Page 49 of The Broken Hearts Club

“You look amazing,” I insisted, “and you must feel so much better. It had to weigh a ton, and you must have been roasting under all that hair. Plus, just think how much easier it’ll be to wash and dry it now.”

She sniffed and admitted, “It was a pain when it was long.” But because her pregnancy hormones weren’t done fucking with her yet, she burst into tears all over again and exclaimed, “I feel like such an asshole, crying about hair when you’re literally sitting in a hospital after open-heart surgery!”

“Jeannie, I’m fine. It’s been three weeks! The only reason they’ve kept me here this long is because I kept getting a stupid fever. But it’s gone now, and I get to go home tomorrow.”

It took her a few moments to get her tears under control. She dried her cheeks with the scarf and said, “This is why you didn’t tell me ahead of time that you were having surgery, isn’t it? It’s because you knew I’d be a blubbering mess.”

“I just didn’t want to worry you.”

“I’m still mad at you for waiting to tell me,” she said, “and for not telling me right away when you got fake married.”

“If I told you about the marriage, I would have had to tell you about the surgery.”

“Speaking of your fake husband, is Miller in the room right now?”

“No. He went for a walk, and then he’s going to get me a smoothie.”

A smile spread across her face. “He’s so into you.”

“He really isn’t.”

“Come on! He’s been at the hospital with you every single day for three weeks, and after this he’s planning to take you home and nurse you back to health. The man is smitten!”

“You’re wrong. I’m like… his project. His club baseball season ended, and he needed something to do with his free time.” She sighed, and I told her, “I’m exactly like the stray cat he took in. We’re both just something to focus his energy on, because he doesn’t have a lot going on in his life right now.”

“There’s no way. If he needed something to do he’d take up golf, or pickleball. He wouldn’t find some random person and make him the center of his universe.”

“I’m not the center of his universe.”

“Oh, but you are.”

“I wish. He’s such an amazing guy. It’s too bad his ex-fiancé screwed him over so bad that he swore off relationships forever. Although even if he hadn’t, he’s way out of my league.”

“You keep saying that, but it’s just not true,” she insisted. “You’re adorable, Collie.”

“And he’s hot.”

“Yeah, he is. You know who he reminds me of? That chef from that TV show.”

“That’s what I told him! He had no idea who I was talking about.”

She said, “I know what you should do. Kiss him and see what happens.”

“I definitely should not do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t want to make things awkward between us. I have weeks of recovery ahead of me, and I’m going to be living under his roof while that happens. That’s already a lot.”

“What if both of you are waiting for the other guy to make a move? You’ll never get anywhere at that rate.”

“He’s not.”

“How do you know?”

“I just do.” She shot me a look and took a sip out of a Chicken Bucket cup. I changed the subject by asking, “Is that a strawberry shake?”

“Of course. We both know it’s the only decent thing they sell at the Bucket.”