“I’m as serious as my grandmomma with her wooden spoon,” he swore. “That shit hurt for days.”
I laughed again.
“Don’t worry, Pip. I’ll always say it back.”
My fingers curled into the too-long sleeve of his hoodie.
“Your stomach fluttering again?”
How’d he know?“Yes.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“That’s the stuff.” He sighed. “You can hang up now.”
Before I did, I whispered, “Hurry home.”
CHAPTER
TWENTY-EIGHT
Ghost
Turned out I tore a couple stitches carrying Pip around.
Worth it.
Once I was re-stabbed, re-stitched, and bandaged, Doc took his leave, and I found Kieran in the kitchen cleaning.
“I booked you a cleaning service. They’ll be here first thing in the morning.”
He turned from the sink. He was wearing yellow rubber gloves. Ridiculous.
“Big Bird wore it better,” I told him.
“You really booked a cleaning service?”
“The least I could do.”
“Thank you.”
I nearly fell over. “Did you justthankme?”
“It’s like you want the cleaners to throw out a carpet with your chopped-up body rolled inside,” he quipped.
“You’d never be that messy.”
The rubber gloves made an ear-splitting sound when hepulled them off and tossed them in the sink. “I appreciate you being there for Haz the other day.”
“And for you too?” I needled.
He gave me a look.
I grinned.
“Yes,” he said quickly. “Me too. I didn’t mean for you to end up in the middle of a shootout.”
