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The nurse nodded. “Sure. Let me get a fresh dressing, and I’ll be right back.”
Wes glared at me when I tried to help him to the bed, so I let him go by himself, following closely behind just in case. He sat down with a sigh, and I snatched up my tank, tugging it over my bare chest.
“You sure you’re okay, bro?” Ryan asked.
“Good. Just sore. I could use a swim right about now.”
“No,” Madison, Rory, and I said in unison.
The doctor and nurse came back in, shooing us all out so they could examine him and remove the IV. I planned on remaining in the room, but the vibes Jamie and Ryan were throwing made me follow them out into the hall.
The second the door closed behind us, I leaned against the wall, crossing one ankle over the other. “Got something to say?” I drawled.
Rory and Madison stared warily between the three of us, but I kept my eyes on Jamie and Ryan.
“What kind of game are you playing?” Ryan asked point blank.
I straightened off the wall. “Excuse me?”
“What you did last night—” Jamie started, but I slashed my hand in the air, silencing his words.
“What I did last night has nothing to do with you. It ain’t your business.”
Jamie’s blue eyes flashed. “It is when our best friend gets hurt because of it.”
Pain squeezed my chest as white-hot anger singed deeper. I took a step toward Jamie. I was tall, but at six foot three, Jamie was taller. It didn’t matter, though. His extra inches were nothing compared to the insurmountable rage and despair inside me.
My feet bumped his, and my eyes flashed. “You saying I’m the reason Wes is in that hospital bed?”
It was one thing to have the unspoken thought bounce around in my skull, but having someone else voice it?
Fucking torture.
“Jamie,” Madison admonished.
Jamie’s eyes bounced between mine a second longer, and then his shoulders dropped. “Of course not. It was an accident. But youarethe reason he rushed off so fast.”
I arched a brow, glancing at Ryan and then back to Jamie. “Am I?”
They both fell silent a minute, a slither of doubt tamping down their resolve. But then Jamie blinked it away to quietly say, “You know you are.”
“I don’t know any such thing.”
Jamie’s jaw bounced, and he looked away.
Ryan stepped forward. “Look, you don’t want to be our friend. That’s fine. But Wes is. And you know we care about him. I know you care about him too, so let’s not act like we don’t all know what’s going on here.”
I cocked my head. “What’s going on?”
Ryan laughed under his breath. “You want me to say it? All right. I will.”
My heart was beating so fast that I was lightheaded, and it felt like I had a second pulse in my temple. Sweat beaded between my shoulder blades, and my stomach cramped with discomfort. I needed to shut this down. Shut. It. Down. Immediately. This conversation couldn’t happen. This can of worms needed to stay sealed.
But damn, if I didn’t want to hear those words on Ryan’s lips.
Damn, if I didn’t want someone to say what they saw. What they knew. What they felt.
Ryan’s lips parted, and sudden panic was like a cold bucket of water right in my face. Gasping for air I didn’t suddenly have, I held up my hand. “Stop.”
