“Bellamy?” I hesitated to say the name, but she had just finished talking about Knix, the only other ‘big’ guy I could think of would be Bellamy. Texas was more wiry than big, and Marv was slender andlithe.
She nodded. “Yea, he was out here earlier when I was waiting for you. He recognized me from the party.” She gave me a dry chuckle as she looked down at her dress. “Probably an intelligent guess,” she said. “But uh...yea...we were talking too…” I sucked in a breath and she bit her lip, trying not to smile atme.
“Don’t say it,” Ibegged.
“Okay,” shesaid.
I squinted at her. “Really?”
She nodded, but it seemed too easy. She sighed. “I’ve learned my lesson,” she said. “I’m done meddling. It’s gotten me into too muchtrouble.”
“That wasn’t your fault,” I remindedher.
“I know,” she said, looking back at her feet. Her hands squeezed her upper arms until her knuckles and the skin under her fingertips turned white. “I do think you have a lot of guys that care a lot about you, though,” she said. “I wish you luck withthat.”
“Thanks,” I said with a sigh. I smiled and gave her a light hug before she turned and went into the hospital. I would need all the luck I couldget.
When I got to the car, Texas got out of the back and let me in. I squeezed past him and sat in the middle of the backseat. Knix was in the driver’s seat, Marv in the front passenger, and Bellamy on my other side. In that moment, I wanted so badly to scream the truth. When Bellamy smiled at me, I almost cried. When Knix glanced at me through the rearview mirror the urge only grew and when Marv looked over his shoulder, it almost brokethrough.
Texas’ warm side on mine was relaxing and he leaned over and whispered something in my ear that surprised me. I looked at him. “Are you sure?” Iasked.
He nodded. “When we get back,” he said. “They’ll handle the rest of things with the job.” Texas motioned to the others. I was too tired to argue, and I wasn’t exactly against his request, so I sat back and buckled up as Knix started the car. I couldn’t wait to be home with Cleo and I couldn’t wait to see mymom.