Page 84 of Spurred On

He was wearing nothing by his sweatpants, which was a shame, because they did little to hide his boner, but it couldn’t be helped.

He met Sidney in the hall—she was in a long, sexy T-shirt; not that it was all too sexy, but she was—and her gaze flicked to his crotch.

Awkward.

He felt heat creep up his cheeks, but he ignored it. “Is it your mom?” he asked.

Sidney shook her head. “Mom’s in her room. The alarm woke her up though. It scares her.”

Shit.That meant someone else had opened a door or a window downstairs. He pushed Sidney behind him and started for the stairs. She thrust something at him, and it took a moment for him to realize it was Henry’s rifle.

“Seriously?” he asked.

“Just in case.” She crept down the stairs behind him, using him as her shield. While he appreciated her warmth, he would really have preferred her to remain upstairs where it was safe.

“Damn it,” a low voice echoed through the foyer, and Cody stilled. Someone was there. A man. He raised the rifle, but kept his finger off the trigger, just in case. The last thing he wanted to do was shoot a helpful neighbor or something.

“Who’s there?” he barked. “Show yourself.”

To his surprise, the outraged response that arose was female. “Who the hell are you?” a wrathful bellow echoed up the stairs.

“Oh God,” Sidney moaned and then yelled back over the blare of the alarm, “Hanna?”

“Sidney?”

She pushed past him then and pounded down the stairs. He followed in time to see Sidney and Hanna embrace. The male, the fella who’d almost gotten himself shot, was of course Logan.

Cody padded to the landing and set the rifle against the wall, making sure the safety was on first. Then he sat on the stairs and frowned down at them. He shook with reaction. Not for himself, for Sidney. She’d been through so much, being awakened to a claxon was the last thing she needed.

But she seemed to be taking this all in stride. She quickly punched in the code to shut off the alarm and then phoned the security company to let them know it was a false alarm before she hugged Hanna again.

“I am so glad you’re here,” she said.

Hanna smiled and tucked Sidney’s hair behind her ear. “I am so sorry we woke you. We didn’t think anyone was home. And when did Dad change the code?”

Sidney shrugged. “I don’t know. Mrs. Johnson gave this one to me. Oh Hanna, I’m so glad you made it.”

They headed into the kitchen and Sidney put water on for tea, though tea was the last thing Cody wanted at two in the morning.

“How’s Dad?” Hanna asked. “I’ve been worried sick since we got the message.”

Sidney huffed a sigh. “The same. Which is better than worse.”

Hanna paled. “How bad is it?”

“He’s in ICU. He hasn’t woken up yet.”

“Oh God.” She shot a look at Logan. “We should go over and see him now.”

Cody grunted. “Nurse Ratched won’t let you in. It’s after visiting hours.”

“Is she still there?” Logan asked. “I’da thunk she’d be retired by now.” Or dead, his expression added.

“Well, she’s not. And she’s as strict as ever,” Cody grumbled.

“She might be off duty,” Hanna suggested.

Logan pulled her into a hug. “Honey, you need to rest. We’ve been traveling for hours. Go get some sleep and we’ll go over first thing in the morning.”