“Shawn?” RJ grinned. “Care to explain?”
“Sure. See, I found out yesterday that the charge nurse has been harboring a crush on me since the early days of AnyDayNow.”
“Not important,” Bodhi said, waving his hand. “Get to the point.”
“Hey, dick. RJ asked me to tell a story, and I’m telling it,” Shawn snapped before redirecting his attention on me and instantly returning to his pleasant demeanor. “Anyway, Dani, let’s just say she’ll never look at the break room the same way again.”
My eyes rounded as I squeaked my reply. “You slept with her?”
“Ew. God, no. She’s like fifty. No, I put in a special order at Voodoo Donuts—fifty made-to-order doughy, Bavarian cream-filled nurses in tiny little icing uniforms. Cutest shit ever. You can only imagine the joy I’ve spread through the unit. At this point, I could pretty much scrub in for surgery and no one would say a thing.”
“You’re a genius,” I said, settling one butt cheek on the bed next to RJ. He promptly wrapped a protective arm around my waist.
“You okay?” he mouthed, his head still clearly in my drama.
I wanted to say yes—to smile with my whole being—but I just couldn’t.
“No.” I shook my head. “Later.”
“How about now? I’ll ask everyone to leave.”
“No, RJ. It’s fine. I like the distraction.”
“Or I could be your only distraction,” he whispered, his hot breath on my ear unleashing the butterflies again. Even broken and bruised, he was a sexy man. RJ had a presence about him, a confidence that bordered on arrogance. Add to that his reputation as the bad boy of AnyDayNow, complete with drunken escapades and women dangling off both arms, and you pretty much had any woman’s worst nightmare. And now, somehow, he was mine—every troublemaking inch of him.
What was I getting myself into? RJ felt like a whole lot of man for woman like me, one who set her alarm to go to bed. I shouldn’t want him. Practical me knew that. I should stick to what was familiar, play it safe, like my mother taught me. The Jeremys of the world were the guys I was supposed to like—the mom-approved, sweater-wearing nice guys of the dating realm. With a Jeremy by my side, I could expect a quiet, stable, productive life. But with RJ? It wouldn’t be quiet because he lived his life in the wide open. It wouldn’t be stable because there would always be women waiting in the wings, trying to lure him away. And it certainly wouldn’t be productive because… I mean… look at him. My god, I’d never get anything done.
RJ was like taking a bite out of the forbidden. And once I got a taste, I just knew I’d never be able to go back to the Jeremys. They didn’t make my insides tingle. They weren’t brave and daring. And when shit got real, they ran away. Last week’s Jeremy had proved as much, leaving me in the parking lot to pillage and plunder alone. RJ wouldn’t have left me. In fact, he probably would’ve been in the store looting right alongside me.
“Hey, guys.” RJ gave an exaggerated yawn. “I’m getting tired. Pain meds are kicking in.”
“Ah, man, you’re so lucky,” Dane wistfully replied. “I wish I could get me a reserve supply of Norco.”
“Cut your foot off and then you can.”
Bodhi’s eyes widened at RJ’s playful reply, not finding it as humorous as the others. He shifted uncomfortably and looked away. It wasn’t the first time I’d seen that look from him, either. There was something up, something that remained unspoken between the two of them.
RJ seemed oblivious to the friction.
“Speaking of that,” RJ continued, “am I the only one who sees a disturbing pattern forming here? First Bodhi and the fire. Then me and the earthquake. What’s next? Hunter in an avalanche? Shawn in a tornado? Dane and his damn sinkhole?”
“Why does everyone shit on my sinkhole?” Dane huffed. “It’s a legitimate means of death.”
Bodhi returned to the conversation. “No doubt. We just all agree that it’s a far less dramatic way to go, that’s all. No need to get testy.”
Dane’s eyes bugged. “Dude, you need to educate yourself on sinkholes. The earth’s surface literally collapses in on itself and swallows you whole. You cannot tell me that Hunter surviving under a snowcap drinking his own piss Slurpees or Shawn getting decapitated by a flying cow is more dramatic than me falling in a goddamn sinkhole. Fuck you, man.”
“My god,” Tucker groaned. “We’re arguing about sinkholes. This is why I’m out of the boy band business. RJ, Dani—good to see you again. Evan, let’s go—before I pummel Dane into the ground.”
The room cleared quickly, with everyone following Tucker out the door, still debating Dane’s sinkhole.
“Are they always like that?” I asked.
“Have you seen any group interview with us, ever? That’ll be your answer.”
“Hey, I didn’t know Tucker had another son.”
“He doesn’t.”
“Then who’s Evan?”
“Bodhi’s brother.”
“So… Tucker’s son?”
“No.” RJ chuckled. “Long story. And one I’d be willing to tell. But first, I need to hear yours.”
I was about to spill when a nurse poked her head in. “Oh good, they’re gone. The doctor is coming by in a few minutes, so your lady friend will need to leave. Sorry, hon.”
“Give us five minutes,” RJ said, not so much as a question but a command.
She checked her watch. “I can give you two.”
“Three.”
She considered his counteroffer before accepting. “Three minutes, RJ, and then I’m calling your mother.”
He snickered, turning his attention back to me. “Now tell me what happened.”
I gave him a quick rundown of events and admitted to struggling with both the emotional outbursts and the glare of the media before coming to the inevitable conclusion.
“Listen RJ, I don’t have a place to live, and…”
“You can stay at my place. It’s totally secure. My backyard is like a frickin’ luxury resort. I’ll even send in the masseuses. One after the other, just for you. I should be home in four or five days, and then I can be there—be your rock—just like you’ve been for me. I promise you, Dani, we’ll get through this together.”
“I’m leaving.” I blurted out the remainder of the sentence he hadn’t allowed me to finish.
RJ blinked. More than once. “Okay. Where to?”
“My mom’s place. This has nothing to do with how I feel about you. And it’s just for a while… until I get my head on right. If I felt there was any other way…”
“There is. Dani… let me help you. I can get you a therapist. I can get you anything you want.”
“Right now what I want is my mom.”
That shut down the discussion. RJ had no rebuttal, no bargaining chip that trumped a mother’s love.
“For how long?” he asked, resigned.
“As long as it takes. I’m sorry. I just need a breather. Everything is just bearing down on me, and I… I can’t.”