“Got a goddamn headache,” Luke grouses. “But I’m okay.” He stares up at Seth, his dark brown eyes clouded with painkillers and worry. “You?”
Seth shakes his head slowly, eyes filling with tears. He can’t pretend anymore.
“I’m sorry,” he says, his words choked by pain. Unable to bear Luke’s concern.
His brother reaches out to squeeze Seth’s arm. He might as well be pressing on Seth’s throat because he can’t talk, can’t do anything except be grateful his brother is still around.
“Ain’t nothin’ to be sorry for,” Luke says with an easy grin. “Next time just tell me to duck.”
Seth rubs his wet eyes. He leans down, wrapping Luke in a hug the best he can. “Fuck you, man.”
“I’m okay,” Luke says quietly. Serious now. “I’m just glad you’re here.”
“Yeah.” Seth clears his throat as he straightens up. “Same here.”
Thank Christ for Lacey. His witness to his fuck-ups. His guardian angel in heels. He can’t imagine getting the phone call Luke was okay and being half-goddamned-stoned out of his mind. She saved his ass.
He frowns. Where is she anyway?
When he glances over his shoulder to scan the room, Lacey’s gone.
Lacey stays long enough to make sure Luke’s okay, and then she’s slipping out of the hospital room and walking hurriedly down the corridor.
The elevator. The elevator’s her salvation.
A beacon of escape. Not from Luke, or Sal—she never minds helping her sister, wishes she could do more—but the last thing she wants is to be stuck with Seth Kincaid any longer than necessary.
She liked it too much. That sweet kiss from last night. When Seth swept his lips across hers, she felt a yank in her heart, and when she looked down a string was unraveling from somewhere deep in the pit of her soul. It was a feeling she’d never felt before with Seth. The slow burn of a kiss. Tender, reverent, like she was something else. Like she mattered. Like she liked him.
It sent her whirling. Knocked something loose in her. Maybe something blooming all along, maybe something just beginning, but either way, she doesn’t want to know. Can’t know. Won’t know. Whatever they’ve been doing, they can’t do it anymore. She’s calling it quits.
While they’ve been together before, a few times now, more times than she’d like to remember, it wasn’t like last night. It wasn’t within reach. Honest. Vulnerable.
A side of Seth she had never seen before.
When she showed up at the hospital last night, she came to support Sal, but it looked like Seth needed it more. She saw him, swaying and slurring his words, being escorted out by that angry blond country singer, and she wanted to help him. Take away his pain. Keep him safe. So, she followed him back to his apartment. And a good thing too, because what he was about to do ...
It shook her seeing Seth—cool, easygoing, sunny Seth—like that.
But she also understands it.
The only thing that could sink Seth that low was Luke. His brother. She went down that same destructive path when Sal went missing. Seth losing Luke, losing their fierce bond, losing their brotherhood, would kill him.
She can’t judge him for what he was about to do, and she won’t.
She knows all about mistakes. Bad habits.
And now that Luke’s fine, she can go.
Lacey pauses in the hallway to call an Uber to the airport. All she wants to do is get back to LA. Never mind all that’s waiting for her is an empty fridge and about a zillion emails from her boss. She needs to chase away that fluttery feeling Seth’s kiss had churned up.
Emotions. They make her itch. They’re a risk she can’t take. The only one who gets her emotions is her sister. Sal’s the only one she has space for in her life.
She’s nearly to the elevators when a voice calls out, “Lacey, wait!”
Lacey groans. She’s caught.
She turns, raising an amused brow at the sight of Sal hurrying down the hall, hands cradling her belly like she can keep the small bump in.