Moving close to two hundred pounds of solid man—soliddrunkman—through the house, across the porch and down the steps wasn’t easy. A couple of times, Leo stumbled and nearly fell on top of me. But in the end, I managed to settle him in the car and fasten his seat belt. Before I could get into the driver’s seat, I heard a shout.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Matt Lampert stood on the porch, staring down at me belligerently. “Where are you taking him?”
I narrowed my eyes, scowling up at him, hands on my hips. “I’m taking him home, Matt. And I’m not very happy with either of you right now. Leo’s mom is sick, and you got him drunk? What the hell?”
Matt smirked. “Dude wanted to forget. It was his decision. I just gave him a hand.”
“Do you know how worried I was about him, all day?”
“Chill, Quinn. You’re not his mother. You’re not his fucking wife. You’re just a girl, and you need to give Lion some room, or he’s gonna dump your ass.”
“You.” I pointed at him. “Stay out of this. What happens between Leo and me isn’t any of your business.” I knew that even though Matt and I mutually tolerated each other, he didn’t like how much time Leo spent with me. I wouldn’t put it past him to try to sabotage our relationship.
“The Lion’s gotta roar, sweetheart. You get in the way of that, and we’ll see who wins.” Matt chucked an empty beer can off the porch, narrowly missing my feet.
“Nice, Matt. Real nice.” I turned my back on him and got into the car. Leo had already fallen asleep, and he stayed that way on the drive to his house.
When I pulled into the Taylors’ driveway, I almost cried with relief. Danny’s car was there. I ran up to the front door and leaned inside.
“Danny! Are you here?”
A slightly older version of Leo, with lighter hair, came padding into the foyer, in jeans and bare feet, blinking at me. “Quinn? What’s up?”
“Your brother is in my car, passed out drunk. I need you to help me get him inside.”
If Danny was at all surprised, he didn’t show it. He also didn’t waste any time before he followed me out the door, where he was able to hoist Leo to his feet with ease. I trailed behind them upstairs to Leo’s bedroom.
Danny dumped his brother unceremoniously on the bed. “He’ll be okay now.” He yawned and rubbed his face. “What the hell happened? He left the hospital last night, and I thought he was heading to see you.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. He called me from Matt’s just now. He wanted me to come party with them.” I bent over and took off Leo’s shoes. “I’m going to get him comfortable, and then I’ll head home. Are you going to be around to keep your eye on him? Oh, and how’s your mom?”
“I’m staying until tomorrow night. Mom’s out of the woods now. She had some kind of host-graft deal, like a rejection. Doesn’t usually happen so early in the process, but they caught it, and it looks like she’ll be okay. But it was frightening as fuck.” Danny gazed down at the sleeping form of his little brother. “Leo doesn’t do so well with this kind of stuff, in case you haven’t noticed. Try not to take it personally, Quinn, okay? We’re all doing the best we can under some shitty circumstances.”
I nodded. “I understand. I’ll just get him undressed and then take off.”
Danny held up both hands. “Hey, you know, you want to stay with him, no problem from me. Dad’s sleeping up at the hospital tonight, and Simon’s there, too. No judgment on this end.”
I flushed. Talking about my sex life with a guy who’d known me since I was in diapers wasn’t the most comfortable deal. “Thanks, but my parents would kind of freak out if I didn’t come home. Just promise me you’ll check on him every now and then.”
“Will do.” Danny turned and closed the door behind him.
I unbuttoned Leo’s jeans and managed to get them off his legs. At least he’d be more comfortable sleeping, I thought. I covered him with a sheet and kissed his cheek.
“Mia?” His voice startled me as I stood with my hand on the doorknob. “Mia? Don’t leave me, ‘kay?”
My heart broke a little bit. “Shhhh. You’re all right, baby. Go to sleep. We’ll talk in the morning.”
“Please don’t go.”
I sighed. “I can’t stay all night, but I won’t go yet. I’ll sit here with you for a little bit.”
He held out his arms. “Lay down with me, babe. I just want to hold you. I need you.”
There wasn’t a chance on earth I could resist those words. Kicking off my shoes, I pulled back the sheet and slid underneath with him. Immediately, Leo wrapped me in his arms, his lips skimming the top of my head.
“I love you, Mia. So much.” His eyes didn’t open, but his words were clear.
“I love you, too, Leo. Always.”
