“Lunch of champions.”
Two large flower arrangements had been delivered while I was gone. It bugged me that others had gotten her flowers when the thought hadn’t even crossed my mind. Wandering over to the shelf where they sat, I read the cards. One was from the Dead Presidents MC, and the other was from Bold Beginnings.
“Why….” Mercy’s voice cracked, so she cleared her throat and tried again. “Why are you here, Landon?”
I spun around to face her, but I couldn’t read her expression and had no clue what to say. “Where else would I be?”
Her brow pulled tight. “With Beth. You’re only in town for a few more days. You should spend the time you have left with your mom.”
She wasn’t wrong. I knew she wasn’t wrong, yet here I stood.
“Landon….”
Why the fuck did the soft, resigned way she said my name sound like a goodbye?
Panic clawed its way up my throat. Desperate to keep her from kicking me out, I blurted out the truth I’d been holding on to like a live wire. “I’m falling in love with you.”
It was a desperate Hail Mary. And the look of sheer terror that crossed her face told me exactly how badly it had landed.
She gave a slight shake of her head but stopped with a wince. Her voice trembled when she said, “No, you’re not.”
It was the first time I’d ever said those words to anyone. The one and only time I’d ripped my chest open, and her denial drove a blade straight through my heart. A broken, manic laugh escaped me. “You can’t tell me how to feel.”
“I’m concussed, not braindead. I remember what happened at the club.”
“I didn’t sleep with Peach.”
Her humorless laugh cut colder than ice. “Right. Because sleeping would require stopping.”
Another knife to the ribs. “You don’t believe me.”
“Why should I? I saw you with my own two eyes. She was grinding all over you, and you were into it. When she led you up the stairs, I saw the way you looked at her.”
“From across the room?” I demanded. “In the dark? How could you possibly have seen my face?”
She wavered for a heartbeat, but the finality in her eyes told the truth. “You… saved me. I owe you my life, which makes this messy and complicated, but the last thing I need right now is a man. You can’t love me, Landon, because you don’t even know who I am.”
Each word landed like a blow. “I’ve been trying to get to know you.”
“You’ve drilled this tiny hole into my life at a time when it’s a raging dumpster fire, and you keep swooping in to put out the flames. Your superhero complex is in overdrive, but my situation is only temporary. According to the Feds, it’s almost over. I’m not some freaking damsel in distress, and when you realize I no longer need saving, you’ll get bored and walk away.”
“So, that’s it? You’re not even gonna hear me out?”
Mercy’s heart monitor spiked, alarms chirping. A nurse rushed in, slowing only when she saw my face. It felt like it was on fire. This wasn’t at all how I’d wanted this conversation to go.
“Everything okay in here?” she asked, eyes flicking between us.
Mercy let out a shaky breath. “Yeah. Thank you for stopping by, but I’m tired. You should go.”
“You’re kicking me out?” I shook my head in disbelief. “Again?”
“One would think you’d be used to it by now.”
“This isn’t over.”
“Yes, it is,” she said, her voice cracking again. “You’re leaving for Africa in a week.”
But was I?
