Page 37 of Love, A Curvy Girl's Guide

“You’re killing me, Johnson,” she whispered against his lips.

Ian smiled, something she felt more than saw. “At least I am getting through. Sometimes you hold everything so tightly inside that I worry you are going to explode.”

Haley’s eyes began to shine. “I feel like Iamgoing to explode. It’s not a very nice feeling to have.”

“Take some deep breaths with me?” Ian asked. After a moment, he added, “Can we make a stop before we meet Verity? There is something I need to do.”

Haley’s stomach twisted. “Ian, we don’t have time?—”

“We do,” he interrupted gently. “You’re no good to anyone if you’re running on empty. Let’s check in on your dad and then we can go figure out things with Verity.”

Haley’s eyebrows shot up. “You would do that?”

Ian hesitated, his gaze steady. “I would do anything for you, Haley.”

Her breath caught in her throat. The sincerity in Ian’s voice, the weight of his words, left her momentarily speechless. Finally, she nodded. “Okay.”

“I love you, Haley Wheat,” he said, pressing another kiss to her lips. “Let’s go.”

The hospital wasbusy when they arrived. It was just about lunchtime, and between the visitors, hospital staff, and registering patients, they could hardly hear themselves think. Once they had gotten to the oncology floor, the noise diminished to just the nurses’ station and the beeps from various hospital monitors.

She led Ian into her dad’s room where he lay in the hospital bed dozing. He looked almost the same as two nights ago when she’d left him and learned the news that Verity had betrayed her. How could it seem like so much time had passed when it was barely forty-eight hours?

“Haley-girl,” her dad said, as his eyes flickered open. “What are you doing here, Bug?”

“Just checking on you, Dad,” Haley said, leaning down to kiss his cheek. “And Ian wanted to see you.”

Her father’s eyebrows rose as he looked past her to where Ian stood. “Son? Well, now. This should be interesting.”

Haley’s cheeks warmed, but Ian stepped forward, his usual confidence tempered with a quiet respect. “Mr. Wheat. I’m sorry to come barging in here like this.”

A faint smile creased his weathered cheeks. “Ian Johnson, you are a good man. I know you and Haley haven’t always seen eye to eye. But from where I stood, I knew you would work things out one way or another. You are welcome, son. Welcome to be here, and if I am not being too bold, welcome to the family.”

“Daddy!” Haley cried out, a term she hadn’t used in years.

Her dad laughed. It sounded rusty and ended with a cough, but there was a twinkle that had caught in her father’s eye. “Haley, why don’t you check with the nurse what time my next pain meds are due? I want to have a little chat with your young man.”

Haley’s face was aflame with embarrassment. “He’s not my young man.”

They spoke at one time.

“I’m not?” Ian teased.

“Yes, he is,” her dad insisted.

Haley hesitated, her gaze flicking between them. “Are you sure you don’t need me to stay?”

Her dad shot her an exasperated look. “Go on, Haley-Bug. I won’t eat him. We’ll be fine.”

Reluctantly, she retreated to the nurses’ station just outside the room, although her ears strained to catch snippets of their conversation.

Ian saton the chair next to the hospital bed, his hands clasped as he tried to work out what to say.

“You’ve got something on your mind, son,” Haley’s dad prompted. “Spit it out.”

Ian smiled. “Haley means everything to me, sir. I’ve loved her for as long as I can remember. But... there is something you need to know.”

“You’re a fledgling werewolf and you and Haley are in hot water with the Alpha.”

---