“I’m going to be okay,” I promise him, reaching for his hand. He allows me to take it, and I give a slight tug, pulling him closerto me, and he gets up off his knees before crumbling onto my bed beside me, being careful not to jostle me too much.
Knight wraps me in the warmth of his arms, holding me tight as his hand gently rubs up and down my back. “We’re going to get through this,” he vows. “Nobody is going to take you away from me, Harper. Not now. Not ever.”
And with those words circling my mind, I close my eyes and rest against his strong chest, listening to the soft, gentle thud of his heartbeat, knowing without a doubt that if I were to lose that, my life simply wouldn’t be worth living.
4
HARPER-RAYN
My best friend barges through my hospital room door, rage flashing in her bright blue stare. “Again?” she demands as though I had a choice in ending up here. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
My jaw drops, and I gape at Izzy, knowing damn well I haven’t had a chance to find my phone in the pool of blood left behind in the parking garage to send her a quick text, explaining that some asshole left me for dead again.
I let out a breath and turn my furious gaze on the most delicious piece of man-meat beside me. “You told Izzy?”
He cringes, his face scrunching with guilt. “Yeah. And your brother.”
“And my br—WHAT? Are you insane?” I demand. “You told my brother? Is everything alright up in that ridiculously bossy brain of yours? Because surely you must be missing a screw or two.”
“I couldn’t not call him,” Knight says, more than ready to defend himself. “He cares about you and deserves to know that his sister was going through emergency surgery. Besides, it’s not as though I called your mom like I did last time.”
“He’s got a point,” Izzy says, striding around the side of the bed to where Knight sits and holds up her hand. She waves him away, flicking her wrists with the universal sign for Move your bitch ass before giving him a wide smile. “Be a darling and grab us something to eat, would you? I’m starved.”
Knight stares at Izzy as silence fills the room, and all she does is stare right back, all while my gaze ping-pongs between them with fear.
I’ve always feared the two great loves of my life going head-to-head, and I’d hate to break it to Knight, but while he might be the hero every woman dreams of, if anybody is going to crush him, it would be Izabelle Grace Davenport.
It turns into an intense showdown, each of them waiting to see who’ll break first, and as the tension climbs to impossible heights, my hands start to shake. Then, just when I think Knight is about to get to his feet and crush my best friend like a bug under his boot, he simply lets out a sigh. “What do you want?”
Izzy arches a brow as if she didn’t expect the win. “Uhhhh. A burger,” she says.
“And fries,” I add before reconsidering. “Actually, you better make it a double.”
Knight gapes at me, and I’m sure he’s wondering if it’s even safe for me to eat such a large meal so soon after surgery, but he’s also not about to tell me no, especially not after the hell I’ve already suffered through. He’ll just be sure to be here when said meal is wreaking havoc on my body and hold my hand through the pain of my mistakes.
Seeing that I’m not about to change my mind, he simply shakes his head before striding out of the room, and I don’tdoubt that when he returns, he’ll come bearing two strawberry shakes along with the burgers and fries, and a goofy grin on his perfect face, knowing he did good.
Fuck, I’m so in love with him.
Izzy immediately takes the space beside me, kicking her feet up as she drags her laptop out of her bag and sets it up on her lap. “Are you up to date on The Summer I Turned Pretty?” she questions, already bringing it up. “Because tough shit if you are. We’re starting right from the beginning, and don’t even try and give me that Team Jere bullshit. I won’t stand for that kind of blasphemy.”
I get comfortable, scooting down in my bed as best I can while silently worshipping the morphine gods, because shit. This stuff deserves to have its dick sucked every damn day. It’s been at least five or six hours since I woke up after surgery, and ever since Celia hooked me up, I’ve been floating through the pain like a pretty little butterfly on crack. It’s wonderful.
Izzy and I get halfway through the first episode when a knock sounds at the door, and I glance up to find Amelia striding in. She came and checked on me a little after I first woke from surgery to give me the rundown of how everything went. As she told me about the damage inflicted on my large intestine and my kidney, all I could think about was the way she climbed on top of me, slammed her hands against my waist to stop the bleeding, and told me that I was not dying today.
This woman saved my life this morning, and I will always be grateful.
Amelia makes her way deeper into the room before pausing and glancing around, her brows furrowed. “Shit. What happened to the big dude? I thought his hand was permanently attached to your ass.”
I snort a laugh. “It usually is, but occasionally I have to eat , and when that happens, he’s all too happy to oblige.”
Izzy grins beside me. “I kicked him out, and he went running with his tail between his legs like a little bitch.”
“Watch it,” I mutter. “I don’t know how he does it, but somehow he’ll find out that you said that, and when he does, you’ll be up shit creek without a paddle.”
Izzy scoffs. “Oh, I can handle Knight Slater.”
Both Amelia and I scoff right back at her, and while Amelia has only met both Izzy and Knight once before, even she knows that nobody, not even me, can handle the one and only Knight Slater. It’s an impossible task. He’s a hurricane, and the only way to survive him is to ride out the storm right along with him.
