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“I bet we could just move in here, and he’d never know,” Dezi said as he looked around.
“Especially since his wing is on the other side of the house,” I agreed.
I ended up choosing the smallest of the rooms simply because it overlooked the backyard where I could see the pond and keep an eye on the whole Fiona, Scotty, and Donny situation from the bed that Dezi claimed I wasn’t going to be allowed to leave for a week.
And, honestly, I was feeling so damn rundown that I wasn’t even going to object to that. Especially seeing as I was going to be allowed to have my pets around too.
It also helped that Dezi promised me, “Six square meals a day and three snacks.” All of which he was going to have ordered in so he didn’t have to leave my side.
“All I’m just saying,” Dezi said, pulling me out of a bit of a meditative stupor I’d been in from petting a purring Marie for what felt like an hour later that night, “is that when you need a sponge bath, I have you covered,” he said, making a snort escape me. “I will get all up in the right areas,” he added. “Medically speaking,” he clarified.
“Yes, of course. No ulterior motives at all,” I said, patting the space next to me, wanting him close.
He stooped down to snag Rosita to bring with him, then dropped down beside me, pressing a kiss to my temple.
“You okay?”
“Somehow, yes,” I told him. “I mean, I feel like crap physically. But… I’m okay,” I told him.
I was more than okay, if I were being completely honest.
In fact, I was pretty sure I was starting to fall, you know, in love with Dezi.
And on top of that, there was the fact that, for perhaps the first time in my entire life, I wasn’t alone anymore.
It wasn’t great that I had to learn that fact through a terrible attack and hospital stay, but I guess it was sometimes traumatic events that really drew your people in close.
And it did that.
It drew them in close.
It showed me who they were.
Dezi, of course.
My father.
Toll.
Danny.
And even the rest of the bikers. They’d shown up, no questions asked. They’d jumped right in to help. They’d dealt with the cops. They’d insisted on standing guard at the hospital.
There were the girls, too.
Andi, who’d taken in my animals no questions asked. Billie, who apparently would be sending me salves and teas to help me recover. Hope and Vi, who specialized in this sort of thing, were going to lend their insights and skills into trying to track down who’d attacked me.
I was surrounded by people who gave a shit about me. And while a part of me was struggling to accept that I was somehow worthy of all of it, there was no denying that it was making my heart feel weirdly full.
“So, how many streaming channels do you think your old man has?” Dezi asked, reaching for the remote that would bring the TV out of the cabinet across from the bed.
“That’s a tough one. Either all of them, or none of them. I don’t think he watches TV.”
“I like your old man,” Dezi said, glancing over at me. “Says something about a man when a biker barges into his home, he doesn’t even flinch. And I gotta say, his subtle way of throwing around his money and influence is cool as fuck.”
“I know they say that money doesn’t provide happiness, but I have to admit that it opens up a lot of opportunities to create your own happiness,” I said.
“Hey now, it sounds like you’re getting all philosophical. And do you know what that means?”
“What?”
“That you’re thinking too much. Remember what the doctor said? No taxing that brain of yours for a while. So while we are on that topic, how about we watch Psych?” he asked. “But it only works if you’ve seen it in the past.”
“Of course I have,” I said, shaking my head. “That network had a bunch of winners in the early to mid 00s. Psych, Burn Notice, Monk, Suits…”
“You’re leaving out White Collar and Royal Pains.”
“My neighbor figured out I was stealing his cable by then,” I admitted. “I missed them.”
“Sounds like a binge is in our future.”
Our future.
I was sure he didn’t mean that the way it sounded. But you couldn’t tell my heart that.
Hope for that future bloomed through my system, warming me even more. Because, for the first time, I could see the potential for my future.
When I used to think about the future in previous parts of my life, all I could see was a few weeks or maybe months in the future. More money in my savings so I was safe. A guy who was going to decide he wanted more than to bang me.
