Page 77 of Hook Up

A delicious aroma fills my nostrils, but I’m like a bull in front of a red flag—furious and ready to charge the moment Greer enters the room.

“I got you a pastrami sandwich. You always liked those when we were kids.”

“Put it down and leave.”

“What? Don’t you want dinner?”

“What I want, is you gone. You think you’re so clever, don’t you Greer? Even got me to marry you without a prenup. Smart move. I should have known you were just like the rest of them.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Her voice is a strangled whisper, the emotion evident. “I don’t want your money, Ryder. I never did.”

“Why are you really here?” I hold up my hand, cutting her off before she can answer. “Don’t lie, either. Colton told me all about your bastard brother and the rest of the pit crew trying to kill me. He also mentioned how you begged him to stay silent on the matter. He claims you were trying to protectme—”

“I was. I knew the stress would be detrimental to your healing.”

“But lies and false sympathy were going to help? That’s all this is, right?” I motion blindly around the room. “That’s why you’re here, doting on me, isn’t it? Trying to save your brother from the ramifications he damn well deserves? Well, you can take your sweet nurse act and shove it up your ass. I want you gone. We’re done.”

Her fingers close around my hand, but I jerk away as if I’ve been burned. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I thought it would be better if we waited untilyouwere better. But that’s not why I’m here, Ryder. I love you and I want to help you, but you keep shutting me out.”

“If you loved me, you wouldn’t have lied to me. Now, you’re shut out for good. Get out.”

Her sobs are like bullets, but my anger shields me from her emotional onslaught. All I can feel, all I can process, is the bottomless fury that the love I thought I found is nothing more than a lie. An act of pity for a broken man and a last-ditch effort to protect her family.

Fuck pity and fuck Greer. I’ll be damned if I become a charity case.

“I’ll be in the waiting room,” Greer manages between sniffles. “I’ll leave your food here.”

The bag crinkles next to me, but I reach for it, tossing it across the room. “Get out, and don’t ever come back.”

After what seems forever, I hear the door close.

She’s gone.

One down, one to go.

Paging the nurse, I request three things—clean up the food now littering the floor, ban Greer from stepping onto the unit, and dial Greg’s number.

Then I request privacy, although I’m certain to get loud enough for patients in the next unit to hear.

“Hey brother, how are you?”

“Blind, thanks to you and my pathetic excuse for a pit crew. Was it worth it? Those fucking beers you can’t live without? Were they worth ruining my life?”

“I didn’t drink that night, Ryder. I swear. My test was clean.”

“There hasn’t been a day when you’ve said no to alcohol.”

Greg is silent for a few beats, and the darkness threatens to suffocate me. “You’re right. I have a problem, and your accident made me realize I need to deal with it. I signed myself into rehab and I leave in the morning, but I swear on my life, I was stone-cold sober during the race.”

“What you are is jealous. You couldn’t stand it. I made it and you didn’t.”

I expect him to fly off the handle, but he’s calm. Achingly calm. “I am jealous, but I would never—never—put you in danger. I’ve always been proud of you and I hate that this happened. I feel responsible—”

“You are responsible,” I bellow, my fist making contact with the side rail. “Colton told me he put the crew on indefinite suspension. You need to leave my house immediately. I never want to speak to you again.”

Ending the call, I chuck my phone across the room, the agony of silence now an unbearable roar.

I’m alone in the dark and the thoughts swirl, blacker by the second. I believed in Greer. I believed in her love. The one woman I thought would save me, the woman I thought would love me for a lifetime, never loved me at all.

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