, Nick. I’m sorry. This is going to suck.”
“Do your worst. I trust you.”
* * *
By the time I was wrapped up and ready to be discharged, the sun had set. I had a fucking concussion and my ribs were severely bruised, but nothing was broken.
I was lucky.
I was also a dumbass.
Matthew walked me out into the lobby of the emergency room, and my steps froze when I spotted Evie. She and June were seated in a corner, their heads leaned against each other, and they’d both fallen asleep.
“How long has she been here?” I whispered.
“All day,” Matthew murmured. “I tried to get them to go home earlier, but Evie wouldn’t leave, and June wanted to stay with her.”
“You’ve been here all day too,” I said.
“I have.” He rubbed the back of his head. “At least we got your piercings back in.”
I fought a chuckle, then winced as pain splinted through my back. “God, don’t make me laugh right now. I feel like I’m ninety.”
“Well, thankfully you’re not. Otherwise I don’t think you’d have been so lucky.”
I wanted to kiss him. Or hug him. Something.
“When do you get off?” I asked under my breath.
Matthew glanced up at the clock behind the front desk. “Two hours ago.”
“Let’s go home,” I said. “Can you be seen walking out with me or is that a patient doctor violation or something?”
Matthew grinned as he ran his fingers through his beard. Even under the yellow hospital lighting, he was sexy. Really, the doctor thing was doing something for me. “It’s fine. Give me a couple minutes. I’ll drive everyone. Go wake our girl up.”
Our girl.
Matthew went back through the ER doors, his voice muffled as he talked to a couple nurses.
I stood there a moment, torn between confusion, guilt, and maybe a little bit of happiness.
No one had ever sat in the ER and waited for me, and this certainly wasn’t the first time I’d been in a situation like this.
Usually I had to call an Uber and get myself home, but not tonight.
I crossed to them and gently touched Evie’s shoulder. “Evie, baby,” I murmured.
June shot up next to her, her eyes wide. “Jesus,” she hissed. “You scared me.”
“Sorry, so sorry,” I said quickly. “Thanks for being here.”
“Of course,” she said with a yawn. “I can’t believe we fell asleep like that, but it’s been a weird day.”
“Has been,” I agreed, giving Evie one more gentle shake.
She blinked a few times then made a face, and it made me chuckle. She didn’t like being woken up. “Hi,” she whispered. “What time is it?”
“Getting late,” I said.
“Oh god,” June cursed under her breath. She dug through her purse and pulled out her phone. “I bet Dallas and Madi are worried.”
“Matthew is gonna drive me and Evie home,” I said. “Should we drop you off too, June?”
“Nope, I’m good,” she said. “I drove Evie over. Also, we had Dallas go by your place to check on Lucky. I hope that’s okay.”
Relief rushed through me and I blinked back tears. Lucky mattered to me more than anything else in my life, and to know that people who didn’t really know me took the time to check on him made my heart feel full. “Thank you for that. Truly. That was really thoughtful.”
Evie’s expression softened and she surprised me by cupping my face. “Are you okay?”
“I am,” I said. “Concussion and bruised ribs. Doctor says I’m out of commission for a few days. He’ll have to take care of your needs.”
I smirked as Evie hissed, but June laughed.
“Okay, I’m going to head home and go see my partners,” June said.
“Tell them hi for me,” Evie sighed. She ran her fingers through her hair and hummed. “I’ll see you soon.”
“See you!”
June left us, sailing out the doors. The moment she was gone, I raised a brow at Evie.
She was flustered. Her cheeks were red, her eyes extra blue and watery, and she had anxiety written all over her face.
I sat down in the chair next to her, wincing as my ribs ached.
Still, I slid my arm around her. She was stiff for a few moments, but finally, she melted against me.
“Are you okay?” I asked, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “Answer honestly. You don’t look like you’re okay.”
“I don’t know,” she exhaled. “No? I feel like an asshole, honestly. When you fell, there was this one guy saying you and Austin were fighting over a woman and he pushed you.”
“The second part isn’t true at all,” I said immediately.
“And the first?”
