Page 26 of Hero's Prize

Ella wasn’t sure she really wanted to talk about what had happened with Colton last night, even if it was appropriate. But on the other hand,allshe wanted to do was talk about him. As if talking about him would ensure he was okay.

But she definitely was not going to tell them the whole story.

“It’s really nothing. We started talking at the wedding” —because Colton got word that I had a crush on him and was feeling sorry for me— “and decided to meet up last night.”

“I knew it!” Lilah tapped her hand excitedly on the steering wheel. “I knew you guys did the down and dirty.”

“Maybe we just talked, ever think of that, Lilah?” Ella rolled her eyes. “Maybe Colton just needed a friend.”

Ella’s stomach churned at the thought that maybe that was the truth. Maybe he hadn’t really been looking for sex at all. Had she done something to instigate their physical start? She thought he had instigated it, but now, she wasn’t entirely sure.

“If you guys just talked, that’s fine too.” Becky’s voice was gentle as always. “He is your friend, after all.”

“That’s bullshit,” Lilah scoffed. “I mean, sure, they can talk, but I saw the way Colton was looking at Ella. He wanted more than to just talk.”

“It’s not what you think, Lilah.” Ella shook her head.

“What I think is that you guys bumped uglies. Is that true?”

“Jesus, Li,” Becky muttered under her breath with a laugh. “How about a little tact?”

“Fine. What I think is that Ella and Colton made beautiful, passionate, worshipful love to each other last night. Better?”

“Really? There’s no middle ground between bumping uglies and worshipful?” Becky asked.

“I don’t care what you want to call it, Elly-Belly basically has already admitted two separate times to being in Colton’s room in the middle of the night. As much as I’m sure they enjoy each other’sconversational rhythm, I’m still pretty positive that more than just talking happened.”

“Wait a second,” Ella said. “When did I say I’d been in his room twice?”

“Well, you just admitted it in the office, and then don’t think I wasn’t aware of what you said when I first found you at your van.”

Ella let out a sigh. She should’ve known Lilah would be aware of anything Ella was saying, despite the crisis going on. “Okay, fine. Yes, we had sex.”

Becky let out an excited little squeal.

“I knew it,” Lilah said. “How was it?”

“It was good, but…” Damn it, Ella really didn’t want to talk about this. Didn’t want to explain what Lincoln had said, didn’t want to talk about how it fed into her deepest fears.

Pity fuck.

“But what?” Becky asked gently.

“I don’t know.” Ella gave a one-shoulder shrug. “I think it was just a one-time thing.”

“Why?” Lilah asked. “Would you want it to happen again if you have the choice?”

This was getting harder and harder to explain without giving away all the details. “I don’t know. I think we were both just caught up in…a moment. It feels weird talking about this not knowing how Colton is doing, so let’s drop it.”

“Fine.” Lilah turned off the highway. “But only because we’re almost to the hospital.”

Ella would take the reprieve and hope it would be permanent. But her relief was short-lived when they pulled up to the hospital and found it completely packed with people obviously not there for medical attention. By the looks of all the Colton Harrison T-shirts and gear, a group of his fans had figured out where the medevac had taken him.

“Holy shit.” Lilah’s voice was tight. “I get that these people love Colton, but this is ridiculous. They need to get the heck out and let the doctors do their job.”

They found a parking spot in the very back of the lot and made their way to the main entrance.

“Bear is going to meet us out here,” Lilah said. “Colton’s condition is listed as serious but no longer critical, so he’s definitely still alive.”

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