“I’m fine.”
“Max, please?” I pleaded.
When he didn’t move, I threatened, “If you don’t let her treat you, I’ll—I’ll leave this hospital right now.”
Eyes narrowed. Mouth pressed in a frustrated line, he sat near the bed again and let the nurse tend to him. Once she was done, she wrapped a compress dressing around his knuckles. “Try not to hit anything else, okay?”
He didn’t answer, his brooding gaze fixed on me. Okay, so he wouldn’t let me get away with blackmail. I’d cross that bridge when I came to it.
The nurse checked my vitals then handed me two pills. “For pain.”
Thank God. I’d been trying to ignore the increasing throbbing in my skull and hand because I didn’t want Max to worry, but the headache was happily reminding me of how hard I had hit my head. Even breathing hurt my chest. Gratefully, I swallowed the pills with some water.
Once the door closed behind the nurse, my gaze skipped over Max’s unreadable features.
Yes, he was good at hiding his feelings, showing the world, his ‘don’t give a damn’ expression.
Emotions flooding me, I burst out, “Can’t you see? Don’t you sense what I feel for you, Max? It’s so overwhelming…no words can ever describe it.” He went utterly still. I was pretty sure he’d stopped breathing. “I admit, it’s been harder to say because I was terrified to open myself up again. But when you face death, it obliterates every barrier you’ve built, and there is nothing left but love. You walked into my life and stopped my tears—you healed the brokenness inside me.Younever gave up on me. And you…you punched Devyn in the face—”
Like a man driven beyond his endurance, he shot up from the chair and gently gathered me into his arms, careful of my injuries.
Tears burned my eyes. My voice cracked. “I love you, Max, so very much.”
“The thought that you didn’t love me…” He exhaled roughly. “It felt like I was drowning and there was nothing I could do—nothing I could hold on to.”
A tear slipped down my face. I put my good arm around him, clutching the back of his shirt, hating that I’d hurt him even for a moment.
“Don’t cry, my dancing girl. You’ve captured this unworthy heart of mine, and I’m all yours. Every flawed piece until the end of our days.” He kissed me tenderly then straightened or tried to, but I held on tightly. “No, don’t.”
“I’m getting a crick in my neck bending over this bed and holding you, baby.” He rubbed his bristly cheek against mine. “Give me a sec.”
He got rid of his boots, lowered the bed, and slid alongside me, careful not to jostle my hurt wrist. “I’m staying right here, with you, until you’re released in the morning.”
“What about the nurse?” I settled in his arms, my head on his chest.
“She can go find her own bed.”
At his dry tone, a shaky laugh escaped me. “I’m not usually needy like this, but I hate hospitals. They remind me too much of when my mom was sick.”
“I like you needing me.” His fingers stroked my waist. “Christ, Logan, when I saw that crash...”
I understood what he wasn’t saying. “I’m sorry about your mom, and I’m sorry for scaring you in that same way, but I’m right here, Max.”
His eyes darkened. He tipped his head back and stared at the ceiling. “I remember, Logan. I recall everything. It took seeing your crash, the smashed-up Jeep, to break through the wall hiding my memories…” His voice lowered to a rough whisper. “She was crying, my mother was sobbing because she’d found out my father was having an affair.” Bitterness filled his tone. “And Cecilia was her best friend. Even when I didn’t remember, I couldn’t stand her. It makes sense now why.”
Saying “I’m sorry” wouldn’t take away his hurt. I kissed his unshaven jaw instead, letting him know I was there. Because more than anything, I understood the pain of betrayal.
“I’d come back from Jack’s house,” he continued, “and Mom was in the courtyard, in the pouring rain, struggling to start her car. Worried, I parked mine and told her I’d drive her. I had no idea what was wrong at that point…”
For the next ten minutes, Max told me why his mother had let music consume her life and went on tours. Seems his father had been having an affair with Cecilia for years.
I smothered a yawn, the pain meds starting to cloud my mind and steal my consciousness.
Max lifted his head and peered at me in the soft light. “Logan?”
I patted his chest. “Just for a few minutes…’kay.”
“A few minutes?” A smile entered his voice, then his warm lips pressed against my brow as I closed my eyes. “Okay, baby, I’ll be here.” Then in a tone so soft, “I teased you that you’d fall in love with me. I just never figured I’d fall for you first.”
