Page 31 of Floodgates

“Shut up,” he barked.

I turned my attention to Breckin. “You okay?”

“Me?” He choked. “Who cares about me?”

“I do,” I said, reaching for his hand. “And you look a little green.”

He sucked in a breath, squeezing my hand. “I was scared.”

“I’m sorry.”

Leaning in, he kissed my forehead. “When I went to the bathroom to check on you and saw you lying there—I’m not ready to lose you.”

“If you’re gonna get hit,” I teased him, tipping my head back to kiss his cheek, “doing it in front of a doctor is a good plan.”

“Yeah, well, don’t do it again,” he insisted.

“I’ll try not to.”

He calmed, gave me another kiss, and then went to confer with Tate.

I asked Matt to entertain me, so he sat on the end of my bed and explained how the wedding he’d coordinated on Friday night had ended up not happening.

“Why? What?” I was dying to know. Matt’s stories were legend. Most of his weddings came off without a hitch. They were either stunning, romantic, or kind of over the top, but every now and then there was trauma.

“The bride caught the groom with her sister.”

“Oh shit,” I groaned.

“Yeah. And then the sister—”

“Enough, you two,” Eric said briskly, cutting us off by snapping his fingers. “Let’s get the hell outta here, Matt. Tracy’s got to rest. You heard the doctor.” He indicated Tate with a toss of his perfectly coiffed head. “He’s got a concussion and—”

“Okay, okay,” Matt almost whimpered. “Please let’s not go over and over it.”

“Then come on,” Eric pressed his mate before leaning over and kissing my cheek. “Forgive me.”

“What?”

“About before,” he reminded me. “At the club.”

It took me a minute. “Oh, don’t be an idiot,” I soothed him, hugging him tight. “You just want what’s best for me, I know that.”

“Yes, but if that had been the last time we spoke….” He trailed off, obviously upset.

“Stop.”

He nodded, kissed my cheek again, and then gave me an order. “Get better, baby.”

“I will. Thanks for coming to check on me.”

“Like we would have stayed away,” he replied, walking around the bed to give Alex a hug. He forced a sort of smile, smirk, something in-between, for Breckin, but you could tell it was an afterthought, and for me. And, of course, my brother noticed. He narrowed his eyes, and I knew he was putting things together. There were only so many reasons people took breaks.

“Mattie, get up.”

“I’ll call you in the morning,” Matt promised, rising from beside me, his eyes purposefully wide, like his boyfriend had flipped out. “And I’ll keep trying until I get you.”

“Good.” I smiled at him as he kissed Alex on the cheek good-bye and ignored Breckin completely.