I loved him. I loved him alittle more every day, in fact. Some part of me had been afraid that once thedanger passed one of us would get bored of the other, but it hadn’t happened.
“Not getting rid of meanytime soon,” he said, pulling me closer to kiss me on the cheek. He’d told mehe didn’t like hospitals, either, but he was still here for me today.
I wasn’t sure what I’ddone to deserve such an amazing man by my side, but I planned on keeping it up.
“Good, because I’m not donewith you yet.”
Looking up at the signs forguidance, I tugged Gray in the direction of the room we were looking for. Assoon as I poked my head around the door frame and saw Maddi grinning at herphone, relief washed over me.
She was okay. Alive, andwell, and clearly recovering. Even her cheeks looked a little pinker thanusual.
“Got time for a couple ofvisitors?” I asked, pulling Gray into sight as I shuffled my way through thedoor. I hadn’t told her I was coming, but if the way her face lit up when shesaw me was anything to go by, I was welcome.
She nodded eagerly, but hergaze fell to where I was still hanging onto Gray’s hand.
“Iknewit,” she said, eyessparkling. “Iknewhe was your boyfriend. You’re so cute together.”
The back of my neck suddenlyfelt like it was on fire. A soft, low chuckle from Gray didn’t help mattersat all.
“He wasn’t my boyfriend whenwe met,” Gray said. “Just some guy I hooked up with once.”
I looked at Gray, surprisedfor a moment, and then realized that a fifteen-year-old would know what hookupswere, and I was probably the only one scandalized by that remark.
“I knew the bodyguard storywas bullshit,” she said, still glowing with triumph.
“Oh, no, that was all true,”Gray said. “Miles’ll tell you the whole story if he wants to, but he really didhire me. After we hooked up.”
If anything, Maddi’s grin just got wider.Personally, I was torn between wanting to melt into the floor and being gladshe was happy. Even if it was at my expense.
It wasn’t as though Iwas trying to hide what Gray was to me. I’d had to introduce him properly to mydad the day after we’d finally figured our crap out, so after that, there wasno one I felt the need to hide him from.
Least of all Maddi, who wasa sweetheart, and I suspected might have been a little queer herself. She hadn’ttoldme, but…
She would, if she wanted to.In the meantime, it wouldn’t hurt her to see someone who’d been through whatshe’d just been through in a happy relationship. Relationships weren’t everything,but they were definitely something I’d been afraid would never work again.
Until a handful of weeks ago,even.
Gray had changed my entirelife, and I’dnever be able to thank him enough. I got the feeling, though, that I’d changedhis as well.
We were perfect for eachother, despite everything on the outside making us seem so different.
“How’re you feeling?” Ichanged the subject—smoothly, I thought, but Gray’s smirk said otherwise.
“Tired,” Maddi said. “My leghurts. And I’ll need months of physiotherapy and I can never wear shorts again.”
“Yeah, I can’t wear croptops anymore,” Gray said. “I mean, I guess I could? But I’d probably scarepeople.”
Both Maddi and I stared athim, though I suspected for slightly different reasons.
“Were you, uh… were you inthehabitof wearing croptops before…”I asked, unsure what I wanted the answer to be.
Gray chuckled. “Not so much. Ido still go jogging in the summer without a shirt on, though. Anyone who doesn’tlike it is welcome to look away.”
I couldn’t imagine anyonenotwanting to lookat Gray, but then I remembered we were talking about scars.
“Gray nearly got himselfkilled in a warzone,” I explained, since Maddi was still frowning at him.
“Got the scar to show forit,” Gray continued, and then lifted his sweater up to show Maddi his side,turning slowly so she could take in all the details.
