Page 46 of Torn In Two

The determination in his voice was so strong, and pride swelled within me. “I’m not out either.”

Grayson’s expression switched to thrilled in an instant. He slung his arms around our shoulders. “Really? I knew I liked you two for a reason! Thank you!”

Then he realized he was touching us and jumped back. “Shit. Sorry. That was a bit much. How about a stoic handshake instead?” He cringed in Hawk’s direction. “Please still come back. I won’t always be this overexcited, I promise. This is just very unusual.”

“We’ll definitely come back.” I swallowed hard and said the words that had been playing over in the back of my mind for the entire shift, even though I’d given it my all. I’d seen Grayson’s work today. Saw the way he cared for his patients. It had reminded me there was one last thing on my list of things to do today. “I’d like to make an appointment with you. Two, actually. One for Hayley Jade. And one for me.”

If Grayson was surprised, he didn’t show it. “I don’t have my schedule with me, but your phone number is on the paperwork you filled out. Is it okay if I call you to make a time later?”

I nodded. “Please do.”

He glanced at Hawk. “If you ever want to talk…”

Hawk screwed up his face. “Me? It wasn’t me who was buried alive.” He glanced at me apologetically. “Shit. Sorry. I didn’t mean to just bring it up like that.”

I shook my head. “It’s okay. I think we need to talk about it. Or at least, I do.”

Grayson’s expression was gentle when he looked at Hawk. “She wasn’t the only one hurt by what happened. You love her and you thought you were going to lose her. That’s trauma.”

Hawk shoved to his feet. “I’m fine. I’ve been through worse.”

Grayson backed off pretty quickly. “I just want you to know I’m here. If you need me.”

“I don’t.”

Gray clapped his hands together. “Great. Then, Kara, I’ll call you later. Hawk, thanks for today. See you next shift. Anytime you want to come lend a hand, we’d appreciate it.”

Hawk was already walking away.

We both watched him go.

Grayson murmured to me, “Keep an eye on him, Kara. He’s not as strong as he tries to make people believe.”

I glanced at Grayson in surprise. It had taken me weeks to know the real Hawk, and Grayson had seen through his hard outer shell in the space of an afternoon. “You’re really good at your job, you know?” I said to him.

He grinned. “It’s the glove balloons, isn’t it?”

The next few days, we fell into a routine of sorts. Hayden stayed in his room most of the time when he was at the clubhouse, and the rest of the time he went to work at the restaurant. We all pretended he wasn’t working for Luca Guerra, and I fought the urge to go to his room every night.

I’d thought he would come to me, but whether he was respecting Hawk or the club boundaries, I didn’t know.

I focused on getting Hayley Jade settled at school and reveling in the happiness and color that had started coming back to her. She’d begun skipping in and out of the building each day when Hawk and I dropped her or picked her up at the gates.

Unhappy people did not skip.

I spent most days at the hospital. The clinic didn’t run on all of them, but that didn’t lessen the need for volunteers. I liked feeling needed and being helpful. I wished I could do more than hold hands, murmur soothing words, and file papers, but it was a start toward independence, and it was a step in the direction of a life I could see myself enjoying.

Grayson had a new bad joke ready for me every time I passed him in a hallway, and he promised he was working on a new glove balloon camel. I couldn’t even imagine how that would work.

On Saturday, I woke up early, just as the sun was rising. I tossed and turned for thirty minutes but couldn’t get back to sleep. Next to my room, Hayden’s door opened and closed softly.

Nothing had happened between us since we’d come here, and I was beginning to think I’d imagined the make-out session we’d had on the couch in his apartment. As well as the chemistry we’d had when he’d pulled me into that movie theater bathroom. I didn’t know where I stood with him after Hawk had blabbed about filling me with his cum so Hayden would know who I belonged to.

Maybe that had been enough to scare him off.

The thought left me breathless. I wanted Hawk.

But I wanted Hayden too.

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