Ihumph,and I can feel his body fighting to keep from losing it. He leans down, and still snickering, presses a kiss to my lips. He holds his mouth there until my pout softens to welcome him. And our lips take slow sips of each other.
“I love you,” I whisper against him.
His exhale is audible between us. “My God, Evie, I love you so fucking much.”
I kiss him again, but I keep it chaste. He’s at work, after all. The universe may have plenty of jobs, but that’s no reason to get him fired for PDA.
I bring my hands to his biceps when I pull back. “Are you going to the hospital tonight? I can stay with you until ten or so.”
Drew shakes his head, his lips pressing together. “No. Apparently, Lottie gets off at six, and she has the day off tomorrow, so she wants to stay with Grandma.” Bitterness sharpens the gray of his eyes. “So that means I’m banned.”
This hurts him. I feel it. And I hate it. “Does Mrs. Vivian know? Is she…”
“She’s in and out,” he says. Then shrugs. “Out mostly. But she still comes around to fuss at us every few hours.”
I can’t help it. I laugh. “Fuss at you?”
Smiling a weary smile, Drew nods. “Yeah, last night, Annie was with me, and she must have heard her sniffling because she told us to stop crying.”
My eyes go wide. “She did?”
A low laugh shakes from him. “She did. She told us to save it for the funeral or else we’d run dry.”
I laugh. Even though it’s gallows humor, Mrs. Vivian is still giving Drew and his family the gift of herself. I have no doubt he’ll be telling this story for the rest of his life.
“She’s something else.”
Drew’s eyes come to mine, and he nods. But I watch him swallow, the grief already back. He holds my gaze. “Can I come get you tonight after your shift with Aaron?”
I blink. “I can come to you. I’ll be up and it’ll be late—”
But he’s already shaking his head.
“I don’t want you walking by yourself at night.”
I arch a brow. “I’ll bring Gemini.”
He keeps shaking his head. “Now that I know what a wus Gem is, no way.”
I splutter a laugh. “He is not a wus.”
Drew’s brows lift as he regards me skeptically. “I sneezed the other day, and I thought he was going to hide under the bed.”
This is true.
“Okay, fine. I’ll text you when Aaron’s back down.”
He nods. “And I’ll come get you and Gem.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
DREW
I leave the garage at five and drive straight to the hospital. Running into Lottie is something I’ve tried to avoid all week, but I want to see Grandma.
When I get to the ICU, I find Aunt Josie there with a novel propped on her lap and her cheaters at the end of her nose. She looks up and smiles as I enter. Grandma Quincy looks small and sunken on the bed.
I nod toward her and whisper. “How was her day?”
