Page 215 of The Dixon Rule

I don’t regret my time with Lynsey. I needed it in order to grow into who I am today. But man, I see the difference now. I see the importance of picking the right woman to do life with. Preferably someone who can make you laugh your ass off.

“Hey,” I say thickly.

She smiles. “Hey.”

“Where’s your mom?” I ask.

Diana’s mom flew in from New York the morning after the assault and has spent the past three mornings at her daughter’s bedside. Diana wasn’t wrong about her mother’s attitude—I definitely see the pretentious side. But I can also tell she truly loves her daughter and is genuinely trying to connect with her. That’s all that matters.

“You won’t believe this,” Diana answers. “She went out for lunch with Dad and Larissa.”

“Wow.”

Even I know that’s progress. Diana’s parents have barely spent two hours in the same room since they divorced ten years ago. But I’ve seen them chatting in the hospital cafeteria more than once since Diana was admitted. Her brother wanted to fly in as well, but Diana put her foot down and ordered him to stay in Peru.

I drag my usual chair over to her bedside. She’s allowed to leave tomorrow. Until then, I’m spending yet another night in this hospital room. The nurses know better than to kick me out. Although I do plan on getting Adeline and Marge a nice gift basket for their patience and kindness. And maybe an extra-large basket for Dr. Lamina, the psychiatrist who’s been seeing Diana every morning to help her work through the lingering anxiety over the assault.

“How was practice?” Diana asks.

“It was good. Beckett was on fire. Can’t wait to see him unleash his inner goon on Yale this weekend.”

I open the bag of snacks, reaching in for the bag of plain potato chips she requested. I hand them to her, and she smiles happily.

“Any updates about him and Will?” she asks.

I roll my eyes. “Babe. Neither of them provides me with updates about their sex lives.”

“Well, they should. I’m curious.”

“I’ll be sure to interrogate them tomorrow at practice about whether they’ve seen each other’s penises lately,” I promise.

“Thank you.”

I steal a handful of potato chips. “How’s your pee?”

“Barely pink!” She’s jubilant.

I snicker.

“Hopefully the doctor clears me to return to practice soon.”

That summons a grin.

“What?” she says defensively.

“My beautiful optimist.”

“It can’t take that long for a bruised kidney to recover,” she argues. “Two weeks, max.”

“Your doctor said a month to be safe,” I remind her.

“I don’t have a month. We’re training for nationals. They’re in April!”

“It’s only January.” I set the bag of chips aside and climb onto the bed, stretching out beside her. “Focus on recovery. The squad will be there next month. And in the meantime, we can focus on the next project. Wanna practice our Spanish?”

Yup, I’ve been recruited into learning it with her. So far, I know how to say, “I want to fuck you in the ass.” Diana saw it in a Spanish porno once, so it was the first item on our vocab list. Which is ironic, considering we’re not even into anal. Hell, I don’t think she could handle my size even if we were.

“Later,” Diana says, waving off the suggestion. “I want to give our other project another shot first.”

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