His nose wrinkled.
Fuck me, he’s adorable.
“An apology for what?”
“For being rude before.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s your personality.”
I barked a laugh. “Still, I shouldn’t have said that on the app.”
He shrugged. “It was the truth. I’m not your responsibility.”
Mine.The word rumbled inside me like a volcano, actively denying his statement.
“Is everything okay in there?” The nurse appeared in the doorway.
“Yes. He’s ready for the IV now,” I replied, pushing him forward.
He glanced over his shoulder, an argument forming in his stare.
“Go on, little hazard. Don’t argue.”
“Don’t call me that,” he hissed.
But that was exactly what he was. A hazard. To himself. To my better judgment.
But as hazardous as he was, I wasn’t ready to let him go yet.
CHAPTER
FIVE
Haz
It took nearlytwo hoursfor me to finish all the fluids in the IV that everyone insisted I have. Two hours of sitting in that hospital bed while Kieran—my fake boyfriend—sat there watching as though he thought I was going to try and sneak off again.
Honestly, what was he even doing there anyway? He’d insulted and refused me when I messaged, and then, suddenly, there he was, towering over me in a long black trench coat, cobalt eyes thick with scrutiny. Even if I wanted to hatch another escape plan, I’d never get far. I knew just by looking at him that he was a predator. A predator who never lost his prey.
And right now?
I was the prey.
I should have been scared, right? Maybe I was exhausted. Maybe that hit on the head rattled my rational thinking. Who knows? But the closer I got to being left alone with him, the calmer I seemed to get.
The wheelchair jostled lightly as it transitioned from the smooth, shiny hospital floor onto a much rougher surface between two sets of large automatic glass doors leading outside. The second they opened, damp, chilled air curled in, making me shiver.
“This has got to be one of the wettest spring seasons this city has seen in years,” the nurse pushing the chair observed.
The chair jostled again, reminding me how much my head and body still ached. It wasn’t as bad as when I’d first woken up, so I supposed the IV fluids and pain medication had helped, but I’d never admit it out loud.
I could only imagine the bill this little trip produced. Just thinking about it made me queasy. True to his word, Kieran paid. At least, I thought he did. As I was changing from the gown into my still-wet, wrinkled, and blood-stained clothes, he’d gone to deal with the discharge paperwork and get the car.
A moment of panic punched me in the chest, fisting around my heart and lungs to squeeze.What if he just said that? What if he left? What if I’m stranded and the nurse is now a witness to my abandonment at the curb?
The stricken sound I made was drowned out by the rumble of an engine and chased away by a set of bright headlights sweeping over the dark pavement and highlighting the falling rain.
“There he is now,” the nurse said.
