Hayden

The world closed in around me and I could barely breathe. I’d never thought my heart could be broken twice, but it was split wide open. How could Derek do that to me after last night? It had come out of nowhere. I felt the connection, and I knew he did, too. Tears spilled down my cheeks, and I could hardly see the road. All I wanted was to crawl into a hole and disappear. The embarrassment and the heartache would haunt me. How was I going to face everyone and tell them what a fool I’d been? Jeremiah had warned me to stay away. Maybe I should’ve listened to him.

I could smell Derek all around me and feel him on my skin; it only made things worse. Once I pulled into my driveway, I raced inside and took a long, hot shower, scrubbing my body until every inch was sore and red. My eyes burned, but I couldn’t seem to get the tears to stop. Turning on my laptop, I did the one thing that I’d been avoiding ever since I met Derek McLaughlin: I searched him on the Internet and added the words “car accident.”

Articles popped up everywhere, and I felt sick to my stomach as I read them. Derek had almost died in the accident; Evan was the one who had saved him. Brianna, his girlfriend, had been a Carolina Cougars cheerleader, beautiful with a lovely smile. What made me even sicker was reading that she was pregnant. I couldn’t imagine how Derek must have felt to know that he’d lost his girlfriend and his child. Another picture popped up of the crash scene and I clapped a hand over my mouth. “Oh my God,” I cried.

The place where the accident had occurred was the same place I’d found Bear. That was why Derek had looked pale when he came over to help. I didn’t understand then, but I did now. We were standing in the same place where the accident happened. It all started to make sense why he would push me away. But how could I get him to see that he wouldn’t lose me? Or maybe that was just an excuse instead of telling me the truth—that all he’d wanted was to fuck me.

I was about to turn off the computer, but curiosity wouldn’t let me. Derek once said not to look him up, but I had to see what he meant. I had to know what he was hiding. Blowing out a shaky breath, I went straight to images, growing sicker with each one. There were several of Derek and Brianna, looking happy as they posed for the camera, but there were hundreds of others with a different woman in each. He looked wasted in most, definitely not the same person he’d led me to believe he was. What really disgusted me was the number of women he’d been involved with. I should’ve known a guy like him couldn’t stay with just one woman. The pictures dated from years ago to even a couple months prior. His endless parade of women had been going on ever since he’d moved here to join the Cougars. I was just a piece of ass to him.

Slamming my laptop shut, I swallowed the bile and grabbed my phone. Michael’s voice was all I wanted to hear.

“Hey, baby girl, what’s up?” he answered. My throat closed up and I squeezed my eyes shut. “You there, Hayden?”

“Yeah,” I whispered, choking on the words.

“Shit, what’s wrong? You sound horrible.”

I angrily wiped the tears from my eyes. “Can you come over? I really need you right now.”

“I’ll be right there.” He hung up and I lay on the couch, hoping like hell the pain in my chest would go away. How could I have been so stupid?

ONE WEEK LATER

I hadn’t heard from or seen Derek in a week. What really made things awkward was going back to work and pretending everything was okay. I didn’t want everyone knowing what happened, so I played Derek’s absence off as him being too busy with practice. I thought with time, the pain in my chest would lessen, but it had only gotten worse.

“Hayden?”

I turned around and saw Jeremiah approaching me with a concerned smile. “Are you okay? You don’t seem like your normal self.”

Plastering a fake smile on my face, I waved him off. “Of course I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I can see it on your face. Did something happen between you and McLaughlin?”

My back stiffened. “Nope, not at all. He’s busy with practice, and I’m busy here.”

“So there’s nothing going on between you two?”

I shook my head. “Not a thing.”

The relief was evident on his face. “That’s good to hear. Do you want to go out to lunch today?”

Since it was Michael’s day off, I didn’t have any plans, so I nodded; I could use the company. “Sure. I just want to check on my puppies first. I’m taking Patch home today.” I couldn’t wait to get my snuggle buddy home. I’d spent the whole week buying things for him, and now I was ready.

“Sounds good. I’ll be in my office whenever you’re ready.” He smiled and disappeared behind his door. Jeremiah was a good-looking and safe alternative to Derek, but I couldn’t bring myself to think like that about him. Even if I did want to date him, Wilford probably wouldn’t approve of his doctors seeing each other.

After I checked on Patch, I was ready to go. Kellie had adopted out one of his sisters, and there was someone else coming in to look at the others. I was happy they were going to be sent to good homes. Before fetching Jeremiah, I stopped in the break room to drink some water.

“Oh, good, you’re still here,” Wilford announced, coming into the room.

I put my water in the refrigerator and faced him. “Good afternoon, Wilford. I haven’t seen you all morning.”

He chuckled. “That’s because I’ve been busy with my lawyer.”

“Lawyer? What’s going on?”

His smile grew. “There’s something I’ve decided to do, and I think I’m ready. It all depends on you.”

“On me? I don’t understand.”

“I want to give my practice away, Hayden. I’m not getting any younger, and I want to make sure this place goes to someone who’ll take care of it.”

My heart thundered relentlessly. Was he offering it to me? “What exactly are you saying?” I asked.

He chuckled. “I want to give it to you. At the end of the year, I’m going to hand everything over. Consider it a gift.”

Eyes burning, I slapped a hand over my mouth in shock. I had to be dreaming. “You can’t be serious.”

“As a heart attack. Just tell me thank you and give me a hug. I know you have a lunch date.”

“Thank you,” I cried, wrapping my arms around his neck.

He patted my back and laughed. “You’re welcome. Now go eat something. I can hear your stomach growling.”

I stepped back and wiped my eyes. “It doesn’t bother you that Jeremiah and I go out to lunch together?”

“Of course not,” he chided. “I like seeing you two together. You have so much in common.” We did, a lot more in common than Derek and I had, but that was one of the things that made my time with Derek exciting: We were different. The pain in my chest returned with a vengeance.

“Thank you, Wilford. You have no idea how much this means to me. I won’t let you down.”

He tapped my chin. “I know you won’t. That’s why I chose you.”

“What about Jeremiah? He’s been here longer than me. Will he not be angry that you chose me over him?”

He shook his head. “I’ve already talked to him about it. He agreed that you’d be the perfect candidate.”

“He did?”

Moving closer, he lowered his voice. “I think he fancies you, dear.”

Just then, Jeremiah appeared at the door, his lips pulled back in a small yet seductive grin. “Ready to go?” Taking a deep breath, I nodded and joined him, wishing like hell things were different.