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He shrugs. I hate the defeated look in his eyes, knowing there’s nothing I can do to help him. A customer comes up to the bar, and I step away to serve them, watching out of the corner of my eye as Lachy says something to him and squeezes his shoulder. I’m really glad he’s here. God knows, Harley needs his best friend right now. It just sucks that he’s heading back to Italy in three days.
Tilly comes back from her break, and I check in on a couple of my tables before heading back to Lachy and Harley. I step in between his legs, and he bands his armsaround my waist. “What time will you be home tonight?”
“I’ve got classes until four-thirty, and then I was going to head over to the hospital to check on Dad.”
I look over at Lachy. “Do you want to come over for dinner tonight?”
“If you’re cooking, I won’t pass that up,” he says with a wink. “I’ve heard you’re quite the chef.”
“Great. Say seven?”
“It’s a date.”
Harley presses his lips to my temple. “Thank you.”
“Of course,” I say with a smile as they get to their feet. “I’ll see you guys later.”
THIRTY-SIX
HARLEY
I PAUSE IN the doorway to Dad’s hospital room. Conrad’s sitting next to his bed, just staring at him, as if willing him to wake up. It’s the same thing I’ve been doing every time I come here.
I’m about to turn around and leave when Conrad looks up and sees me. He climbs to his feet. “I can go, I was just–”
“It’s fine,” I say, waving my hand for him to sit back down. “You have every right to be here.”
His eyes widen. I don’t blame him. It’s the exact opposite of what I said to him the night Dad was brought in. I pull up another chair on the other side of the bed and sit down. It feels weird to be sitting here with Conrad, waiting for our dad to wake up, but after what he did to save him, I’m not going to kick him out.
“Do you think he’ll be okay?” Conrad is the first to break the silence.
“Tom said the doctors told him it’s normal for it to take a few days for the patient to wake up after such a complexsurgery. His body needs time to heal.”
“Right. Yeah, of course.” Conrad shifts in his chair, wincing slightly at the movement.
“How are you feeling?”
He shrugs. “I’ll heal.”
We fall silent again, both of us staring down at the man laying comatose in the bed in front of us. The beeping of the machines keeping his vitals, the only sound in the room.
“Do you think it’s going to change anything?”
I look up at Conrad. “What do you mean?”
“When he wakes up. Do you think… will he want to see me?” The anguish is clear in his voice, and I can’t help but feel sorry for the guy.
Fuck. If you had told me eighteen months ago that I’d be sitting here at this moment in time, having this conversation with Conrad Foster, I would have laughed in your face. The guy was an absolute asshole, but I try to put myself in his shoes. If I’d had not one but two dads who wanted nothing to do with me, I probably would have been the same.
“Yeah,” I choke out. I clear my throat, ignoring the sting of unshed tears in my eyes. “I think he will.” Conrad doesn’t say anything, he just ducks his head, and I pretend not to notice when he swipes at his eyes. I run a hand over my face, scratching my jaw. “Do you want to come over for dinner? Lily’s cooking.”
“We don’t have to rush the new BFF status,” he says with a smirk.
“I’m not. Tom will be there, and Lachy’s coming over, too.” I wince when I realise how awkwardthatwould be: meand my new girlfriend hanging out with my ex-girlfriend’s brother andhisgirlfriend’s ex-boyfriend. Christ, our lives are one big, entangled shit show. But it’s not like I can rescind the offer.
Conrad huffs out a laugh. “Yeah, as fun asthatsounds, I think I’ll pass.” He sighs. “Thanks for the offer, though.”
“Raincheck.”
