Zane shrugs. “It’s a damn good idea.” He looks at Les. “It’s the safety net we need for what’s going to happen.” He looks back at me. “Call Doc. Let’s get it started.”
Any doubt I’ve ever had about Zane disappears at that moment. He sees how much this means to me and how hard I worked on it, and he is giving it a chance. I don’t want to admit how much it hurt me that the rest of them didn’t even try.
I’m sittingin the little hospital room with Doc and Zane an hour later. Doc explains that he inserts a needle with the tracker inside just under the skin and that you won’t even know it’s there.
Zane cuts his eyes to me. “I fucking hate needles.”
“You’re scared of needles?” I can’t help but laugh. He has scars everywhere from his time with Les, and he’s been shot before. And his fear is of needles?
“It’s not funny,” Zane says with a shudder.
“You want me to hold your hand?” I ask sarcastically.
His eyes narrow. “You owe me for this.”
He might be joking, but I do. He doesn’t know me for shit, but here he is, waiting to get something implanted in him that I designed, something I’ve never done before.
“Alright,” Doc announces, needle in hand. “You ready?”
Zane eyes him warily. “Where does it go?”
“We figured on the back of your neck would be best, but ultimately it’s up to you,” Doc answers.
Zane closes his eyes. “Go ahead.”
“Don’t forget I’m here if you need me,” I joke.
“Don’t forget what you offered me last night,” he replies without opening his eyes. White hot lust flashes through me before I can stop it. Admittedly, I was drunk when I made that comment, but that doesn’t stop me from remembering everything that went down in the pool with Les. I love Ryder, but there’s something about Zane that I want to explore. I don’t know if he even is into that; I guess time will tell. I didn’t think Ryder was, either.
“All done,” Doc says, stepping back. Zane opens his eyes, and I see how pale he is. “Fire it up. See if it works.”
Doc is just as excited as I am to see if all our hard work paid off. Doc helped the other guy design them so they were safe for the human body.Weeksof endless work went into this.
I tap a few buttons on my laptop until the app for the trackerloads. I named them all on the screen, so my heart soars when I see the red dot with Zane’s name start blinking.
“It fucking worked!” I exclaim, ready to yell it from the rooftops. Doc gets to work on mine, and two seconds later, mine starts flashing right beside Zane. “Holy shit,” I breathe, pumped as hell.
Zane slaps me on the back. “I never had any doubts it would work.”
“Thank you,” I say seriously. He smiles, then winks, causing me to flush again, making him grin.
Is he flirting with me?Or has he picked up on the attraction and is just fucking with me?
The door to the room slowly opens, and Les steps through with Gage, Dex, and Leo. No Ryder. She smiles knowingly. “He’ll come around.” I knew it would be tough to convince them, but I didn’t think it would make anyone mad.
“Look at this shit,” Zane says proudly, pointing at the screen. They all crowd around to look. “That’s us right there.”
Les turns to me with a soft smile, pecking my lips. “I’m proud of you. I’m sorry if I made you feel any other way. It was just a shock.”
“It’s okay,” I tell her honestly.
“Put it in me, Doc,” Gage says, making Doc laugh with a shake of his head.
Their names start blinking on the screen, and honestly, I could weep with relief. “I have an app for all the phones too, so you can look while you’re out.”
“You’re fucking awesome,” Gage announces. He grabs my face, laying a sound kiss right on my lips, making my eyes widen. It shouldn’t surprise me; it’s such a Gage thing to do.
Running my hand through my hair, I murmur, “I need to find Ryder.”
