Page 90 of About That Night

When the doctor exits, she leans over and whispers in my ear, “Don’t worry. I’ll give you a blowie later.”

Hell, yeah. “Sold.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chastity

“Yep, I was lucky I didn’t break my ankle.”

He was lucky, but, typical Hank, he’s minimizing the actual injury. I have no idea who he’s talking to. I heard his phone ring, but I’m on my knees in the living room digging Christmas lights out of a plastic storage bin and cursing myself for not taking the time to store the strands properly. They’re a tangled mess.

Then I grin to myself. I’m done with curses. No more believing in curses for this girl.

“I fractured a bone in my foot. The fifth metatarsal, which apparently is the most common foot fracture. So I’m not even special, which was humbling. I’m getting my cast off tomorrow. I can’t wait. Oh, and me and Chastity DuBois are together,” Hank says. “You heard about that, right? It’s the real deal. I’m her man.” He shoots me a grin from the kitchen.

He puts his phone on the counter on speaker so he can lean on his crutches while he’s chopping some kind of herb. I can’t see from where I am, but it smells like cilantro. The whole situation looks dangerous, given that he just had surgery to realign his misplaced bone, but I don’t even have a chance to freak out before I hear Faith’s voice coming through the phone.

“Oh, I heard about it, trust me. I heard all about it. Obviously, Mom told me like three seconds after it happened. She’s taking full matchmaking responsibility, you know.”

I can’t tell how Faith feels about it from her tone.

All of Hank’s family in town has been amazingly supportive and welcoming of me and Josiah these last few weeks. We spent Thanksgiving at Hank’s parents’, and it was exactly what I’ve always wanted. Nevaeh and Parker went and picked up Miss Loretta and brought her as well for a few hours and it was a day filled with joy and laughter. Faith was in Nashville with her boyfriend, though, helping Cash and his wife with their newborn.

“Hi, Faith,” I call out. “Hank has you on speaker.” I can’t stand when people don’t tell me I’m on speaker, so I figure I should warn her. I’m also afraid she might say something less than flattering about me. “How are you?”

“Mom is crazy. She didn’t matchmake anyone. Here, talk to Chastity while I finish making dinner. Be nice, mean girl. I’m in love with her.”

I stand up and climb over the bin so I can reach the phone.

“Relax,” Faith says, sounding amused. “Chastity, take me off speaker so we can talk woman-to-woman without my brother interjecting dumb comments.”

I pick up Hank’s phone and tap the screen and put it to my ear. “Hey. How are you? Congratulations on your new job and everything. That sounds exciting.”

“You don’t have to do that, Chastity. Play all polite and everything. If you and Hank are happy, I’m happy for you. You are happy, right?”

“Yes.” My throat tightens as I watch Hank maneuver around my tiny kitchen. He fills the space easily, comfortably. Like we’ve been together forever. “Very happy. He’s a great guy.”

“He is. Sounds like you’ve turned into an amazing woman. My mother can’t stop singing your praises.”

That makes my throat tighten. “You know I’m sorry, right? For what happened at the end of senior year.”

“I’m sorry, too. I was very dramatic about the whole thing. I was only mad at you back then because I thought you liked Conway, and then just went with Hank because he was there. I was being protective of my brothers.”

“I totally understand that. I never liked Conway, though.”

“You better not have,” Hank says, though he doesn’t sound worried.

“You said something about going to talk to Conway that night, so I thought you liked him.”

“That was just my dumb cover story so you wouldn’t know I had a thing for Hank. I figured you’d think I was too young for him.” I watch Hank moving slowly but steadily around my kitchen, and it makes my heart full to bursting. “Which I was, then, even if I didn’t know it.”

Faith laughs. “Well, that was ages ago. I’m sorry we didn’t just talk it through.”

“Me too. I should have been honest with you that I had a crush on Hank.”

“God only knows why,” Faith says. “Hank was pretty immature for his age. It’s only in the last five years or so that he’s grown up.”

That makes me feel defensive on his behalf. “He’s very mature and responsible and dedicated now. He’s an amazing man.”

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