Page 201 of Vegas Heat

“I love you, too.”

“I was so worried, Gabby.”

I shake my head. “I’m sorry. Nothing to be worried about.”

He nods and presses his lips together as he straightens. He takes my hand gently in his—the one with the IV still plugged into the vein on the back. He presses a gentle kiss near the needle. “It’s already bruising.”

“It’ll be okay. Now about that cheeseburger…”

He chuckles and pulls his phone out. “Where do you want to go? There’s an In-N-Out not far from here. Want to grab something on the way home?”

“How much longer do you think I’ll be stuck here?”

He shrugs. “With your dad out there yelling at everybody, I’d imagine they’ll get you out of here quick.”

I nod. “Can you just go get me something from the cafeteria maybe?”

“Of course. Cheeseburger, anything on it?”

“Everything. And fries.”

“You got it.” He leans down and kisses my lips this time, softly and quickly, but he doesn’t straighten as he talks to me. He’s hovering over me, and we both still hear my dad in the hallway, but I’m not sure he’d move even if my dad walked back in. “Thank God you’re okay. I can’t explain to you what happened to me when your dad said you were in the hospital. It was…” he trails off and shakes his head. “It told me a lot.”

I grab the back of his head and kiss him again, not sure I’d want him to move if my dad walked in. “Thank you for being here.”

“There is literally nowhere else in the world I would be right now,” he says softly. He straightens, and then he chuckles. “Except the cafeteria to get that cheeseburger as requested. Be right back.”

I grin as he heads out, and I hear him tell my dad where he’s going in the hall.

“You’re the best, Noah,” my dad says to him, and my chest swells.

He really is the best.

My dad returns a minute later, and he sits with me. A nurse comes in to remove the IV from my hand, and I wince at the pinch. She gives me my discharge instructions, reminds me to eat regular meals, and tells me I’m free to leave. My dad helps me up, and while I feel a little weak, overall I feel fine.

I just want to see Cooper again.

He walks into the waiting room with a bag of food just as I walk into it from another door, and I grab the bag from his hands. I can’t even wait to get to the car to open it. I plop down in the closest chair and scarf down the entire burger in about tenseconds flat. I glance up at Cooper, who shifts on his feet like watching me eat that burger was an actual turn on.

“Whoa. Slow down,” Troy says, and I can’t help a small giggle as Joanie sidles in beside him.

Did she introduce herself to my mother? Or is this Mom’s first clue that the woman in the waiting room is, in fact, her baby daddy’s fiancé?

“Fries in the car,” I announce before this family reunion gets any more awkward. “Get me out of here.”

“Come on, honey, let’s go,” my mother says at the same time Cooper says, “My truck’s just out front.”

I look back and forth between everyone.

I hate this shit.

I want to go with Cooper, of course. But I’ll feel like I’m letting my mom down if I don’t go with her.

Given the fact that I was just discharged from the hospital, I decide to go with what I want. I force away those voices in my head telling me I’ll only disappoint her.

I’ll disappoint her either way, so I may as well do what I want.

“I’ll head home with Cooper,” I say.

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