AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Letting out a huge breath, she slid her hands up his shoulders and around his neck.
“I’m still mad at you, but you give really good hugs,” she said into his throat.
“That’s not all I can give you,” he whispered, and felt her arms squeeze tighter around his neck.
“What a mess,” she said, finally loosening her hold.
“Come on, it’s not so bad. I’m fine. Your brother got to punch me in the face, so I’m sure he’s happy. Win-win.”
Hannah started to pace. “If he figures out you let him win, he’ll hate you even more. Did you ever suspect he had real feelings for Mariah? I think he thought he was in love with her, which is why he was so destroyed to find you two together.”
“I know it looked really bad; I get that. But after so many years of friendship he didn’t even ask me what I’d done. It’s really absurd if you think about it. How could your brother ever believe her traitorous lies over me?”
“I don’t know, but he does.”
She took another step away from him, and he could sense a shift.
“He may not be my only brother, but in a lot of ways I’m closest with Parker. He’s the brother who helped me pick up all the pieces in our family after our mom died. We’re bonded for life over that pain. I can’t hurt him.”
Her eyes welled, but she didn’t let the emotions out. He didn’t want to push her. She’d already shared more with him in the last few minutes than their entire lives.
There wasn’t anything he could say to refute that. With three siblings of his own, he could understand the loyalty and admired it. Even though it could cost them something real.
“Remember, I said I have a plan. I’m going to reach out to Mariah and see if I can’t get her to entertain the idea of picking up where we left off. Then I’ll get her to admit she lied.”
Hannah shook her head and swiped at the tears as they cascaded down.
“You make it sound easy. I just don’t see how you’ll ever get her to admit it.”
Before he could respond, a nurse popped in with his discharge paperwork, and they were ushered out to the discharge window. For the third time that night, he was surprised when he spotted the least likely person out in the waiting room.
Parker.
Chapter Fifteen
Hannah’s heart almostfell out of her chest. Lucky for her nerves, she saw Parker pacing in the waiting room in time to stop holding hands with Conner.
“At least he has a conscience. This is a good sign,” Conner said.
“Don’t antagonize him, please.”
“Never,” he whispered as they walked through the final set of double doors into the waiting room.
Conner stopped and waited for Parker to speak. Her brother at least had the decency to look remorseful.
Digging his hands into his pockets, Parker met Conner’s eyes. “I just wanted to make sure you weren’t really hurt,” he said.
“Nope, clean bill of health. No harm done.” Conner’s tone was genuine, and she wanted to hug him for being a gentleman.
Parker nodded his head before his deep blue eyes narrowed on her. In many ways, they were polar opposites: she had the bright Irish red hair and freckles, with the Italian bronze skin tone and deep blue eyes. Parker was fair skinned, no freckles, dark eyes and thick, nearly black hair. She was average height, and Parker was above average at six-foot-one.
“I swear I didn’t punch after the bell rang. It was just bad timing,” Parker said with no hint of malice.
“Okay,” Conner said.
Both were too stubborn to acknowledge why they were even fighting.
“That Florence Nightingale tendency just won’t quit. You had to make sure he was alive?” he said in a teasing tone that surprised her.
