He rubbed his hands over his face and then palmed his eyes, and I envisioned him sending his anger all the way down to his groin so that he didn’t make the same mistake twice.
I slid my hand up his chest. “Now, dinner?”
“At the risk of pissing you off further, Let, I need a minute.”
I forced back a smile and waited until he’d pulled himself together. It took a few minutes, and although I didn’t get an apology, he did pull out his phone and order a car without any further snarky comments.
Taking my hand, he led me to the elevator, and we rode down to the first floor where we met the rideshare. The car brought us to a restaurant close to the hospital that was known for its steaks and the fact you could throw peanut shells on the ground.
We were seated at a booth for two by the window and the server took our order right away, then walked away. I didn’t like how quiet Aero was, so I slid my hands over the table and tapped my fingers in front of him. He took the hint and settled his hands in mine. “I love you.”
He sighed. “I love you too, baby. Sorry I was shitty.”
“Forgiven.”
“What did the nurse say?”
I squeezed his hands. “That unless your mom gives you power of attorney, only she can ban people.”
“Fuck,” he hissed.
“We’ll talk to Hatch,” I said. “He’ll sort it out.”
“He apparently doesn’t have any control over him, Letti, so I don’t think that’s gonna work.”
“We’ll ask him anyway,” I said. “How’s your mom?”
“Confused,” he said, finally focusing back on me. “She knows who I am, but can’t seem to remember Stella’s dead.”
I gasped. “So you have to tell her every time she asks?”
“Yeah,” he rasped.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered.
“It is what it is.” He tried to pull his hands away, but I held strong.
“Don’t hide from me, honey.”
“It’s a lot, Violet.”
“Yeah. Too much for you to carry by yourself.”
He met my eyes. “You really want to do this?”
“Hell, yes, I want to do this,” I hiss-pered. “I mean, I’d really rather none of this happened, but if you’re dealing with it, I’m dealing with it.” I squeezed his hands again. “I’m in all the way, honey. Do you need me to say it again?”
He smirked. “I might.”
He finally relaxed, squeezing my hands back. “Thanks, baby.”
“You’re welcome.”
Our food arrived and Aero held my pinky with his while the plates were set in front of us.
“Thank you,” we said, and the server walked away.
Aero released my hand and we dug into our food. We’d just cut into our steaks when his phone buzzed, and he answered immediately. “Jasper. Hm-mm, ah, really? Yeah. Ah, okay, yeah. Sure. Okay, thanks.” He hung up and sighed. “They’re releasing her tomorrow. She doesn’t have enough insurance to cover more time.”
