I half coughed/laughed and shifted, trying to sit up a little. “Yeah, you were kind of cheesy that first night.”
“Is that right?”
I nodded, and he shrugged.
“Eh, what do I care?” he said, dark eyes twinkling with mischief. “It worked. So, fancy meeting you here.”
And just like that, my day got a little brighter.
Solo glanced over his shoulder, and I knew he was checking to see if anyone we knew was standing outside or about to enter the room, and when he seemed happy the coast was clear, he placed a hand on the rail of my bed and leaned in close to me.
I could smell his cologne as it swirled around me and replaced the sterile alcohol that had become the norm, and then his eyes turned serious and he said, “If you ever scare me again like that again, I will hunt you down and fucking kill you myself. You got it, lieutenant?”
He hovered over me, and just as I was about to answer, he brushed his fingers lightly across my bruised face.
“And I thought I looked bad…”
I swallowed, my heart thudding so hard that I was shocked the monitor wasn’t screeching. But when no sound other than his breathing and mine could be heard, I licked my dry lips and said, “You look perfect.”
A grin slowly curved Solo’s mouth as he straightened. “How many drugs they got you on right now?”
I blinked, about to tell him not enough, when laughter rang out down the hall and Houdini’s familiar drawl traveled inside the room. Like a kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar, Solo took a quick step back and schooled his features, and a second later, when Houdini walked inside with Gucci, I was hard-pressed to find the man who’d just been so close to me that I could’ve kissed him.
“Well, well, if it isn’t Solo himself come to grace you with his presence,” Houdini said as he walked by Solo and knocked shoulders with him. “’Bout time you showed up. You have something more important to do these past couple days?”
“Bite me,” Solo snapped, and just when I thought he might lunge at him, Gucci walked into the room and stepped between the two.
“So, Panther,” he said, wrapping an arm around Solo and guiding the two of them toward the bed—away from Houdini. “You get an ETA on when you’re allowed to go home? You gonna have to quit the course?”
At Gucci’s waggling brows, I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Not quitting the course, no.”
“Aw, well, I mean, I didn’t want you to quit. I just thought you might have to.” When Gucci patted Solo’s chest, he added, “Plus, no one wants to be stuck with this guy here, so we kinda need you to come back.”
“It’ll take more than a few bruises to knock me out.”
“I guess you look worse than you feel, eh?” Gucci laughed until Solo backhanded him against the chest. “Ow. What? It’s not like he has to look in a mirror.”
“Shut the fuck up, Gooch.”
“The dark shadows, the red eyes. He kinda looks possessed—”
Solo shut him up by throwing his arm around Gucci’s neck and squeezing until Gucci hunched over and coughed out an apology. “What was that? Wanna say it again?”
“I said sorry.” When Solo let go, Gucci glared at his friend and rubbed his neck. “It was a joke.”
Houdini chuckled. “You know you only have to wrap one of those monster biceps around Solo and his head would pop off. Go ahead. You’d be doin’ us all a favor.”
“You’d miss me,” Solo said. “Admit it. I keep things interesting.”
“Nah, you only take the heat off the rest of us by actin’ a fool.” Houdini cocked his head. “On second thought, maybe we’ll keep ya around after all.”
As they continued to hurl insults back and forth, I relaxed against the pillow and grinned. It was comforting to see nothing much had changed while I’d been out. Or had it? Sure, I’d told the guys I’d be back in class and ready to go, but would that really be the case? I hadn’t spoken to anyone at NAFTA yet, and crashing a seventy-million-dollar plane wouldn’t put me in anyone’s good graces, my fault or not. Who knew what the outcome of the investigation would be? On top of that, one look at my banged-to-shit body, and I had a feeling they wouldn’t like what they saw.
As if he sensed the change in my mood, Solo looked over and raised an eyebrow, and I shook my head. I didn’t want to think about it, not right now, and I sure as hell didn’t want to talk about it with the others around.
Shit. What if NAFTA didn’t allow me to continue?
4Solo
