“He—”
Dom shook his head. “No, he didn’t. Whatever’s happened, mate, that boy loves you, and he’s got your back. Don’t let any other fucker stop you believing that.”
Perspective hit me in waves, each one more powerful than the first.That boy loves you.How could that be true when he’d never told me? When I’d never given him the chance? Months of pushing and pulling reanimated in my brain, and then Rae’s face when I’d repeatedly rejected him, doubted him, and not fought my convoluted soul hard enough to tell him I loved him too. “I believe it.”
“Good.” Dom nodded. “Then I’ll tell him you’re done being a dick to him.”
***
Rae
The hospital let Cash go home, but I was fairly sure it was to get rid of the paps loitering outside, rather than him being fit to leave.
He could hardly walk. Dom and I carried him out of the staff entrance while Lucky brought the car around, and he slept all the way home, slumped against me in the back of Dom’s Lexus.
Dom and Lucky held hands.
I was jealous.
Cash hadn’t said a word since Dom had beckoned me into his hospital room a few hours before, he’d just clung to me and never let go, and that was fine by me. The way he leaned on me was enough. The doubt and fear between us was over. Against the odds, he believed me. I didn’t need to know what had changed his mind.
Back at the house, Cash collapsed in the downstairs bedroom and promptly went back to sleep. Dom disappeared, but Lucky lingered, and I gave him a hug. Dom was a practical man—all business with his buddy Isha for backup—but Lucky had been as scared as I was, and he still looked terrified.
I led him out of the room, closing the door on Cash, and tugged him into the kitchen. “He’s okay, mate. Dom said he’ll be like this for a while.”
“I know.” Lucky stared at his boots. “It just…fuck, this is going to sound really selfish, but the look on your face the last few days takes me back to something I put Dom through, and I can’t get it out of my head.”
“That’s not selfish, it’s human.”
Lucky took the kettle to the sink, but didn’t fill it. “I feel selfish, because I’ve been thinking about Dom instead of about you. Are you okay?”
“No.”
Lucky nodded. “Good. Then I know you really love him and you’re not going to mug him off.”
“Wow. Is there anyone who didn’t believe I’ve been out to fuck Cash over from the start?”
Lucky flinched. “That’s not what I meant,” he said. “I’ve just spent so long listening to him go back and forth on it that I’d forgotten that it wasn’t you who made him like that.”
“That’s right. It wasn’t. And Idolove him, Lucky. He just has to let me.”
Unable to be away from Cash for long, I left Lucky to his half-hearted tea making and returned to the bedroom. Cash was on his side, dressed in the soft sweatpants and T-shirt one of Dom’s PAs had brought to the hospital. It had been a while since I’d seen him not all in black. Navy and white suited him. All he needed now was some colour in his pale cheeks.
I untied my boots and tucked them away in the corner. I was dressed in random sports clothes too, and I needed a shower, but leaving Cash was inconceivable. My heart craved the reassurance of seeing him awake and alive before I would leave his side again.
As though he’d heard me, Cash stirred. One green eye slid open, and then two, blank for a moment, until awareness crept in.
He smiled. “You’re here.”
I leaned down to kiss his cheek. “Where else would I be?”
Cash sat up slightly until his head was in line with my lap. Then he dropped back down with a weary sigh. “After the last few days, I wouldn’t blame you if you’d run for the fucking hills.”
“Me? I reckon you’re the one with cause to run away, mate.”
Cash coughed. For a moment, I thought he was done talking. Then he sighed again. “I’m sorry I got so fucked up over everything. I never should’ve doubted you.”
“I don’t think anyone could blame you.” I stroked his bruised temple lightly with the pad of my thumb. “If I’d been more open with you, none of this would’ve happened.”
