“You can come out now, baby,” Croft said softly.
He stepped onto the mat and held out his hand.
I took it, and he hauled me up as if I weighed nothing.
“Why do you think you’re able to move better than I do when I’m not hurt?” I grumbled under my breath. “I just seriously watched you do thirty minutes on that assault bike, using only your legs. You should be dead right now.”
He chuckled, but then pressed his face into my neck and blew out a deep breath. “That could’ve been so bad.”
I silently concurred. I didn’t agree, though, because I really didn’t want him to know that I’d been deeply scared.
“You have blood running down your neck, sis,” Flint said.
Croft pulled back so fast that I stumbled.
“What?” he asked, concerned.
“I’m okay,” I promised.
“You’ve got blood,” he growled. “That doesn’t mean you’re okay.”
I sighed. “I was cut by the glass. Don’t freak out.”
Except, apparently, I was a little more hurt than I realized, because in the next second, I passed the hell out.
Luckily, I had a big padded mat to break my fall.
CHAPTER 19
Hit me baby one s’more time.
-Text from Carmichael to Croft
CROFT
Seeing her pass out in my arms, I thought, was the scariest thing that had ever happened to me.
“I’m okay!” Carmichael growled.
“I know,” I lied. “But we’re getting you checked out anyway. I think that cut on the back of your neck needs stitches.”
There was no thinking about it. Just looking at it I knew that she did.
“I’m. Fine,” she hissed as she tried to pull away from me.
I gently placed both of my hands on either side of her face to force her to look at me, and she stilled.
“Baby,” I growled. “You have a gash on the back of your neck that’s so big I can see your spine.”
Okay, so maybe it wasn’t that big. But it was freakin’ deep, and I hadn’t actually looked too closely at it once I had the gauze in place. I didn’t want to.
Seeing her skin broken open like that was nauseating. Not because I wasn’t able to handle that kind of thing, but because I couldn’t handle seeing Carmichael hurt.
“Listen, Mikey,” Flint said. “Don’t be a little bitch. Go to the hospital. Get checked out.”
Carmichael rolled her eyes. “I was going to go before you called me a little bitch, thank you very much.”
“Good,” Flint snapped. “Now go.”
“What about class?” she asked.
I caught her by the hand.
“This place will likely be a little busy for a couple of classes. I’ll hold them outside once the morning hits,” he said. “And you don’t have to come tomorrow. I have it handled.”
“Of course, you do,” she grumbled. “Let’s go before I change my mind.”
It was only when we were at the hospital that I realized what the problem really was.
She didn’t like needles.
“How did I not know that you don’t like needles?” I asked as she was poked for the third time as they numbed the area.
She shot me a disgusted look. “I don’t like to advertise.”
“You are so adorable,” I grinned.
She flipped me the bird, and the doctor pressed the needle into her flesh one last time.
“We’ll give that fifteen minutes to work,” the doctor said. “Then I’ll be back.”
When he left, I was left staring at my girl.
“You know,” I said. “I think I changed my mind.”
Her brows rose. “About what?”
“Seeing you today, squeezed behind that mat, made me realize something,” I said.
Her eyebrows went upward.
“And that was…” she urged.
“Well, I don’t really want you to move in with me,” I mused.
Her mouth fell open.
And before she could start getting really bent out of shape, I continued talking.
“I want you to marry me. Then I want to buy a bigger house that we can plant some babies in,” I continued. “Maybe we can find one that is ours. Not yours or mine.”
Her shoulders slumped.
“And maybe we can find one with a bigger yard that can support all the dogs that you can’t help but bring home,” I continued. “Speaking of, Schultz said something about you pairing him with a dog. I think you should pair us with a dog. Give Lion a playmate.”
She started to cry.
“Don’t cry.” I reached forward and wiped away a few stray tears. “Is that a yes?”
She sniffled and wiped at her eyes. “I think I’d really, really like that.”
• • •
When we arrived home, it was to find Flint, Camryn, my parents, Ezra and Raleigh, and their son in my house.
When we walked inside, the smell of lasagna filled my nose.
“Oh, God,” Carmichael breathed. “That smells so freakin’ good.”
“Good, you’re home,” Mom cooed. “It’s time to eat. I literally just took the garlic bread out of the oven.”
Carmichael groaned as she made her way to the kitchen.
“So, what’s the damage?” Raleigh asked as we moved into the room.
“Seven stitches,” I answered. “There was still a piece of glass that was imbedded in her neck. That was the white I saw before we covered it up.”
Raleigh gagged. “Gross.”
“Agreed.” Camryn looked green.
“So did y’all find anything else out?” I asked curiously as I held out a chair for Carmichael to take.
“Yes and no.” Flint grinned. “We got the two of them, Alfie and Karen, into the same interrogation room. And I accidentally let it drop that Carmichael was in the hospital thanks to what Karen had done. And Alfie all but flipped his lid.” He turned to look at his sister. “Seems like you have an admirer.”
“What happened?” she asked quietly.
“Alfie exposed all. Like, I’m talking, told everything,” he continued. “Apparently, Alfie works for Partners as a computer analyst. When he got a job at the school, Carmichael mentioned needing a computer. And they got to talking. Apparently, the next day, she came in with Croft’s computer. At some point, Partners discussed needing an advantage, and Alfie suggested using the computer that used to be Croft’s. They’d already planted Karen into their law firm to get intel that way, but they thought that this would be perfect, too.”
“Meaning that they’re being complete douchebags, breaking the law, all to get a leg up and let criminals go free,” I found myself saying.
“Essentially,” Flint agreed. “Karen wasn’t accomplishing much on her end, either. So they were pulling her out. That’s why she put in her notice.” He paused. “As for Alfie’s something extra, i.e. shooting you, that was all him. He didn’t like that you were taking his girl.”
“I’m not Alfie’s anything,” Carmichael snarled.