“Bleeding? All that stuff you told the doctor about a football injury was bullshit?”
“Of course it was. I don’t play. But, even if I did, when would I have had the opportunity in the last twenty-four hours to break my ribs? I’ve been here with you most of that time.” I walked slowly toward the side of her bed, unsure if she was about to tell me to go fuck myself, but willing to take the chance anyway.
“Oh, you couldn’t have, of course. You were too busy kidnapping and torturing me. I guess there wasn’t time between flinging me around in the back of a van until I sustained significant head trauma—resulting in a nasty concussion—and watching me get shot, or shoot myself in the head.” The words burned into me like a red-hot poker.
“I would never have stood there and watched him put a bullet in you, or let you shoot yourself. Never. You have to believe that.”
“I don’t have to believe anything, given that everything you’ve told me from the moment we met was a total lie.” Her eyes were wide as she spoke, and her body language screamed loud and clear exactly what she thought of me.
“Not everything.” I didn’t want to freak her out more than she already was, but I couldn’t keep the force from my voice.
“Okay, so which parts were true?” Her bright-blue eyes focused sharply on me like lasers.
“Everything I told you when we were together... in the café, in bed, everything. It was all true. All me. Obviously, I couldn’t let you know about our plans, but other than that, I was totally genuine in wanting to get to know you, and for you to do the same with me. The truth is, I was falling for you from the start.”
“Am I supposed to be grateful that the ‘only’”—she air quoted—“thing you lied about, was a plot to force me to kill myself, or have my little sister taken out by a sniper? Gee thanks, but remind me never to ask you a favor in the future, if this is your idea of a good deed.”
“I had no idea what he was planning, until it was happening, and he was right when he said if he’d told me beforehand, I would have put a stop to it by any means necessary. I would have, even if it had meant trading places with you.”
Chapter 3
Fox
“What the fuck is going on?”
“Xavier, to what do I owe this...” Pleasure definitely wasn’t the right word, and having Xavier Cross turn up unexpectedly at our dorm was nobody’s idea of an honor, but it was certainly something.
A shock was probably the best way to describe it. Xavier was definitely a “mountain must come to Mohammed” kind of a guy, in most instances, rather than the other way around. In all our time in Cygnus with him, this was literally the first time he’d ever made an appearance at our place.
He’d crossed the threshold before I found exactly the word I was looking for, “Surprise? Do come in.” The sarcasm was obvious, given he’d already strode into the room as though he owned the place, which was nothing new, really. That was how he treated the world—as though he was king of everything.
“Cut the bullshit, Fox, and start talking. Now.” He was as angry as I’d ever seen him, which, over the years, was plenty angry.
“Uh... what would you like to know?”
He’d been stalking across the room with his back to me, but now sharply spun on his heel to glare at me. “Don’t play dumb with me, and don’t try my patience. It’s barely hanging by a fucking thread, as it is.”
“So I guess you’re talking about what happened yesterday?”
“No, I’m asking about your plans for Christmas. Of course, I’m talking about yesterday. You can start by explaining why Bear’s ex-fuck buddy, the good Doctor Emma, was called in to perform backyard surgery on Kane like you’re running a ghetto E.R over here.”
Fucking Bear. I’d asked him not to say anything. I made a mental note to punch him in the dick the next time I saw him.
“I mean, I feel like calling it surgery is overstating the case a little. It was a few sutures, not a heart transplant. And what other options did I have? Would you have preferred me to have delivered him to the ER and then have to explain how he got injured by a fucking bullet?”
“Watch your goddamned mouth, and how about you don’t shoot your best fucking friend, in the first place?”
“I didn’t shoot anyone, and he’s my ex-best friend.”
“He has a gunshot wound. You have a gun. I said, don’t try me with stupid fucking semantics.” Xavier wasn’t the most patient person, even at the best of times, and what had gone on in the past twenty-four hours was nobody’s idea of a good time.
“Okay, but the bullet was never meant for him. He got clipped purely by accident. It’s a graze. Emma was the best option we had to fix it. I don’t know what Bear has over her—”
“You mean apart from that he was barely legal, and she was the team doctor when they started fucking—facts that if made public, could mean she’d lose her license? Apparently, he even has sexts and incriminating photos passing between them to corroborate the nature of their relationship, so if it came down to her word against his, she wouldn’t even be able to claim it was all a lie, or fantasy on his part.”
“Well that’s pretty compelling, for sure. Her indiscretion is our good fortune, and definitely explains why she’s solid as a rock, and can be relied upon to keep her mouth shut about whatever it is Bear asks her to do.”
Not long ago, Bear had called the doctor in to help with Honey in a similarly fraught situation—before they worked their shit out and realized they were crazy in love with each other—and she’d been the soul of discretion then, too.
“So we’re safe in the assumption that this won’t go any further. She even dosed him up with painkillers and antibiotics. Hell, at this point, she’s practically the Cygnus in-house medic.”
“Which brings me to my next issue.” He looked like he wanted to kill me. “I trusted you, and that’s on me, and it won’t be happening in the future. But if you ever abuse that trust again, by connecting us with something as risky as this, especially without letting me know beforehand, I will cut your fucking balls off, shove them down your throat, then set fire to you while you choke on them.” That was a very evocative image. “We clear?”
“Yeah. Balls. Throat. Fire. Choke. Got it, Boss.” I should probably have at least pretended to be sorry, but I really didn’t have the energy for the charade, just to massage Xavier’s colossal ego.
I didn’t miss the clench of his fists as he stared me down. “This close.” He made a pinching movement with his thumb and index finger. “So you’d better talk fast and tell me what the fuck could possibly have rocked the bromance the two of you have been cultivating for so long. I was fully expecting a wedding invite from you guys in a couple of years’ time.” I mentally flicked him the bird, but managed to refrain from doing it in real life. Just.
“Let’s just say we had a difference of opinion about how to handle a particular situation.”
“And by ‘situation,’ you mean a certain blue-eyed brunette?”