“Not exactly true,” I said. “You came up because I was being stubborn. I asked if you’re why he won’t give me a second chance, when really he was telling me not to come up on the roof because it wasn’t secure.
I didn’t listen to him, and that’s on me.
I’ll talk to him this week. Hell, maybe the four of us should talk. ”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I don’t know what to do.
Right before this all happened, he came by the bakery and asked me to dinner.
But I . . . I was worried since things are changing with you, Matthew, and myself that it would be too much and I told him we should just be friends.
And I shouldn’t even be dumping this on you, you literally fell off a roof. ”
I smiled and kissed the top of her head again. She smelled like strawberries, and it made my mouth water. “This isn’t my first ER visit, baby. I promise I’m okay. Honestly, I’m more flattered that you stuck around all day. You didn’t need to.”
“Of course I stuck around.” Her brows drew together. “Why wouldn’t I?”
My throat thickened and I was glad she wasn’t looking up at me. My eyes burned with tears, but I blinked them back. “Well . . . Thank you. And as far as Austin goes, if he can stop hating me so much, maybe the four of us could have some fun.”
Evie’s cheeks turned pink. “Maybe,” she squeaked.
I leaned down to murmur against her ear. “I like the idea of fucking him while he’s inside you.”
Her muscles tightened and she turned her head, looking up at me with wide eyes. I smirked because her face was all red now, even her chest.
“You’re impossible,” she whispered. “We’re in public.”
“Mm-hmm. And just thinking about it turns you on, doesn’t it?”
Her knees squeezed together, but she didn’t disagree.
Right on time, Matthew walked out the ER doors and spotted us. Evie sat straight up as he approached. And I, being the menace I was, didn’t stop myself from telling him why our girl was blushing.
“I told her we should convince Austin to join us so I can fuck him while he fucks her,” I said.
Matthew’s eyes widened. “Nick.”
“He’s terrible,” Evie mumbled.
“I’m just saying.” I stood up with a broad grin and held out my hand to Evie’s. She took it reluctantly and I pulled her to stand between us. “It would be hot. I’ve had a rough day, let a man dream.”
“I’m having regrets about offering to nurse you back to health,” Matthew chuckled.
“Terrible,” Evie said again, but now she was smiling too. “I have to get up early again in the morning, but . . . you’re both welcome over. Or we could tuck Nick in and call him while we have fun.”
“No fair.” I made a pouting face. “I want to be there. Let me sit in a cuck chair like a normal person.”
Matthew laughed. “God, okay, let’s get out of here before anyone overhears you.”
“Did you give him meds or something?” Evie asked.
“No, I think this is just his personality.”
“Twenty-four seven,” I confessed. “Night and day. Absolutely filthy. I’m just getting started, too.”
“Okay, okay.” Matthew slid his hand along my lower back, and damn if that didn’t turn me on. I couldn’t break my silly grin as he guided the two of us out of the waiting room and to the parking lot. “We’ll go to Evie’s.”
“I can give you a spare key,” Evie said as we got into Matthew’s car. I took the back seat. “Then you can sleep late in the morning if you want. Or one of us can take you home later.”
I let out a low whistle. “A key? Next week, we’ll be married.”
Evie let out a husky laugh. Matthew rolled his eyes as he turned on the car and backed out of the spot.
“For the record, you shouldn’t have sex over the next week. No screen time. You need rest.”
I wrinkled my nose. “I’m going to die without sex. I got a couple great nights with both of you and now I have to wait a whole week?”
Matthew chuckled. “You’ll survive.”
Evie turned around and beamed at me. “I’ll just send you photos and voice recordings so you can think about what you’ll do once you can touch me.”
“You’re so mean,” I whispered.
She giggled as she turned back to face the front. The rest of the drive flew by, and I wasn’t sure if that was because I felt taken care of and couldn’t stop smiling, or because I had a concussion. Regardless, Matthew pulled into Evie’s driveway and they both made a strange sound.
“Fuck,” Evie mumbled.
“I think this is good,” Matthew said. “Might as well talk through stuff.”
I wasn’t sure what they meant, but then I spotted a familiar truck.
Austin’s truck.
I craned my head and my eyes widened.
Austin was sitting on Evie’s doorstep.