I really outdid myself this time. I put her at risk and the way I did it tied my hands so I couldn’t even help her without putting her more at risk.
Closing my eyes, I laid my hand over hers. Another selfish step where I took what I wanted—what I needed—knowing I could only cause her more pain in the end.
Everyone who got close to me ended up hurt and there wasn’t one damn thing I could do to stop it.
“How is she?” she murmured from behind me.
But I wanted her in front of me.
I wanted her skin under my hands and her heat against my chest. I didn’t want to be alone one more time in this room, trying to figure out how I’d survive one more heartache I was powerless to stop.
Lacing my fingers with hers, I tugged her around to stand before me and pulled her in. Hanging my head, I buried my face in the curve of her neck for a minute. Just a minute.
“I haven’t heard anything yet,” I said as I took a deep breath while her arms tightened around me. Those pieces that felt like they might just burst apart held together under the hold she had on me.
I closed my eyes and took everything she offered, my hands splaying over her back, memorizing the dip of her muscles, the valley of her spine—who we were in this moment so damn different than the first time I was this close to her just weeks ago.
“She’s going to be okay,” she whispered, her warm breath sliding along my neck making me shiver.
“How do you know?”
“Because you were there and you did the right thing. You got her here fast.”
“Life’s never been that easy for me.”
“Today it is.”
“Cain?”
At the sound of the nurse calling me—the same nurse who’d called my name before in this waiting room—I turned while keeping Mayhem in my arms, a knot in my chest making it hard to take a breath. “How is she?”
“She’s going to be fine. The doctor will be out in just a minute to fill you in,” she said with a reassuring smile.
“Thank you.” I squeezed Mayhem again and scrubbed my hand over my face. “She’s going to be fine. Jesus.”
“Well, no offense to him, but I was kind of hoping to take credit for this one,” Mayhem said with a relieved laugh as she peered up at me with her chin propped on my chest.
“The credit’s yours. I’m glad you came.” I framed her face with my hands and slid my fingers into her hair. “You’re exhausted.”
“I’m stressed.”
“And exhausted. You should go get some rest.” I dug my fingers into her scalp, enjoying the way her mouth fell open. Really enjoying the way she sank her teeth into her bottom lip.
She hummed, the vibration sinking into the pads of my fingers. “You get to boss me around on the track, not off it.”
“If that were true you never would have gone down to the house and found my sister.”
“On the track, Coach,” she said as her eyes narrowed to slits before sliding closed. “You tried to boss me around on the infield.”
Her pulse fluttered in the soft skin of her throat along the column of her neck and my mouth ran dry. “I’m glad you didn’t listen.”
“Me too,” she whispered.
I dragged my thumb over the edge of her jaw. The blood rushed through me, my heart kicking up a notch. This was what I wanted. To be touching her. Always touching her. “Lilith said you were sweet with her.”
She hissed, her head falling back farther. “Yeah, well, don’t tell anybody.”
“This is cozy,” Lana called from across the room.
“Shit.”
“What?” Mayhem blinked up at me, her eyes unfocused.
“Lana.”
Lana rolled over a knowing smirk on her face. “So this is the girlfriend everyone’s been talking about around town.”
“Don’t start shit, Lana,” I warned her even as I knew it would do no good. The girl—woman had always said exactly what she wanted to, when she wanted to.
“I’m Maisy,” she said with a smile, not doing one thing to dispute the girlfriend designation.
What the hell did that mean?
And if that was the case, why the hell did we have a kissing rule?
“Lana Bradley. Nice to finally meet you,” she said, shaking Mayhem’s hand as she turned her all too perceptive gaze on me. “And you…why the hell didn’t you tell me you have a banked track?”
“Sure, that would have been a brilliant idea.”
“Hey!” Lana said. “Just for that I want in. I’ve gotta see this.”
I sliced a hand through the air between us. “No way in hell.”
Mayhem swatted my shoulder.
“What?”
“Don’t be a bellend,” she muttered.
“A what?”
“Ooooh, I like her. She called you a bellend. You should know what it is, you have one…it’s the glans of the pe—”
“What the hell are you doing talking to him?” Lana’s mother shrieked from across the room. Her cheeks flamed as she headed right for us.
“Christ,” Lana bit out. “She was supposed to wait for me by the gift shop.”
“It’s fine. Just go.” I needed her to go. I didn’t need Mayhem to witness this. To see this confrontation in her eyes every time she looked at me from here on out.
“No. I haven’t even seen Zach yet, dammit. She’s got some stellar fucking timing as always.”
Lana’s mother elbowed her way between us and jabbed a pointed finger at me. “You! Stay the hell away from my daughter.”
I held my hands up and forced my voice to stay calm. “Look—”
“No, you look. You’ve done enough. Look at her—just look!” she spat, pointing that finger at me again.
A knot of disgust lodged inside me, heavy with dread. My skin grew hot and tight, shame roiling through me until it choked me and kept me from being able to look Mayhem in the eye.
“Mom, stop!”
“After everything you’ve done,
