“Wendy!” I said in a stern voice that reminded me of my father, ignoring the shooting pain in my side.
“What did you say?” Hollie said in a voice so low and frightening, Wendy took a step away. I couldn’t blame her. I would have, too, if I had the ability to stand at that moment. Hollie looked ready to tear Wendy apart. “Did you really just accuse me of what I think you did?”
Wendy blinked a few times. “I… I… Well, I… I mean, you are…um…kind of mean and…”
Hollie and I both waited to see how Wendy was going to get herself out the word-vomit she had just made.
When Wendy’s cell phone rang, she let out a nervous laugh. “Saved by the phone. I’ve got to run to work. I’ll call you later, sweetie!”
Wendy answered her phone and rushed out the door. Hollie followed her with her eyes, and when the door shut, she whispered, “I hope you get a rash all over your body.”
I laughed. “Now,thatwas mean.”
Hollie whipped her head back around and looked at me. “Are you two dating again?”
“What? No. We’ve never really dated. We’ve just…”
Nice, Lucas. You almost just told the woman you’ve been pining over since you were in middle school that you had a fuck buddy.
“We’re just friends, that’s all.”
Hollie forced a tight smile. “What did she mean when she said you’ve had a bad day?”
I sighed and pushed my hand through my hair. I couldn’t help but notice how Hollie’s nose flared slightly, and her eyes seemed to turn darker as she watched my hand.
“It started off as a bad day. I stubbed my toe, spilled hot coffee on myself.” I held up my hand. The nurse had replaced theband-aid with a white bandage after she insisted I could have cut it on something rusty and old. “Cut my hand at the dig site.”
Her hand came back up to her mouth, and she looked panicked.
“I thought the day was getting better. We found what looks to be an old tavern site just down from the Parris home. I was on my way home to change so I could help at the site but swung by the office first to take care of some emails. I was walking in the parking lot when I got hit. Jerk was speeding.”
Hollie dropped her hand, then dropped into the seat that was next to the bed. All the color drained from her face as she stared at me.
“Hey, are you okay?” I asked when she started to breathe harder.
“When did the bad luck start?”
I frowned. “The bad luck?”
Nodding, she motioned with her hands for me to hurry up. “Yes, Lucas. When did it start?”
“Today? I mean, yesterday, I twisted my ankle on a run, but that wasn’t anything. Oh, if you want to call this bad luck, my plumbing got backed up, and I had to call someone to fix it. I also burned my dinner last night, which is crazy because I’ve never done that in my entire life. Almost set the stove on fire.”
“Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God.”
She kept chanting and rocking in the chair while she waved her hands like she was hot.
“Hollie, what’s wrong? Why are you even here? How did you know I was hurt? Greg? My mom?”
Her head snapped up, and our eyes met. “I felt it,” she whispered.
“You…felt it?” I asked in confusion. “How did youfeelme getting hurt?”
With a confused expression, she slowly shook her head. “I don’t know how to explain, Lucas. I got a feeling something bad happened to you. I called your office to talk to you, and they said the ambulance had just taken you to the hospital, that there had been an accident.”
I raised my brows. “So, you’re saying when I got hit, you felt it?”
Her upper teeth dug into her lower lip, and I nearly groaned at the erotic thoughts that filled my head. I had to adjust on the bed so she wouldn’t see my dick grow harder.