Luke didn’t even make it into a dramatic reveal. He just casually slipped that they’d matched into the conversation like it wasn’t something I’d been desperate to hear since I scented his lunchbox.
Happiness rushes through me, and I don’t want to cheer like a maniac, especially when Luke’s face twists and the mood turns somber.
His smile vanishes, and his shoulders droop as he plops his empty cup onto the table next to the bed with a hollow thud.
Even with the sounds of nurses and patients in the ward carrying on beyond the curtain, it’s like Luke has frozen the room with his dark look.
It’s the same echoing silence that fed between Ollie and me when she called me that night, and my heart catches in my throat.
“I really screwed things up for her, you know?” Luke says softly as he rubs the back of his neck. “We were so freaking excited about this job. It was going to be our big break; we were finally going to follow in our parents’ footsteps by running a food business, and I…”
He blows out a heavy breath, and I think he’s going to be sad or guilty, but instead, his head snaps up. “And then I just had to go and get hit by a van!” He laughs.
“You’re talking as if it’s your fault.”
Luke shrugs. “The worst part is that Ollie thinks she’s responsible for it. What an idiot.” He rolls his eyes. “I was rushing across the street because there was a time-limited sale on croissants from a bakery Ollie and I love. And you know how it goes with the ol’ cliché Hit-By-A-Van stories.” He smirks. “I was listening to music, I didn’t look, I came out onto the street between two parked cars, and the guy was going twenty over the speed limit. So, it was pretty much a showdown between me and four thousand pounds of metal, and guess who lost?” he asks ashe raps his knuckles on his cast. “I swear I had a fighting chance, though. The guy just got a head start.”
I might have been convinced if I hadn’t already seen the way Ollie hid herself behind her jokes. It’s just that Luke is on another level.
I keep staring at him, my face blank and unimpressed, even though I want to shake him and demand he tell me more about Timber.
I need to wait him out, and Luke folds easily, biting his lip in the same way Ollie does when she worries.
He chuckles as he drops his head. “I was super scared, you know? I haven’t told Ollie, because I don’t want her to freak. Thank God she wasn’t there, though. I was stuck under that van for ages until the firemen came to cut me out. Plus, there were a ton of people around me as I screamed like a little baby.” He snorts. “I thought they were going to have to take my legs to get me out of there.” This time, he flattens trembling palms against his cast.
“I’m so sorry,” I say, my heart aching for him. I wish I could have been there for them when Ollie found out. I can’t imagine what was running through her head. If she’s so twisted up about Timber and barely shows it, what must it have been like when she heard about Luke?
He shakes his head. “It’s not like I can change anything now,” he says as he leans back. He winces, clutching his stomach again as he looks back at me. “That’s the thing, you see? If you’re wondering why Ollie went to Timber’s house in my place and is stuffing herself full of suppressants so she can delay her heat and keep working for him. It’s because we can’t afford any of this.” He waves his hand around the tiny space. “We took out a loan for our business, and this job with the Scorpions was the first step in paying it back. Well, the job with Timber. We hoped that if we did well here, we’d be on track to either work for the whole teamor find other big jobs to get our business known. If Ollie doesn’t do this, we’re pretty much fucked. It’s just our luck she scent matched with Timber as well.”
My throat closes up, forcing myself not to react because Luke is still talking. But each time he says they’ve matched, it’s like lightning zips through my body.
Luke sighs heavily. “She’s been growing paler, and she tries to hide that she’s not getting any sleep, but it’s messing her up. At least she has you as well, so she’s not just going through this by herself.”
I edge forward in my chair. “You know you could have both asked me. I have the money. I can tell her I’ll pay—”
Quicker than lightning, Luke’s crutch is back up, pointing straight at me.
“Not another word, boy.” His voice deep and his eyes blazing. “You don’t say a single thing like that to Ollie.”
The change gives me whiplash, but this time, he looks completely serious.
“There must be a way around this,” I say. “What if you left the hospital and I hired a nurse for you? Or I could take you somewhere better than this.”
Luke blows out a long breath as he lowers the crutch. “You’re not her mate, Kane. Not yet. Just because you scent matched doesn’t mean she’s going to want anything from you. The fact that you’ve offered that means you don’t get what she’s like. You’ll pummel her pride if you just pay for it out of thin air.” He sighs again. “From what she’s said, you’ve only met a few times. If you start waving your money around like it’s your cock, you’ll have no chance.” He clicks his tongue as he adjusts the crutch over his legs.
I want to find a way to make her happy, to take away all her burdens. If she’ll get angry over me offering up front, what if I pay the bills behind the twins’ backs, and just tell the hospital toredirect all their payments to me? Or even make it a donation? Maybe I can pass it off as a charity deal, like a sponsorship program they could apply for? Or I could risk it and make her resent me forever by openly covering her bills. It would be better than having my omega suffer because she’s having to live with Timber in disguise.
“If you’re plotting ways to pay the bills, you’d better let me in on it. I’m not going to say no to a guy who looks like a supermodel. But you gotta do it in a way that means Ollie won’t find out, okay? She can hold a grudge like nobody’s business, so you have to make sure you’ve got some good padding.”
“Padding for what?”
“Padding for when she whoops your ass.” He grins, bouncing back from his serious mood that shrouded the room just seconds ago.
Luke points to a stack of magazines on his bedside table. “Can you pick the top one up? I can’t bend that far without getting my ribs involved.”
I lean forward, lifting it, and my eyes widen as I find a small pile of bills hidden underneath. I instantly scan the figures, my heart dropping at the number of zeros there.
“See what I mean?” Luke says. “I had to go into surgery five times to fix these weak-ass bones of mine, and I’ve got a bunch of skin grafts due as soon as I can walk. It’s going to be at least three months until my hips and legs are strong enough to start physical therapy. If that’s the price for everything so far, how pretty do you think that number’s gonna be once I’m fully fixed up?”
