I strain my neck to look out the door. “I can ask if your parents are here?—”
“No.” Billie squeezes my hand. “I want you. I mean, I’m sure they’ll come in when they arrive, but?—”
“There’s a traffic jam on Highway 21,” a nurse says. “Some stray cows in the road. Just waiting on the cowboys to round ’em up.”
I groan. “Of course.”Of course. If there’s ever traffic in Hartsville, chances are livestock is involved. You just hope it’s notyourlivestock that’s causing the trouble.
Although the idea of leaving Billie right now, even if her parents were here, doesn’t sit right. She’s clinging to my hand like her life depends on it.
Also, I can’t stop thinking about the way her voice sounded when she said, “I want you.”
Raw. Real. A little wild. She’s in her feelings, but she’s not trying to run away from them.
Danger.
A nurse wheels the tray over. “I’m going to get an IV started, all right, honey?”
Billie is shaking now. “If I pass out, will you please let this gentleman here administer CPR? He’s very good at it.”
“If you want me to kiss you again, Billie, you just gotta ask.”
Before tonight, I would’ve never made that joke. But when Billie cracks a smile, I know it’s the right call. It’s my turn to make her laugh.
At the very least, it’s my turn to keep her conscious so these nurses can do their job.
The nurse smiles too as she preps the IV. “Y’all make a cute couple.”
“Don’t we?” Billie manages thinly. “All right, lover boy, your services might be required sooner rather than later. I’m feeling woozy.”
My chest lurches when I look down and see Billie’s eyes well with tears before she quickly squeezes them shut.
I think I’ve seen her cry all of three times in the fifteen years I’ve known her. Woman is tough as nails.
But I know what it’s like to be scared shitless over something that, rationally, shouldn’t be a big deal. I was on a super bumpy flight years ago, and I’ve hated flying ever since. I get full-on heart palpitations justthinkingabout getting on a plane again.
Duke is horrified by my reluctance to travel. He lives for it. But me? I’d rather you pull out my fingernails than get on another flight. I’m a homebody through and through, and I like being on the ranch more than anywhere else on earth.
Bet Billie here would probably prefer to have a limb sawed off without anesthesia than get this IV inserted.
“Keep breathing, honey.” The nurse pats Billie’s free hand. “You’re only going to feel a quick pinch.”
Billie nods, keeping her eyes closed. But her brow is all scrunched up, and I notice sweat beading along her top lip. She’s trying very hard not to fall apart.
Now I’m the one who needs the reminder to breathe. I fuckinghateseeing her like this.
You can fall apart with me, I want to tell her.
“Let’s play a game,” I say instead, the idea hitting me out of nowhere.
Billie opens an eye. “A game?”
“Remember when you hummed that song for me? The Taylor Swift one about Romeo and Juliet and her dad or whatever? And I played the guitar while you sang?”
Now both her eyes are open. “You remember that?”
“Well, yeah.” I squeeze her hand again. “Your voice was prettier than I thought it would be.”
“Shut up.”
