“It looks worse than it feels,” I tell my sister, but again, I’m lying. I have no idea how bad it really looks because no one has given me a mirror to use.
“Have you seen it?” Zoey asks me.
“No mirror.”
She shakes her head. “Your phone has a camera, Lulu.”
Fuck. I forgot. I could’ve easily turned on the camera to check out what Mark did to me.
“But I’d wait a day because it’s not pretty.”
“It’ll look worse tomorrow,” Grandpa says, and all eyes in the room turn to him with a pointed glare. “What? It’s true. It’ll look worse as it heals.”
“Shut up, Tino,” Gram says to him with a backhanded swat to his chest. “You’re not helping.”
“This is all my fault,” Zoey says as she comes tothe side of the bed and lifts herself up, planting one ass cheek next to my legs.
I scoop her hand in mine. “It’s not your fault. Stop that, sissy.”
She can’t bring herself to look at me. “But it is.”
“This is Mark’s fault,” I tell her. I’ll never blame my sister for the choices a madman made.
“I brought him into our lives.”
“Don’t let the actions of one asshole ruin your life, Zo. Not everyone is like Mark. There are good ones out there. Look at Oliver,” I tell her, thinking back over all the ways he’s saved me since the day I met him on the side of the highway.
“Olivers are rare,” she whispers.
I worry my sister’s broken and will never easily trust another man again. Mark stole that from her, but I will do everything in my power to keep him from stealing her entire future. Zoey deserves happiness. She deserves love. She deserves a man who will treat her like a queen and protect her from everyone, even if it’s from her own decisions sometimes.
“There are more Olivers than Marks,” Dad says to Zoey. “But maybe dating apps aren’t the best way to find them.”
“No one thinks they’re actually going todatesomeone off those apps,” I say before I think through the statement.
Zoey’s eyes widen, and I realize my mistake immediately.
“Fuck,” Dad mutters, swiping a hand down his face as he spews out a string of curse words behind his palm.
“Anyway, can I bust out of this place yet?”
“I’ll go find the doctor,” Gram says, rushing from the room faster than she entered.
“She’s okay,” Gram says to whoever else is in the hallway. “She’s ready to go. Can someone make that happen?”
“On it,” Uncle Vinnie tells her.
“I’m ready to go home and sleep.” I peer up at Oliver again. Why does the man have to be so damn tall? If my neck didn’t hurt before, it sure as hell does now. “I could use a shower too.”
“A bath,” he says to me. “You need to relax those muscles in some warm water for a while.”
“I’ll make us dinner too,” Zoey adds. “If I can stay the night.”
“Stay as long as you want,” I say to her.
“Maybe tomorrow, we can do a movie night.” She smiles and turns her eyes toward Oliver.
“What movie?” he asks in that grumbly voice.
