“Yeah, if I do it any harder, I’m going to be behind bars for harassment,” Cam said with a laugh.
“Maybe you can be there together,” Axel added with a wink.
“With some handcuffs,” Bryson said with a leer.
“Okay, this meeting is officially over. You two aren’t any help at all,” Cam said, rolling his eyes.
“Hey! We aren’t getting paid for this,” Bryson reminded him. “So our only enjoyment is making you squirm.”
“I’ll remember this the next time either of you ask for a favor,” Cam said with a pointed look.
“And you know we’ll be the first ones here,” Bryson said.
That was a fact. No matter how much the men ribbed one another, they would give up their lives for a friend. It was why Cam knew he was never alone. That was something money could never buy.
People passed by in a blur as Grace waited in the hospital lobby for Sage to come out. Too much quiet time allowed her mind to wander. That wasn’t good. Because it reminded her that it had been three days since she’d seen or talked with Cam. Three days, which meant three nights—three very, very long nights.
After their little tiff in his barn, she’d marched up to the house, gone straight to her room, and sat there sulking for a while. It wasn’t that she didn’t want him, didn’t want to be with him, didn’t love being in his arms or sitting there talking with him.
Grace had no doubt what this was about. He’d looked at her with something shining in his eyes that seemed far too much like love, and she had run. She could keep repeating to herself that it was to protect herself, to guard her heart, to avoid being controlled by a mere man ever again, but it still boiled down to that one uncontrollable emotion—fear. Illogical, irrevocable fear.
“Sorry I took so long. I was supposed to be out of here an hour ago, but then a car-versus-biker case came in, and you know how that goes . . .” Sage trailed off when she saw the look on Grace’s face. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”
“I’m fine. Let’s get out of here. I don’t know how you work in a hospital sixty-plus hours a week. The smell alone would drive me crazy.”
“There’s definitely something wrong, but I can beat it out of you on the way to dinner. I think I could eat an entire cow right now, I’m so hungry.”
The two women walked from the hospital and climbed into Sage’s shiny red SUV, a gift from her husband, who had said there was no way he was allowing her to end up on the wrong side of the hospital bed. Sage’s old car had hardly been the safest of vehicles.
Three minutes of silence followed before Sage let out a deep sigh. “Okay, woman, I’m trying to give you time to gather your thoughts, but you know that patience isn’t one of my virtues, so spill your guts already.”
“It’s really nothing that matters, Sage. I mean, I’m the one who asked for it, and I’m getting what I want, so I don’t see why I’m so dang upset about it. Maybe it’s hormones, or maybe I’m slowly going insane from years of living with horrific parents. Cry me a river, cue the violins, and all that. I don’t know. I finally get what I want—silence—but instead of being happy about it, I’ve been on the verge of tears for three days.”
“All right, darling, normally I can decipher crazy talk, but I have to admit that right now I’m completely clueless. Could I ask for a translation?”
“It’s fine. I’m fine.” Then to Grace’s utter horror, her eyes filled with tears, and before she was able to blink them back, they flooded down her cheeks.
Sage found a place to pull over. She turned to Grace with such a look of horror on her face that it brought out a wobbly smile.
“I’m so sorry,” Grace said. “I know, I never cry. And usually I’m the one who’s giving out the advice and saying ‘Suck it up’ or something equally drill sergeant–like, but right now I feel like I’m coming apart completely,” Grace sobbed. Much to her horror, the tears kept right on falling.
“What in the world did Cam do to you?” Sage asked, menace in her eyes. “I swear, if he did something—and he had to have done something—I’m going to find him and . . . and . . . beat the crap out of him. I’ll damn well use something more effective than defibrillation paddles, too.”
The pure fury on Sage’s face broke through the tears and made Grace laugh. The thought of petite Sage going up against Cam, who easily weighed twice as much and who towered over her by a good twelve inches, made Grace’s day.
“Have I told you how much I love you?” Grace said with a sniffle.
“I love you, too, sweetie, which is why I need to kick someone’s ass for doing this to you.”
“No one did anything to me. This is all on me,” Grace said with a hiccup.
“Please, for the love of all that’s holy, tell me what is going on,” Sage demanded, throwing her hands in the air in frustration.
“I had ‘almost sex’ with Cam twice, and some hot kisses off in the shadows, and then, of course, real sex months ago, and . . . and . . . I’m letting him in, letting him get to me.” The tears started all over again.
She waited for Sage to tell her what a fool she’d been, waited for her best friend to tell her that it could never work, that her and Cam’s time was over. She waited for Sage to tell her all the words she needed to hear in order to get over her high school crush.
So when her best friend started chuckling, then full-out laughing, it was such a shock that it instantly dried up Grace’s tears. She sat there and watched Sage guffawing so hard, she snorted a few times. When Grace could speak again, her tone was less than friendly.