“Okay, well, obviously Drew needs to go back to the hospital.” Ty stared at me impatiently.

I laughed. “And obviously, I’m not doing it. I’m taking Laney back to my room so she can shower.”

“You could take him while she’s in the shower.” He wrapped an arm around Kate. “I’m busy. I have a wife and a business. You’re here…”

“I was here to support a friend. You know, now that you’ve shared your big news, you could try doing the same.” I reached out and helped Laney stand. When she did, the puke that hadn’t soaked into her dress, dribbled onto the floor, making a truly disgusting sound as it hit the carpet.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” Laney murmured. Then her knees buckled and I barely caught her in time as she went completely limp.

I glared at Ty and growled through gritted teeth. “I’m taking her upstairs. You deal with Drew. And I swear to God, Ty, if you try to fight me on this, I’m going to make you regret it every single way I can.” I began to turn with Laney in my arms, but realized I had more to say. “Oh, and I can think of at least a half dozen ways already.” My brow shot up and silenced him completely.

I strode to the elevator and hit the button, the doors opened almost immediately and I stormed inside. As soon as they closed, Laney flipped herself out of my arms. I panicked. In my mind, I was dropping her. When she landed on her feet and bowed, I knew otherwise. “What the hell as that?” I asked with a laugh.

“That was my best acting yet!” She giggled and danced around, clearly proud of herself. Then the dress slapped her in the leg and she grimaced. “Okay, I need to get out of this. I feel gross.”

“I bet in the back of your mind, when you saw that closet full of clothes and all those panties, you thought I was crazy. Little did you know I was a former Boy Scout.” I raised two fingers in mock salute.

Laney snickered. “I don’t believe you.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but I couldn’t pull it off. “Just as well. I quit Boy Scouts after the pinewood derby. It was really the only reason I joined to begin with.”

“So, in truth, you couldn’t decide which dress to buy, huh?” She gave me the side-eye.

Again, I was completely charmed. “Pretty much. I knew what I liked. I knew what I wanted to see you in.” I blew out a breath. “Of course, I had no idea what you’d like or feel comfortable wearing, so I was hedging my bets.”

“You boys and your bets.” Laney shook her head.

The elevator stopped on my floor. When the door opened, I laid my hand on her lower back and guided her to my room. Once I opened the door, she dashed inside, ripping the dress off over her head even as she walked. Then she wadded it up. I followed a good six feet behind her and saw she’d set it in the sink.

“You shower. I’ll take care of this for you.”

“Please, like you know how to clean linen.” She winked.

I shook my head. “Not even a little, but I have a lifetime of experience with calling the front desk. And I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to send housekeeping and get this laundered for us.” I grinned.

“Well, I’m not going to argue with that reasoning.” She sighed and started the water.

I exited the room because this wasn’t the way I was going to see her naked for the first time. In my mind, when I finally did, it would be a wildly romantic experience, not one brought about by my childhood friend puking on her for the second time in two nights. I shook my head and wandered over to the hotel phone on the nightstand when my cell in my pocket began to ring. Upon pulling it from my pocket, I discovered the caller was Ty. With a sigh, I answered. “What, Ty?”

“I’m sorry.” He spoke so quietly, I thought I misheard him.

“What did you say?” I couldn’t hide the confusion in my voice.

“Kate reprimanded me the instant you two disappeared.” He paused for a moment and I could hear her voice in the background. “She’d like to know how Laney’s doing.”

“She’s in the shower, recovering nicely, I think, considering the circumstances.” I scowled.

“She is.” He sighed. “She’s nothing like who I thought she was.”

“I could say the same about you,” I grumbled.

Ty groaned. “About that. Listen, I’m sorry. I really am. Kate pointed out that while I’m constantly proving my devotion to her, I’m doing a fine job of alienating my friends. And I don’t want that.”

I was silent a moment, mostly because I didn’t know what to say and we’d both already said too much of the wrong stuff. Our relationship truly felt like it was teetering in the balance. Obviously, I waited too long to say anything because Ty felt the need to further convince me of his dedication to preserving our friendship.

“See, I love Kate. I really love her.” His voice grew muffled and I guessed he was trying to have this conversation away from her ears. “I want this marriage more than I’ve ever wanted anything…”

“Listen, you rich bastard,” I interrupted. “You were born with a silver spoon in your mouth. You’ve never wanted for anything.”

“You wouldn’t think so, right?” I heard him scratching his head, an indication of how troubled he truly felt at the moment. Then he continued. “I wanted for love. I never knew how to love. Then I met Kate. She changed everything. And I can’t lose her, but I don’t want to lose you either.”

I sighed. “How are you feeling about Drew? At the moment, I’m worn out. And I’m torn.”

“Yes, Drew is a tough case. I have to believe he’s hurting. We may be the only ones who can fix this. Please help me.” Ty sounded ridiculously sad.

“I’m helping you. I’m helping Drew. I’m afraid I’m going to help myself into an early grave,” I muttered. “I promised I’d give this one shot…”

“Wait. Are you quitting already?” Ty sounded panicked.

I began pacing as I stared out the window at the Vegas lights. “I don’t know. I guess not. I mean, I suppose I hadn’t officially started, right?” I stopped walking and leaned my head against the window pane. Ty was silent and I knew he was trying to figure out what to say at this point. Instead, I put on a grand display of word vomit. “I know that if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have met Laney. I know that if it weren’t for Drew, I wouldn’t have spent last night with Laney. And now, because I really want to get to know Laney, everything else feels like a distraction.” I groaned. “I’m not saying any of this right. And I don’t want to sound ungrateful or hurt your feelings, but I mean it. The next time he screws up, he’s proving to me, to you, to all of us, that caring for him is a bigger job than we’re prepared to handle. Got it?”

“I know,” Ty mumbled.

“The thing is, even though it feels like I’m turning my back when I put my foot down, even though I worry I’m admitting defeat, I’m really trying to save him.” I slapped my hand against the wall. “See, I’m afraid he’ll get hurt and it’ll land on me because I didn’t pay close enough attention to him. I worry he could die on my watch. What if he hurts someone else?”

In the background, Drew moaned. “I’m getting into the car with him now,” Ty murmured. “I’ve heard you. I understand. And I’m going to share this with the doctor. I’ll see what he suggests. Then we’ll talk in the morning, okay?”

“Yeah. This is all we can hope for at the moment. You have my number. Text. Call. Let me know, okay?” I turned around and leaned my back against the wall. When I did, I found Laney standing there with her hair in a towel, her body wrapped in that robe all over again. In an instant, nothing else mattered. “I gotta let you go.” Then I ended the call and stuffed the phone in my pocket. I wanted my hands free to greet her properly. “Hi,” I murmured as I moved closer to her.

“Hi. You know, now that you mention it, I could use your number.” Laney smiled.

“Anything for you.” I meant it. I meant it in every way imaginable.