She wiped the smile off her face as much as she could before daring to speak. “I recall a time when you said you’d never pull the celebrity card. What happened to staying humble?”
A laugh burst out of Theo and soon all of them were laughing. Jake wasn’t sure how they could all be laughing right now, but he blamed it on the nerves.
“Yeah, well, this is an emergency,” Jake said. “I revoke any humbleness and demand answers.”
Celine gave him a small smile. “I know this situation is scary, but her injuries weren’t life threatening. She’s going to be okay.”
“All surgery is risky.”
“It is. But just trust she’ll be fine.”
Jake dragged a hand down his face and looked over at Ben. He had taken a seat and was leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, staring at the floor. Jake gave Celine a small smile before stepping away from her and dropping onto the seat beside Ben.
“How are you holding up?” Jake asked.
Ben shook his head. “This whole situation is so fucked. But you know what makes it worse? I suspected that something bad was going on in her house with that dick. When she stopped coming to events or always had an excuse about why she couldn’t come to holidays with our family, I suspected. I should have gone over there. Maybe if I had, it wouldn’t have gotten this far.”
Ben had already mentioned it several times, and everyone knew it was still eating at him.
“You don’t know that, man. If you had, maybe Charles would have pulled a gun on you and killed you right then. Maybe she would have gone with you, only for him to chase you two and gun you both down. Maybe he wouldn’t have gunned you both down but caught her unaware in a grocery store and could finish the job.” Jake sighed. “I hate to say it, but him pulling a gun on her at our concert was probably the best-case scenario for her. There were bodyguards all around. She had several people she knew who could help her.”
Jake tipped his head to Celine. “Celine could stop the bleeding because she was trained. If it had happened anywhere else, there’s no telling what would have happened.”
“Jake’s right, man,” Theo said. “She was lucky it was at our concert and not somewhere else.”
“Plus, now the dickhead will go to jail because there were a massive amount of witnesses,” Liam said. “And possibly get heavier charges and more jail time because of doing it in a packed arena.”
A beat of silence passed.
“Didn’t it feel good to tackle him? To help take the asshat down?” Will asked.
Ben smirked. “Yeah, that felt good.” Then he turned toward Jake. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on between you and Claire, but I want you to know that I wouldn’t approve of anyone more than you. You two are perfect together. I’ve always known it and I suspected something happened between you four years ago, but I never wanted to say anything. I hope you can be together.”
Jake stared at Ben as he processed the words. His mouth opened and then closed again as he fought to find something to say. “Thanks, man. I appreciate that.”
“And stop trying to hide it. I’m not blind. I can see the way you two look at each other. Everyone can.”
Everyone laughed and nodded in agreement.
Ben continued, “I appreciate you getting to Claire so fast tonight. For realizing what was happening before the rest of us.” Then Ben’s eyes moved to Celine. “You, too, Celine. Thank you for saving her.”
She smiled over at him and tipped her head in acknowledgment.
The doctor came through the doors at that moment, and everyone stood.
“Hello, everyone. I just wanted to give you an update. The surgery went well. She and the baby are just fine. We don’t expect any complications with Claire’s recovery, but she willneed to take it easy for a bit. I know with touring life that can be difficult, but please make sure she gets a lot of rest.”
“Is she awake?” Ben asked.
“She is just waking up now. We are going to move her over to a room and she’ll be admitted for the night, and then you’ll be able to see her. However, our visiting hours are over, so you’ll have to make it quick. I’ll send someone to get you once she gets settled.”
“Thank you,” Jake said.
As soon as the doctor left, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.
“This was the longest five hours of my life,” Jake said. “I think I aged ten years.”
“You and me both,” Ben said.
