Chapter 12

Gavin

My hands were shaking as I pushed away from the laptop. This night was turning into an all-out fucking disaster. Not only had I just gotten the call about Chloe breaking her arm, but I’d received an email from the county saying my permit hadn’t been updated when I started work on the innards of the house. Now, I had to pay fines out my ass before I could work on it again.

Not wanting to waste another second, I ran next door to grab the things Chloe needed at the hospital—most importantly, her favorite blanket—and took off. Max was a damn wreck on the phone, but finding him outside Chloe’s hospital room, head pressed against the wall, cussing, was the last thing I’d expected from my normally joking best friend.

My boots thudded to a stop next to him. He didn’t look up when I said, “She’ll be all right.” I patted him on the shoulder, taken back to the last time I’d tried to comfort another man: Collin after he’d learned about Chloe’s mom dying in a car accident while we were stationed in the Middle East.

“I fucked up, man.”

I shrugged, finally meeting his eyes. “It happens.”

“No…” He paused. “I mean, I really fucked up. A lot. Me and Lia, we got distracted…”

My eyebrows rose. “How so?” Though I was pretty sure I already knew. This morning, I’d learned how serious he was about our best friend’s little sister when I found her in only a T-shirt inside his apartment.

He leaned his back against the wall and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Just…I wasn’t paying attention. Couldn’t stop kissing Lee-Lee and…” He shrugged.

“What are you more worried about?” I asked, folding my arms over my chest. “Colly finding out about you and Lia, or Colly going off about Chloe getting hurt?”

When he looked away, I knew the answer. Hooking up with your best friend’s little sister was bad, yeah, but being on watch while your best friend’s daughter broke her arm? That was ten times worse.

We went into Chloe’s hospital room after a while. Lia was snoring away on the bed, holding Chloe asleep against her chest. A tiny, purple cast covered the little girl’s arm, and I had to look away because seeing her hurt made my throat go tight.

“We’re gonna stay the night,” Max said. “Lia and I don’t wanna take her home, not knowing what to do if she wakes up screaming. They offered, so we said yes.”

I nodded, not blaming him. If Collin were here, there’s no doubt she’d be home, but Max and Lia and I never took chances with this little girl.

“Where are Colly’s parents?” I asked.

He winced. “On their way.”

More than anything, I wanted to hold Beaner close like Lia was, while promising to never let anything hurt her again. But I was almost positive that if I did, Max would’ve fallen over the edge of guilt-insanity he was teetering on. Things might have been different if the two of them had paid better attention, yeah, but it could’ve happened to anyone. There’d be no blame cast.

I sat on the edge of the bed for a little longer, just talking to Max, pretending it wasn’t weird when he’d go over and rub his fingers across Lia’s head, or lean down and kiss her every couple of minutes. I’d witnessed a change in the guy lately. And even before the truth about him and Lia was out, I’d known whatever they had going on had become their new normal.

“When’s Colly coming home?”

Max shrugged. “Tomorrow sometime. He can’t get a flight out until then.”

I yawned and looked down at my cell phone. It was almost five thirty, but I had some things to take care of at my house in Arlo before I went home to have dinner with Kenna at seven. Had to grab the stuff I’d left there for Cat, now that I’d taken him in, then drop off some more tools that I had stored away in my Suburban. I wouldn’t be able to use them until my new permit got approved next week, but I was tired of hearing them bang around in the back seat. “I’ve got some things to do so I’ll be out for a while, but if you need me, call.”

Max leaned forward and hugged me with one arm. “Thanks for bringing the blanket.”

“Course. I’d do anything for that little girl.” I walked over to still-sleeping Chloe and kissed her temple before leaving the hospital.