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As I run my hands up Dean’s rib cage, I find my husband’s fingers there too. Intertwining them, we embrace him together. Dean’s mouth casually moves from mine to Caleb’s and back again.
Before it can grow too heated, the three of us stop and just hold each other. My eyes find Caleb’s, and we stare at each other for a moment. There’s a sense of failure in our gazes. As if we both know we started celebrating too soon. We had everything for a brief moment, but now it’s gone.
Tomorrow, we will be in this bed again, but Dean won’t be between us. Things will go back to the way they were. And we’ll have to figure out how to survive without him—the way we did for years before.
Forty-Nine
Caleb
21 years old
My head is foggy, and the lights are too bright. As I peel my eyes open, I quickly clench them back together, blocking the buzzing fluorescent bulbs from stabbing my skull. Everything hurts, which means the drugs are wearing off.
But I’ve been in such a haze that I don’t want any more drugs.
My lips hurt as I peel my mouth open to grumble out a weak, “Briar?”
“I’m here.”
Her sweet voice fills my ears, and I let out a sigh. A straw is pressed against my lips, and I suck in ice-cold water, which might be the best drink I’ve ever had in my life. I feel it going all the way down, saturating my tired, aching body.
Squinting my eyes open, I stare at the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. Blonde wisps of hair surround her head, making her glow like an angel. Shutting my mouth, I stay quiet as I just stare at her.
“Are you in pain?” she asks, touching my forehead.
I lie and shake my head. No more drugs.
If I so much as twitch my arm, searing hot pokers radiate up my entire arm and down my spine. I had no idea breaking your arm could hurt so much.
“You’re here,” I whisper.
“Of course I’m here,” she replies. “Caleb, I couldn’t leave you.”
“What about Sean?” I ask, my voice splintering like a tree in a storm.
Briar’s eyebrows pinch inward as she leans toward me. “Forget Sean,” she mutters coldly. “I was so wrong for staying with him as long as I did, but I was afraid. I was a coward. But he and I are done for good now. I will never speak to him again. I mean, look what he did to you.” She starts to cry, her nostrils flaring and her eyes tearing up.
“I don’t care,” I mutter. “I’m fine.”
“Caleb, you’re not fine,” she replies. “Your hand…” Her voice trails as she looks away, wiping tears from her cheek. “You’re going to lose your scholarship, and they don’t think you’ll be able to play college football anymore.”
Staring into her eyes, I wish I had the strength to move so I could wrap my arms around her. All I can manage is to lift my left arm to her face. Gently holding her chin, I force her to look at me. “I don’t give a fuck about football.”
“And your scholarship?”
“I’ll get a student loan. I don’t care, Briar. I really don’t.”
She presses her lips together as she grins at me. “I was afraid you’d never want to see me again.”
“Are you crazy?” I ask. “They could break every bone in my body, and it would be worth it just to wake up and see you sitting there.”
She starts to cry again. “Oh, Caleb.”
As she buries her face in my chest, I use my good arm to softly stroke her hair. My right arm still screams in pain, but it doesn’t matter.
A moment later, the door opens, and a nurse walks in. “That husband of yours is finally awake,” she says sweetly before dimming the lights.
“Husband?” I mumble.
