“Stay here. I’ll make sure she’s fine with you coming in.”
“Tell them no,” I called out. “Whoever it is, unless they’ve got tacos, they can leave.” At the mention of tacos, my stomach started to growl, and I realized I was starving.
“Oh man,” I groaned. “I can’t even get tacos because my car is wrecked.” I bit my lip and stared at Tyler, who was watching me like I was a crazy person. “They can come in. I’m gonna need a ride home, and to Taco Bell.”
“I can do that.”
My mouth fell open, comically so, and I couldn’t even concentrate enough to close it. I clutched the sheet from the hospital bed to my chest and stared at him with wide eyes until things got awkward.
“I’ll just leave these with you two.” Tyler set the bag down in the chair next to the door. “You’re set to go home when you change. Remember what I said.”
Once he was gone, Linc stepped into the room and closed the door quietly. I waited, pretty sure that I looked terrible, until he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall.
Opening and closing my mouth until I could figure out exactly what to say didn’t seem like a great idea, so I bit my lip while I tried to get my head on straight.
Linc watched the entire time, tilting his head to the side and then back again, staring at me like I was going to run away. Which actually seemed like a really good idea since I was only wearing a thin hospital gown.
“Your brother got hotter after he died.”
That’s definitely not what I wanted to say, or what I expected to come out of my mouth. And the look on Linc’s face told me that he wasn’t expecting it either.
“Excuse me?”
“I had a hallucination.” I started to explain but stopped when I felt even more awkward than when I started.
Something flashed in his eyes, and Linc pushed off the wall. He stepped slowly, carefully, like he expected me to tell him to leave.
“Tell me.” His blue eyes flashed, and even if I wanted to look away, I wouldn’t be able to.
After licking my suddenly dry lips, I told Linc everything. “I hit my head, and then Danny was there. With Cassie. They kept telling me to hold on, that help was coming. I could see them, like they were standing there with me. And Cassie was hitting on Danny, at least to me.” I laughed and smiled sadly at the thought. “She said he got cuter when he died.” I fiddled with the edge of the sheet and tried to figure out why I was telling him. “He told me you were smiling again.”
I looked away. That’s what I did wrong. In the next instant, Linc had my face in his hands, cradling me gently while he forced my eyes back to his.
“You make me smile, Kennedy. You always have. Your hallucination of my brother isn’t right about me smiling again. There’s never been a day in my life that thinking of you doesn’t make me smile.” He ran a thumb across my cheek. “I almost lost you. And it’s fuckin’ crazy, because I watched Remy fuck it up so bad with Parker when we were younger, and I swore that wouldn’t be me with you. Then it was, and there was nothing I could do. You almost married someone else because I was an idiot. It’s not gonna happen, Kennedy. I hope you know that. I’m not gonna lose you.”
My throat clenched painfully at his words because they were beautiful. But I’d heard beautiful words from him before.
“I’ve got issues,” he went on. “Ones that keep me up at night, that wake me up from the best dreams. The dreams where I’m finally happy, with you in my arms. That’s why I stayed away, Kennedy. You need to know that.”
Never in my life did I expect to see Linc laying himself bare like he was. I couldn’t help thinking that I could get in a car accident more often. I didn’t interrupt him, either. Linc wasn’t a talker, so when he did decide to say something, I paid attention.
“It’s always been you, Kennedy. I didn’t even try to get over you because no one would ever compare.” He leaned forward and kissed my lips gently, more of a caress than anything else. “I can’t give you children, because I don’t trust myself.”
I leaned forward, pressing my lips against his and savoring every moment, until he pulled back and I opened my eyes to see him staring at me intently.
“Will you be okay with that? If we do this, I don’t want there to be any sort of misunderstanding about the fact that I don’t want to have kids.”
I couldn’t help it. I smiled, despite the pain I could feel returning to my head.
“You’re an idiot, Lincoln Hayes.” I repeated the words I’d told him in the parking lot. “You’re such an idiot. What if I couldn’t have kids, or didn’t want them? Would you respect that choice? Would you still want me? Still plan a life with me?”
He didn’t even have to answer. The raised eyebrows I found staring down at me were enough.
“Exactly. It wouldn’t matter to you. It doesn’t matter to me. I don’t need kids to make me happy, Linc. I just need you.”
He kissed me again with more force and passion than I was prepared for. One hand slid down my neck, supporting me and holding my face to his at the same time. But the hospital gown shifted on my body, interrupting the best kiss of my life with the realization that I smelled like blood, needed a shower, and needed to change my clothes. It was my turn to end the kiss, and I almost felt bad when I saw the pout on Linc’s face.
“I need to get dressed and get home,” I said reluctantly. “It’s late, and I was already tired when I got behind the wheel.”
Something shifted in Linc at my statement, likely at the fact that I was out after one in the morning driving through Birch.
“Where were you going, Kennedy?”
His question held no accusation, nothing that would put me on edge, and I was bombarded with the truth. Linc was so much more of a man than Royal ever was. He didn’t judge me, didn’t condemn me for making the decision to drive at night.
Safe.
“I was coming to ambush you. To force you to tell me why you stayed away. To make you admit that you wanted to be with me.” I blushed under his scrutiny. “I was coming to you, Linc.”
His forehead crinkled in slight amusement before his gaze narrowed on my lips again. “You gotta get dressed before I take this too far, in a hospital no less.”
Linc backed away without saying anything to my admission, which I guess was fair since I didn’t say anything to his. When he handed me the bag of clothes and silently turned around, I think I fell even more in love with him than before. Plus, I could have kissed Parker. There wasn’t a single doubt in my mind that she was the one to pack the bag. She sent yoga pants and a tank top instead of a bra, along with one of my favorite shirts. One that I got when I stole it from Linc the night we slept together.
“Okay,” I said once I managed to painfully maneuver into the clothes. Already out of breath, I was dreading the shower I knew I’d have to take at home. Everything hurt. “I’m done.”
Linc turned around and I got to see his breath catch as he saw what I was wearing. Still not saying a word, he held out a hand for me to take.
“Thank you,” I told him. “I meant it about Taco Bell on the way home, though.”