“I did feel guilty.” Vail winced and sent me an apologetic look, but I shrugged. Nick was right. That place was a graveyard for my radio-controlled planes.
“Are you here to see Aspen’s boyfriend?” Nick asked.
I rolled my eyes and shoved him with my elbow, and he gave me a hurt expression when I got him right in the ribs. Shrugging, I took a sip of the steaming hot coffee, aware of Cillian’s and Rowen’s attention on me. Vail, on the other hand, looked no less happy than a kid on Christmas morning. His grin almost broke his face and he bounced on his toes.
“Boyfriend? Is that Fallon?” He clapped his hands together. “He’s my boyfriend, too—well, all these guys belong to me.” Stepping back, he looped his arms around Cillian’s and Rowen’s elbows and tugged them closer. “They’re all mine. And Fallon is Aspen’s as well. And Aspen is Cillian’s—”
“Och. What?” Cillian’s gaze whipped to Vail, and he tried to tug his arm away, but Vail held on tight. “We used to share the people we fecked. I guess we still do, but Aspen ain’t mine.”
“Shh.” Vail bumped him with his hip. “I’m talking, Cillian.”
I smirked and didn’t bother to hide it. As much as Cillian tried to control Vail, he was also starting to give Cillian little pushbacks that had Cillian looking like a lost puppy. I couldn’t remember any other man who told him to shush, except maybe Sloan.
“Were you the one who saw Fallon first? Aspen said he took him to a doctor he knew.” Vail stared with big eyes at Nick, and I didn’t miss Nick’s flustered smile. I didn’t blame him. Vail had a way about him and enamored people, but unlike Cillian and Rowen, he didn’t need an accent to do it.
“Yeah, I was.” Nick cleared his throat, smoothing his hand down his wrinkled shirt, which must’ve been rolled in a ball all day in his work locker, since he’d changed out of the scrubs he’d been in earlier. At least the black jacket hid most of the mess. If Auntie Gloria ever saw him with a shirt like that, she’d drag him home by his ear. As far as she was concerned, we all had to look respectable in public.
Vail gave him the sweetest smile known to man. “Thank you. We owe you a lot.”
“Uh.” Nick laughed awkwardly and glanced at me, but I merely shrugged. “You’re welcome?”
“My boyfriends thank you, too, don’t you?” He gave us each a pointed look.
Rowen said, “Thank ye,” while Cillian grunted, and I nodded. Vail huffed at us with a semblance of amusement.
“So, they’reallyour boyfriends?” Nick’s eyes widened. “Shit, all righty then. Here I am painfully single and you have four boyfriends.” He tugged at his collar, like the thought of having more than one boyfriend made him hot. I honestly didn’t know which way my cousin swung, but it didn’t matter because my auntie Gloria was as accepting and loving as Auntie Lisa. They never cared who their family loved, as long as they were happy. “Speaking of being single, I need to head home to my very empty apartment and get some sleep.”
Nick turned to me, and I brought him into a hug with a hard thump on the back while trying to keep the hot cup of coffee away from our bodies so it didn’t accidently spill on us.
“Thanks, cuz,” I whispered to him as I stepped away.
He tapped his fist to my shoulder. “No problem. You know I’m always here to help you out. Tell Mr. Killough I said hi.”
I snorted but gave him a smile anyway, and he said a quick goodbye to Vail and headed out the front doors. I sucked in another long sip of coffee before Vail was holding out his hand, and I gave it to him dutifully, letting him take a drink of his own. If there was anything I’d learned about him, it was that he loved coffee almost more than I did, and that was saying something.
I slipped my hand into his free one and raised it to my lips, laying a gentle, reassuring kiss on the back, before I tilted my head to gesture for him to follow me. With my hand still in his, I led him through a stark corridor with white walls and the distinctive smell of bleach. We went up an elevator, Rowen and Cillian right behind us, and when we passed the familiar nurse again, her eyes widened as she watched us file past.
As we got closer to Fallon’s room, raised voices reached us, and I sighed, aware of Fallon’s being in the mix.
“I told you, I’mfine,” Fallon snapped, but he sounded drowsy, as though still fighting against the effects of the painkillers. “Where’s Aspen? I want Aspen. He was here a minute ago.”
“Sir, please!” A feminine voice rose higher. “Calm down. The doctor wants us checking on you regularly. He won’t be able to determine the severity of your bruising until the morning, when it’ll develop more. You must stay overnight.”
“No. I want to go home to Aspen and Vail! I’ve been knocked six ways to Sunday lots of times. I’m a fighter. I don’t need to stay here.”
Cursing Fallon beneath my breath, I dragged Vail along quicker and rushed into Fallon’s room, jaw tight and mouth twisted in disapproval.
Fallon was halfway off his bed, making his IV line stretch and tug at the bag, with the nurse trying to hold his shoulders and keep him in place. She wasn’t winning, considering Fallon was a lot stronger than her and disoriented with the meds. There was something in his eyes, a panic I hadn’t seen before that had me releasing Vail and stalking over to the bed. I touched his arm and his gaze shot to me.
“Boy, you’re fine. I’m here.”
He jumped at me, and I grabbed him, surprised when he buried his face against my chest. “Don’t leave. Fuck, don’t leave. I fucking hate hospitals.” He shivered in my arms. “I can’t... I fucking hate them.”
I wrapped my arms around him and held him gingerly, worried about his damned ribs, which was why we were here in the first place. “I’m not going anywhere. I said I was staying here.”
Vail shifted to stand beside me and touched his hand to Fallon’s back, rubbing it soothingly. Fallon glanced at him and grabbed Vail, dragging him into our hug. We didn’t talk because the moment didn’t warrant any words—even Cillian didn’t have a smart-ass remark about what was happening. Anyone with eyes could see something had shaken Fallon to the point he’d panicked. As much as Cillian joked about Fallon and threatened him, he cared about him in his own way.
I dragged Vail into my spot before slowly detaching myself from Fallon, then moved in closer to the nurse, who watched with softer eyes than I’d expected from someone who’d been forced to wrestle with a much bigger man. Compared to Fallon she was tiny but seemed to have more strength than what her appearance showed.
