Page 340 of A Matter of Time

I nodded and looked at Dane. “Sorry. I’m really sorry I worried you.”

He walked around the bed, leaned over, and took me in his arms. I breathed him in and he held me tight, his face in my hair.

“Dane, please⁠—”

“You saved Aja, and you’re home safe. I couldn’t ask any more of you.”

“You’re not mad at me?”

“Oh, I’m furious with you.” He exhaled, rubbing my back. “After Sam told us what’s been happening, you go nowhere without him going forward.”

“I—”

“But I’m thankful for your quick thinking. Truly.”

“You sure?”

“Jory, you’re amazing. The only reason I yell at you and worry about you is because you’re my brother. If you… If anything ever… I…”

I relaxed in his arms, and my eyes drifted closed. The lips that touched my cheek were featherlight and soft, like the petals of a rose. I smiled slowly. “Aja,” I sighed, opening my eyes with great effort, her lovely face my reward. “Hi.”

“Jory.” She smiled even though her eyes were filling fast, her bottom lip trembling. “Oh, baby, I was so scared.”

“Don’t cry.”

But she couldn’t speak because the tears had drowned her voice.

“Dane, lemme hold your wife.”

He threw his arm around her, pulling her in close so we were both in the circle of his arms, holding us so tight.

“I can’t lose either of you.” He barely got the words out.

“You won’t,” Sam assured him, his hand rubbing circles on the small of my back. “But I think you need to put J back down before he passes out.”

And I didn’t hear what Dane said in reply because the room did a sharp tilt to the left and I was dumped into a black pit.

A hand was slowly smoothing the hair back from my face, over and over, gently, lovingly. It felt really good.

“Are you awake?”

I made a noise.

“Open your eyes, then.”

I opened them just barely and saw Sam sitting there, looking at me.

“How do you feel?”

“My whole body hurts.”

He nodded. “I bet.”

The three-day-old stubble, how soft his eyes were, the way his hair was sort of sticking up, the shy, crooked grin that took the ice out of his dark, smoky-blue eyes, infusing them with heat…all of it made my heart hurt. “You look so good.”

He just stared at me. “They want you to spend the night in the hospital for observation because of the concussion.”

“I wanna go home.”