Page 77 of Say it Ain’t So

“But we’ll get him home for you, won’t we Vinny?” Jen turned her face up to her husband and I had to look away.

I wanted, more than anything, to be able to look at Rylan like that. To have him look at me the way Vinny looked at her, in public and not just behind closed doors.

“Of course. We’ll bring him home just as soon as we can.”

The two of them ensured I would be okay before they left. Jen gave me the biggest hug and told me to call if I needed anything, but all I could think of was that I needed Rylan home with me.

There was no possibility of sleep after that. Until Rylan was here, in my apartment or his, I wasn’t sure I’d sleep again.

23

RYLAN

Taking a private jet from Kansas City to Chicago was definitely something I could get on board with. But being pushed around in my brand-new wheelchair by my boss wasn’t high on my bucket list. When the elevator doors at my apartment building opened on my floor, I grabbed the wheels in both my hands and pushed as hard as I could. The front wheels lifted off the ground, and for a split second, I had a rush that I hadn’t felt since right before that bullet hit my thigh.

“Dammit, Dennis!” Lee’s deep voice boomed in the elevator that felt minuscule with him inside it. The chair stopped its backward movement—which was good; I hadn’t expected the wheels to pop up so high. Instead of falling backward and slamming my head into the floor at Lee’s feet, I was flung forward, damn near toppling to the ground. The only thing stopping me from landing on my injured leg was Vinny Leonetti’s hand crashing into my chest.

“Woah there!” Vinny righted me in my chair, and not for the first time, I wondered why he was here.

Shoulda just let me fall.

“Sorry, boss,” I said, trying not to slur and failing spectacularly. “These pain meds are a bit stronger than I thought.”

Lee grumbled under his breath, and though I couldn’t make out his words, I was pretty sure everyone in the building could hear the thunder of it rolling.

At my door, Vinny stuck my keys in the lock—How the hell did he get those? —and let us in.

“Feel like maybe I should do that,” I muttered as Lee pushed me over the threshold.

“You dropped your keys twice before we got onto the elevator,” Lee said as he turned my chair around and stepped back to glare at me. “If we left it up to you, we’d still be out searching the snowbanks for them.”

So that’s how he got them.

“Sorry, boss.”

Lee scrubbed his hand down his face and tossed a look at Vinny. “You sure about this?”

Vinny hung my keys up on the hook by the door instead of sitting them on the kitchen counter where I always put them, ensuring I’d forget about them completely. “He’ll be okay.”

They were talking about me. Me and all my new-found ineptitude. I glared at the leg brace on my thigh rather than hitting it like I wanted to. I learned the hard way that wasn’t a good idea.

“Dennis!” Lee’s voice shook me out of my head. I dragged my tired eyes up, up, up to look at him. “Can we get you anything before we go? Need help getting to the bathroom?”

“I can go to the bathroom by myself,” I muttered, turning away.

Vinny shifted in his spot by the door, looking like he wanted to bolt. “At least the doorways are big enough.”

“Thought the same thing,” Lee said, glancing around my apartment. “Flooring could be better, but the transitions don’t look too bad.”

“You know I’m right here, don’t you?” I asked. “You don’t have to talk shit about my apartment in front of me.”

“Not talking shit.” Lee put his hands on his hips. “We’re discussing you being able to move around in your chair without you landing on your head like you almost did in the elevator.”

“And the airport,” Vinny pointed out.

Half a smile cut through the stoic mask on Lee’s face. “And the hospital. Twice.”

Vinny’s laughter was interrupted by a knock on the door. He reached for the handle and pulled it open before I’d even moved my hands from my lap to the wheels. I heard his and Lee’s voices calling out some sort of greeting, but my heart kicked up a beat, and the sound of my blood pounding in my ears drowned out their words.