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My eyes widened. “Why would Daddy be over there?”
A smile tilted his lips, but it wasn’t a smile that relieved me in any way. If anything it was enough to stress me more than I already was. It was full of sinister amusement that made me want to smack his handsome face. “Tiny detained your friend and the guy he was with. I thought I would give your dad first dibs on sorting out the problem.”
“You didn’t,” I groaned when he shrugged his shoulders. “Damn it, Harris. My dad is going to end up in jail. He will destroy that guy. And he took Nik? Do you know what they will do to him?” It wasn’t going to be pretty. I’d seen my dad and Nik beat the hell out of a man before. Don’t get me wrong, I understood exactly why they had done it, and yeah, part of me had been vindicated to see it, but the sight still haunted my dreams…
“Emmie went with them, so stop worrying. She’ll make sure things are dealt with properly.” He spoke like the whole subject bored him and I glared down at him. “When they’re through, they’ll come over to the hospital. If we’re still here.”
With my uninjured hand, I pushed my hair back from my face and turned my head away from Harris, not wanting him to see the emotion I knew was shining in my eyes. Tonight had been a disaster. I never should have left the house, should have just told Kin that she had to go on her own. Nothing good had come out of going back to First Bass. I had no business going there ever again.
“I can hear the wheels moving in that beautiful head of yours, Lu. What are you thinking about?” When I didn’t answer him, he shifted forward in his chair and cupped my knees in both of his big hands. I didn’t look down at him. I couldn’t.
With one kiss I’d ruined everything. Everything. The relationship I’d once shared with Harris was gone. Over. I couldn’t go back to the way things had been before I’d let him kiss me—before I’d kissed him back. My heart just couldn’t handle pretending like what I’d felt when his lips were on mine hadn’t happened. It wasn’t fair to the love and respect I had for him—for myself—to put it behind me like it had never happened.
And it sure as hell wasn’t fair that he had moved on like it was nothing. Like I had been nothing. How was it so easy for him to forget about our kiss, to forget how powerful it had been? Was I like every other chick who had passed through his life? A passing thought that was so easily forgotten as soon as I was out of sight?
I clenched my throbbing hand into a tight fist as my eyes started to sting with tears. The shooting pain that ran all the way up my arm was enough to make me gasp and just enough to stop my mind from asking any more stupid questions. Questions I wasn’t likely ever to get the answers to.
One large hand grasped my wrist, gentle fingers skimming over my bruised knuckles. “Why did you do that?” he demanded in a quieter voice.
“Do what?” I asked, pulling my hand back. Surprisingly he let me, but I could feel his eyes boring into the side of my head.
“Lucy…”
The door to the small triage exam room opened and a doctor walked into the room like he owned the place. A nurse stood behind him and Marcus filled the doorway, both blocking anyone’s entrance and watching the doctor with eyes that were narrowed. I was thankful for the distraction. I just knew that Harris had been about to ask questions that I was never going to give him answers to.
“Well, Miss Thornton, my nurse tells me that you’ve got a hand injury.” I glanced at his nametag and saw that his name was Dr. Levin, but instead of asking me what had happened, he turned his attention to Harris. “How did this happen?” he demanded, as if accusing him of hurting me.
I nearly laughed. Harris hurt me physically? That was so funny. Not only did I know that he wouldn’t ever raise a hand to me but both our fathers would kick his ass if he so much as thought about it. His dad maybe even would have kicked his ass harder than my own would if that happened.
Before I could open my mouth, Harris took a step closer to the doctor, his eyes hard. “A guy said something to my girlfriend that upset her. Before I could deal with the douchebag, she handled it herself. She’s awesome like that.”
The doctor lifted my hand carefully into his hand, but I didn’t feel the pain as he examined it. Didn’t hear a word he spoke, even though I saw his lips moving. My mind had caught and was stuck on one and only one word Harris had said.
Girlfriend.
Had he really said girlfriend? As in I was his girlfriend? No. No way. I must have heard him wrong. My hand was causing me so much pain that I was starting to hallucinate. Or maybe I’d just misunderstood. I was a girl, after all, and until that kiss two Saturdays ago, we’d been best friends.
I shook my head, mentally scolding myself for even thinking that that one word had actually meant something. Dr. Levin placed my hand in my lap carefully and moved to the small sink to wash his hands. “I don’t think it’s broken. Most likely it’s just a really bad sprain, but we’ll do a few x-rays to rule out any hairline fractures.” He turned to face me, his eyes softening a little. “Would you like something for the pain, Miss Thornton? Nurse Frost can give you some hydrocodone…”
“No!” I shook my head adamantly. No way did I want anything stronger than Tylenol. I’d only had a narcotic once, the same night I’d gotten the scar on my lip. I’d hated the way that the pain medication had made me feel and they’d had to give me something for nausea. “I’m good with Advil or Motrin or even Tylenol. I don’t want anything stronger than that.”
The doctor’s eyes widened slightly, but he nodded his head and turned to the nurse. “Let’s get her some ibuprofen, and a bag of ice for the swelling.”
“Of course, doctor,” the nurse said with a smile. She bit her lip as she glanced at Harris, blushed, and then ducked out of the room.
I leaned back on the gurney and rolled my eyes at the obviousness of the nurse while the doctor excused himself. Harris dropped back down into his chair and scooted it closer to the gurney, his hands catching hold of my feet and pulling them onto his lap. I stiffened for a second then shrugged as I let him take my boots off and massaged my left foot.
Marcus stuck his head in the triage room. “You good, Lucy?”
I yawned and nodded. “As good as I can be.”
“I’ll message your mom and let her know that you’re doing okay.” He stepped back and let the door close. I watched as he took up his earlier position, his huge back blocking almost the entire window on the door.
Fighting another yawn, I looked down at the guy rubbing my feet. “Shouldn’t you be at work? Don’t you have a club to run?”
“I’ve got a great staff and I texted my assistant manager on the ride over here.” He pressed his thumb into my arch and applied enough pressure that my eyes drifted closed in pleasure. “It wouldn’t have mattered, though. I wasn’t going to let you leave without me. You’re more important to me than First Bass.”
For the second time that night tears burned my eyes. This time it wasn’t because of the pain in my hand, but in my heart. I watched as he examined the nail polish on my toes, trying to figure him out. How could this guy—this beautiful man—tear me up so easily inside? Why the hell did he get to have all this power over my heart when it felt like I had none over his?
