Page 38 of Edge of Unbroken

“That’s good to hear. How about everything else?”

“Okay, I guess. It’s really mostly my knee now,” Ronan says as I listen to his voice intently, soaking it in. Have I mentioned how much I miss him yet?

“That’s good.” I can tell Shane wants to ask Ronan how he feels emotionally but refrains because he knows now is not the time. Not that Ronan would be forthcoming even if Shane did ask. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about Ronan, it’s that he does whatever he can to hide the pain. “We miss you, man,” Shane says instead.

“I miss you, too, guys. Man, I want to come home,” Ronan groans. “Baby?” he calls, a tone in his voice like he temporarily lost sight of me in a crowded place, like he needs me to anchor him.

“I’m here.” I wish I could reach through the phone and touch him.

“I love you.”

It suddenly hits me just how far away he is. “I love you, too. I love you so much, Ran.”

“Hey, Stevie, sorry I didn’t get to talk to you on Sunday,” Ronan chuckles.

Steve laughs in turn. “No worries. I figured I probably wasn’t number one on your list of people to talk to once you got the okay.”

“Yeah. I mean, you’re fun and stuff, but there’s definitely someone I’m more desperate to talk to. Hey, you guys are keeping an eye on Cat for me, right? Don’t let some asshole try and take her home tonight because I know they’re probably already lining up to snatch her,” Ronan says. I blush for some dumb reason.

Shane’s eyes lock on me, an iron determination in his features. “Not on our watch, dude.”

“I don’t think you have to worry about Kitty Cat and some other guy,” Vada shouts into the phone from her seat. “She just told us that you get her off really fast and really hard.”

If it was possible for a person to spontaneously combust, I would.

“She did?” Ronan asks.

“She sure did,” Tori says with a giggle.

At what temperature exactly does human skin begin to melt? Because I feel like I may be close to reaching that point. “Oh, god, guys,” I groan.

“Well, I’m glad to hear I can do that for you, baby,” Ronan chuckles in a low voice, causing the heat to spread to my stomach. “And let me just say it’s definitely mutual,” he says.

Any second now I’ll be able to see the smoke rising off my skin. I just know it.

“Awkward!” Zack yells again, and we dissolve into laughter.

“Baby boy, I’m sorry to be such a negative nelly, but you need sleep,” Ronan’s grandmother says in the background.

Ronan sighs. “That wasn’t five minutes, Morai,” he grumbles.

“Maybe not, but it’s more than you’re supposed to be on the phone,” she says, her voice light.

“Sorry, guys, I gotta go,” he says. “But baby, I’ll call you Sunday, okay?”

“I can’t wait,” I say, not at all ready to hang up. The prospect of having to wait until Sunday to hear his voice is not enticing in the least.

“Hey, Ran,” Shane calls out.

“Yeah?”

“Hang on for me, okay? For us. Just, hang on.”

The sound of a deep breath travels through the phone. “I’m trying.”

Okay, he’s obviously not healed yet.

“We love you, man,” Shane says.

---