Page 52 of Double Dare

Chapter 21

I had the best dream about Laken. Gar was there. All attention was on me, and…fucking hell, I got stabbed. Stabbed. I never expected to live the thug life, but here I am.

That asshole came out of nowhere, and then the next thing I knew, the cops were showing up and I was pulling a knife from my side.

My eyes blink open, and I see my blurry family, all squeezed into one hospital room. I close them again, not ready for them to come at me with questions and bullshit about not telling anyone I was hurt. I just want to know Laken is okay, and that they made it home safe. I have no idea how much time has passed, but someone would have mentioned something if she wasn’t fine. Right?

I hear someone say, “He’s in a lot better shape than we originally assumed. We had to repair a small section of his liver, but otherwise, it’s tissue damage. He should wake up from the sedative any moment now, and then it’s just a matter of keeping everything clean and closed.”

“Can he come home?” Mom asks.

“In a day or two. We’ll keep our eye on it, make sure everything looks good, and then yes.”

“Thank you, doctor.”

When the door opens and closes and the doctor leaves, I hate how quiet it gets. My family is supposed to be loud-mouthed and rowdy, and this whole solemn thing isn’t their style. I’m not a fan. I’m not a fan so hard that I open my eyes just to make them talk.

Jed is the first one to notice. “Hey, asshole. You pissed me the fuck off,” he says, making me feel better already.

“How do you feel, baby?” Mom asks, stepping up to my bed and running her hand over my forehead like that’s going to do anything. Comfort her, I guess. She starts crying, but she tries to hide it.

“Ugh, I’m fine. Stop crying. It’s weird.” Mom isn’t a crier, and I hate that I’m hurting her. My voice hurts my throat, and the movement sends a shock through my side. Jesus.

Mom wraps her arms around my neck, holding on tight. “Don’t you tell me what to do, you prick. You scared me.”

I pat her back, trying to console her while everyone else just stares at me. It’s weird. “Okay, you saw that I’m fine. You can all fuck off now.” I look at Jed. “Laken?”

“She’s fine, man. Giving the cops her statement.” He gives me a small smile.

Everyone takes their turn hugging me, and by the fourth brother, I’m sick of it. I’d rather their insults, so by default, they start laying into me about hiding an injury. There it is. When the nurse comes back with some pain meds, she tries to get everyone to leave, but they’re all being stubborn bitches, refusing to go yet.

I might be the baby of the family, but I’m tougher than these pricks. I say as much, and they all start fighting over who the toughest is. Bo wins. Kolt just thinks he wins.

We shoot the shit about the fight, what happened, and what’s going to happen to Mills and his guys. Someone stabbed me, but I don’t even know who he was. We talk about how Liam held his own with the family, how Remy and Gar had our backs like they always do, and how Laken doesn’t deserve any of this shit.

When everyone starts going on about Laken and how far they’ll go to protect her, Jed grins at me. Yeah, something is definitely changing in our relationship. I was hesitant before, wondering if it was only a sex thing, but it’s not, and Jed knows it better than I do. He just proved it by grinning at me, showing me that Laken is as much mine as she is his. Hopefully, I’ll be able to convince her to let me become hers, too.

There’s a knock on the door and Dom pulls it open. My head gets all pressured and my throat feels prickly when Laken walks in, hands clasped in front of her, eyes wide and wet, a flush to her non-blushing cheeks. She’s safe, and the relief that brings me is uncanny, but she’s shy, unsure if she should be here, feeling guilty about this happening to me, and that’s just unacceptable.

I look right at her and our eyes connect, the thumping in my heart made evident by the fucking heart monitor attached to me. Fuck, she’s mine. I fell in love with her without meaning to, but there’s nothing I can do about it now. For once, my asshole brothers keep their mouths shut, not making any taunts or jibes about the monitor beeping like there’s a wasp in my chest.

“Don’t, Bossy,” I warn her. “Don’t you fucking dare feel guilty.”

When a tear slips down her cheek, one slips down mine, and I hate it. I hate tears, and I hate that we’re crying them, and I mostly hate that they’re bred by relief but fueled by guilt.

“I’m sorry,” she says, her voice soft. “I’m so fucking sorry, Kade.”

No fucking way. I don’t give a shit who’s watching, and thankfully, neither does Jed. He takes Laken’s hand and drags her over to my bed. As soon as I touch her, pulling her in for a hug that hurts my torso but heals my soul, the monitor beeps even more.

“Don’t apologize to me, Laken. This isn’t on you.”

When she pulls back, eyes on mine, I throw all caution, sense, and good judgment to the wind. I can’t help it. I push her hair off her face, yank on it, and kiss her in a room full of my brothers. The heart monitor goes fucking berserk. Her lips are wet and gentle, but her hands cling to the side of my neck like she’s unwilling to let go. I’m tougher than that, Lakes; gonna take more than a knife to rip me from your life. She sighs against my mouth, nothing but pure relief, and I hate that the silence of the room interrupts our moment.

Where is it? The taunts? The jibes? The bets that were definitely on the table?

With her hands still on my neck, she pulls back just enough to smirk at me. She knows the comments are coming, too. I grin, feeling better than I have in months. Even with a string of stitches up my side.

“I fucking knew it!” Kolt shouts, breaking the serenity of the room like he breaks everything else. “Bass, you twat, you owe me two hundred bucks!”

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