Page 10 of Knot All That Glitters: Part 2

“What if they come after you?”

“They won’t.”

“You don’t know that.”

She sighs and drops a kiss on my forehead. “Well, they might. But I don’t give a fuck. You’re my best friend. My sister from another mister. My ride or die. The peanut butter to my jelly. I’m not going to abandon you when you need me most, Haves, so stop asking. For the record, Mom and Ginny feel the same. We even sprung for a new security system to keep you safe.”

Tears fill my eyes as I snuggle into her. “Why do you get to be jelly?”

She hums. “You wanna be jelly?”

“I mean, I think you’re more peanut butter than jelly.”

She laughs. “I guess you’re right. You’re all the sweet in our relationship and I’m all the salty.”

I laugh, and god, I didn’t think I’d be able to so soon after learning everything I just did. “That’s not what I meant. You’re plenty sweet when you want to be, and we both know I can be salty as hell. I meant you’re a little nuttier than I am.”

She gasps in mock offense. “Haven Bell, are you calling me crazy?”

“I would never. And even if I did, you’re my kind of crazy.”

She hums against and hugs me tighter. “You’re my kind of crazy, too.” We’re quiet for a while, so long that I drift off. I try to stay awake. I’ve been sleeping for days. But Florence strokes my hair and murmurs. “Get some sleep, babe.”

I’m helpless but to follow her command.

Chapter 4

A Great Deal of Embarrassment

I wake up the next morning to blond hair strewn over my face, blocking my nostrils, strands in my mouth.

I splutter to dislodge them, and next to me Ren groans, stretching and then snuggling into me again. I scrape her hair out of my face and nudge her probably harder than I should, but my arm is going numb from her laying on it.

“Florence, babe, you gotta get up.”

She groans. “I don’t wanna.”

“Well, if you don’t, they’ll have to amputate my arm.”

She jerks up into a sitting position, kaleidoscope eyes wide with concern. “What? Why? What happened?”

My fingers wiggle as blood flows back into them, making them tingle unpleasantly. “You were cutting off circulation.”

She harrumphs and flops the other way on the bed, so her head is by my feet as I push into a sitting position. “What time is it?” She asks, one of her arms draped over her eyes dramatically.

“I have no idea.” I nudge her with my foot and she lifts her arm enough to peek at me. “You should go home.”

That has her sitting up again. “What?”

I laugh at her indignation. “Go home, shower, grab me some clothes and then come back. I really don’t want to leave the hospital in a gown with my ass hanging out.”

“Oh, right.” She rubs a hand over her face, wiping the sleep from her eyes. “Yeah, that makes sense.” Her hand flops to the mattress. “You sure you want me to go?”

I nod. “Yeah, the sooner the better.”

“Sick of me already?”

“Sick of the hospital. I want to leave as soon as they give the okay.” Feeling unsettled, I glance around the room. “I can’t help thinking that the longer I’m here, the more likely it is that my dad will find me or the Calloway pack is going to kidnap me or something.”

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