Matthew grinned as he ran his fingers through his beard. Even under the yellow hospital lighting, he was sexy. Really, the doctor thing was doing something for me. “It’s fine. Give me a couple minutes. I’ll drive everyone. Go wake our girl up.”
Our girl.
Matthew went back through the ER doors, his voice muffled as he talked to a couple nurses. I stood there a moment, torn between confusion, guilt, and maybe a little bit of happiness. No one had ever sat in the ER and waited for me, and this certainly wasn’t the first time I’d been in a situation like this. Usually I had to call an Uber and get myself home, but not tonight.
I crossed to them and gently touched Evie’s shoulder. “Evie, baby,” I murmured.
June shot up next to her, her eyes wide. “Jesus,” she hissed. “You scared me.”
“Sorry, so sorry,” I said quickly. “Thanks for being here.”
“Of course,” she said with a yawn. “I can’t believe we fell asleep like that, but it’s been a weird day.”
“Has been,” I agreed, giving Evie one more gentle shake.
She blinked a few times then made a face, and it made me chuckle. She didn’t like being woken up. “Hi,” she whispered. “What time is it?”
“Getting late,” I said.
“Oh god,” June cursed under her breath. She dug through her purse and pulled out her phone. “I bet Dallas and Madi are worried.”
“Matthew is gonna drive me and Evie home,” I said. “Should we drop you off too, June?”
“Nope, I’m good,” she said. “I drove Evie over. Also, we had Dallas go by your place to check on Lucky. I hope that’s okay.”
Relief rushed through me and I blinked back tears. Lucky mattered to me more than anything else in my life, and to know that people who didn’t really know me took the time to check on him made my heart feel full. “Thank you for that. Truly. That was really thoughtful.”
Evie’s expression softened and she surprised me by cupping my face. “Areyouokay?”
“I am,” I said. “Concussion and bruised ribs. Doctor says I’m out of commission for a few days. He’ll have to take care of your needs.”
I smirked as Evie hissed, but June laughed.
“Okay, I’m going to head home and go see my partners,” June said.
“Tell them hi for me,” Evie sighed. She ran her fingers through her hair and hummed. “I’ll see you soon.”
“See you!”
June left us, sailing out the doors. The moment she was gone, I raised a brow at Evie. She was flustered. Her cheeks were red, her eyes extra blue and watery, and she had anxiety written all over her face. I sat down in the chair next to her, wincing as my ribs ached. Still, I slid my arm around her. She was stiff for a few moments, but finally, she melted against me.
“Areyouokay?” I asked, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “Answer honestly. You don’t look like you’re okay.”
“I don’t know,” she exhaled. “No? I feel like an asshole, honestly. When you fell, there was this one guy saying you and Austin were fighting over a woman and he pushed you.”
“The second part isn’t true at all,” I said immediately.
“And the first?”
“Not exactly true,” I said. “You came up because I was being stubborn. I asked if you’re why he won’t give me a second chance, when really he was telling me not to come up on the roof because it wasn’t secure. I didn’t listen to him, and that’s on me. I’ll talk to him this week. Hell, maybe the four of us should talk.”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I don’t know what to do. Right before this all happened, he came by the bakery and asked me to dinner. But I . . . I was worried since things are changing with you, Matthew, and myself that it would be too much and I told him we should just be friends. And I shouldn’t even be dumping this on you, you literally fell off a roof.”
I smiled and kissed the top of her head again. She smelled like strawberries, and it made my mouth water. “This isn’t my first ER visit, baby. I promise I’m okay. Honestly, I’m more flattered that you stuck around all day. You didn’t need to.”
“Of course I stuck around.” Her brows drew together. “Why wouldn’t I?”
My throat thickened and I was glad she wasn’t looking up at me. My eyes burned with tears, but I blinked them back. “Well . . . Thank you. And as far as Austin goes, if he can stop hating me so much, maybe the four of us could have some fun.”
