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When I tugged my phone from my pocket and saw Declan’s name, I frowned. It was possible he was calling because he needed me at work, but the immediate twist in my gut said it was something else.
Still, I tried to ignore the warning in my stomach and answered with, “Hey, handsome.”
“Everything is okay, so don’t stress—”
“What the fuck. If you start with that, shit isn’t okay. What happened?” Mom and Dad both watched me, Mom coming closer and placing her hand on my arm in support. It didn’t stop my heart from trying to beat out of my chest or the dizziness that swept through me.
“Marcus got into a car accident on the ten. He’s okay, but he did break an arm and he’s going to need surgery on it. We’re at UCLA Santa Monica. His phone got busted, but they had Corbin listed as his emergency contact from a previous procedure.”
“I’m in Riverside. I’ll be there as fast as I can. Tell him…” Tell him I love him. Tell him I’m sorry I let dumb shit matter. “Just tell him I’m on my way.” Everything else needed to be said in person.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Marcus
“This fucking sucks,” I grumbled, sitting in the hospital bed at the UCLA Santa Monica ortho center. They couldn’t do the surgery on my busted arm for a few days, but they wanted to keep me overnight because they were worried about a head injury, which was frustrating because I was fine. “I have too much shit going on at work to take time off.”
“Maybe don’t be a workaholic when you just got into a car accident,” Corbin said.
“If people didn’t drive like idiots, I wouldn’t have gotten in a car accident.” I tugged on the annoying sling digging into my neck. Was I supposed to wear this for an extended period of time? If so, that shit wasn’t happening.
“Yes, well, there’s no going back in time to change that, so you need to listen to the doctors and stop being a brat,” Parker said.
“Do you know me?” I asked in unison with Declan’s, “Do you know him?”
The three of them laughed, but I was too pissed and grumpy to do that. My parents had flaked on dinner, and then I’d gotten into a wreck. Not that the accident was their fault, but it was something else weighing on me.
Not only that, but…but I wanted Kai to be here, and I hated needing someone that way. It was one thing with Corbin, Parker, and Declan, but now my heart was bigger, easier to bruise and batter, because all he’d done was make the thing grow and feel more vulnerable.
“Excuse me. There are already three people back there,” I heard from the hallway.
“That’s my son’s boyfriend in that room!”
My gaze snapped toward the doorway just as Kai came bursting into the room. His pupils were blown wide, his expression panicked. The second he saw me, his eyes welled with tears.
“Hey, come here. I’m okay,” I said, feeling that stupid organ in my chest swell even more.
“Oh God. Even now you’re trying to console me. I should be consoling you.”
Bernard stepped up behind him, then Ann, Jalen, and Faith. They were all here. They’d all come for me? For a stupid broken arm and a bruised head?
“Come here, baby boy,” I said again, not sure what other words to even use at that moment. There was too much feeling to choose anything else to settle on. I was afraid of what would come out if I tried.
“There are too many people in this room,” the nurse reiterated. “We’re going to need some of you to step out.”
Kai took one step toward me, then another, ignoring her. My gaze was glued on him as he said, “I’m in love with you…and I choose you… I don’t know if you wondered if I didn’t, if you thought I was here simply because everything else fell through, but I’m with you because I love you and I would always choose you. I might not have known it before, but I know it now, and…I’m in love with you. I said that. At least once. Maybe twice, but…surprise?” He grinned, tears streaming down his face now.
“Oh, wow,” the nurse said.
“Aww. What the fuck. That’s the cutest thing ever,” Corbin added. “Tell him you love him too, Marcus.”
“Shut up, Corbin,” Parker and Declan said. Something about his words unstuck the truth that had been trapped in my chest.
“I love you too, Kai.”
“My baby is in love,” Ann said, but I couldn’t focus on anyone but Kai as he closed the distance between us and climbed right onto the bed with me. He straddled my legs but didn’t put his weight on me.
“Um…” I heard in the background, likely from the nurse.
“Can you pretend you didn’t see that? We’ll leave and…you know, give them some privacy. They’ll be good, I promise. How has your shift been going?” Corbin charmed her as I heard the room emptying out, the door closing with a soft click.
