AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Someone appeared over his shoulder, another face I felt I should know but didn’t. Dark hair. Brown eyes. AirPods in his ears. He was just as worried as his friend. “Here,” he said, passing a plastic cup close.
A straw brushed my lips, and I took a sip.
“Easy,” multicolored eyes cautioned.
Even though the sip was small, it seemed impossible to swallow at once, and a bead of the cool liquid slipped out of the corner of my mouth, sliding over my chin like the tears still leaking from my eyes.
A wide, slightly rough thumb swiped the moisture away, gently doing the same to my cheeks. Then in a motion I found insanely captivating, he pushed his wet digit between his lips and sucked.
“Who are you?” I asked, unable to find any information in my pounding skull.
Everything about him stilled. Wariness filled the eyes I’d just been admiring. “Y-you don’t know?”
Tentatively, I asked, “Should I?”
The look on his face was answer enough.
7
Kruger
I came up with a lot of scenarios about what would happen when this girl opened her eyes. I even tossed together a whole apology salad for telling the entire hospital we were engaged. I was gonna serve it up. With dressing.
What kind of dressing goes on an apology salad, you ask? Good question. It’s compliments. Obviously.
Her asking me who I was?
Bro. That shit never even occurred to me. I mean, for reals, who would forget all this?
My fake bride, that’s who.
Frankly, I was a little offended. But that lasted all of about one point two seconds because her face crumpled, and my heart dropped out of my chest.
“I should know, shouldn’t I?” she asked, fresh tears spilling over her pale cheeks. “What’s wrong with me? Why don’t I know?”
My lips stuttered like some kind of engine out of fuel, and her eyes went to Prism standing right beside me. “I should know you too, shouldn’t I?”
“Us?” P echoed, gesturing between us. All I could think about was wiping away her tears. I could still taste their saltiness on my tongue. “We aren’t important.”
A sob burst out of her throat.
“You two are morons,” Max snapped from the corner of the room. His boots echoed over the floor with his heavy footfalls. “Hey,” he said softly from the other side of the bed, his ring-covered fingers wrapping around the rail lifted on that side. “You had an accident and hit your head. It’s going to take a while to recover.”
The room was silent for a heartbeat, and then Max realized we were all staring and rolled his eyes. “Well, someone had to tell her what was going on. You two were standing there with your heads in your asses.”
“I don’t know you either.” She fretted, hands twisting in the shitty hospital blanket over her lower half as her wide brown stare took in his leather jacket and eyebrow piercing.
“Max,” he told her, voice way nicer than he ever talked to me. “We’re friends.”
Bro always has been a little protective of Rory and Madison. Guess that extended to Jess now too.
I hated it.
“Go back to snarling over Wes. I got this,” I snapped with less heat than I felt.
“Everyone, clear the room,” the nurse declared.
I forgot she was even in here.
