Page 89

She shrugged. "Jake. I like him, but it's got a shelf-life of about a year, I'd say. We have fun together, and he's pretty great in bed. It's just not gonna go the distance. It'll be fun while it lasts, though."

"So why bother?"

"It's fun. I like him. I enjoy his company, and he does nice things to me with his penis. He has a good job, washes his ass, keeps a clean apartment, and gets my wack-ass humor.”

"So why won't it go the distance?"

She shrugged. "I dunno. There's just something missing. I don't crave him every moment of every day. And that's what I’m waiting for."

"You might be waiting a while," I said.

"Don't be negative. I know it's out there, and I know I'll find it."

"How?" I asked. "How do you know?"

She indicated me. "You've glanced at the door at least a hundred times since we've been talking, waiting for someone to come in and tell you something about your boyfriend. You miss him. You want him. That’s what I want, and now you have it, which means it’ll come to me, too, someday."

“He's not—” I'd been about to say he wasn't my boyfriend, but…he kind of was. Not officially, but we'd agreed there was a thing. "You know what, Tania Lasagna?" I hugged her. "You'll find the man you crave every moment of every day. Because if anyone on this earth deserves that, it's you."

"Awww, he really did inject something potent into you, didn't he?"

I pushed her away. "I was being sweet and genuine."

She pulled me back in. "I know. So was I!"

"You're so weird." I pushed her again. "Now go find a nurse for me. I need an update, and I want this IV out."

"Yes, ma’am,” Tania said, saluting me. “Right away, ma'am."

"Fake saluting someone who was in the military is kind of a dick move, you know."

"I know." She bent and kissed me on the forehead. "I do it just to annoy you."

"Tania?" I called; she paused in the doorway and looked at me expectantly. "I'm glad you're here."

She smiled at me. "Not as glad as I am that you’re here."

A few minutes later, a young and very pretty male nurse entered my room and fiddled with the nearly empty bag of fluids. "Almost done, here." He glanced at me. "I hear you're looking for an update on our bear attack survivor."

"Yeah, he's…we were out there together."

"Well, he's been stitched up, and he's resting. He lost a decent amount of blood, but there's no sign of infection. I assume he has you to thank for that."

"I'm a retired Navy pilot. Not my first rodeo."

"Well, he owes you, honey-bunny, big time. Those bear claws can have all sorts of nasty little buggy-wuggies on them, and the infections can be super-duper icky."

Honey-bunny? Buggy-wuggies? Super-duper icky? The informality made me deeply uncomfortable, but I kept it to myself.

I grabbed his wrist before he could leave. "Can I just be done? I've rested, and I've gotten fluids. I want to be with Jax."

"If I say no, you have to finish the bag, you're just gonna pull it out on your own anyway, amiright?" He popped a hip and planted a fist on it.

I pretended to search the room. "Who, me?" I clapped a hand to my chest. "I would never."

"Fine." He pointed at me. "But you need to take it easy for a few days. Stress and trauma like you two cuties went through take a toll on the body and mind. Just because you don't have any obvious external injuries doesn't mean you're totally fine and unaffected."

"I'm aware. As I said, this wasn't my first crash in the wilderness."