Page 92 of Tango
I laugh, then wince when pain shoots through my abdomen. “Yeah, I guess I did. Not sure anything will come of it though.”
“Why not?”
“I just— I don’t know that it’s the right time.”
Dylan covers my hand with his. “You’ve been taking care of me for a long time, brother. Longer than you needed to. But I can’t be the reason you refuse to be happy.”
“What do you mean?” Did Alice say something, did someone?—
“I’ve known for a long time that you’ve been putting off letting yourself be happy because of me. But my demons are mine, Tuck. They’re not yours.”
“You’re my twin.”
“And you’ve been sacrificing for me long enough. Come on, Tuck, don’t let Alice get away because you’re afraid of what could happen if you let yourself embrace what you feel for her.”
A tear slips down my cheek as the weight of my brother’s pain lessens ever so slightly. “I don’t want to leave you alone.”
“You won’t. We live less than a mile apart, Tucker.”
I snort. “True.”
“Just do me a favor and stop suffering on my behalf. My own pain is hard enough to carry; I don’t want to shoulder yours too.”
I nod. “Okay.”
There’s a soft knock on the door right before it opens. Alice steps in, her eyes wide, one bruised. There’s a cut on her cheekbone and another splitting her lower lip. Seeing her injuries brings a fresh wave of anger over me, but it’s nothing compared to the joy consuming me as I lay eyes on her again.
Our gazes hold with her standing by the door and me unsure what to say.
What do I say to her?
What if she decides she wants to stay in California?
“I’ll check in a bit later.” Dylan takes his book and stands, pausing right before Alice. He gently touches her shoulder and whispers something in her ear.
I’m so shocked at the sight of him touching her that I nearly miss her soft laugh. He never touches anyone. The darkness doesn’t return when he leans in, and the smile on his face doesn’t fade.
It only makes me love her even more that she puts him so at ease.
“Okay,” she replies.
Dylan flashes me another smile then heads out of the room.
“How are you feeling?” Alice asks, crossing over toward the chair Dylan just vacated.
“Like I can no longer brag about having never been shot,” I reply, hoping it’ll bring a smile to her face. Instead, her expression falters, and tears break free. “I’m sorry, Alice, poor joke.” I reach out for her, and she takes a seat on the edge of the hospital bed. There’s barely a sliver of space available, but I wrap an arm around her to keep her from falling. She lays her head against my chest, fitting so perfectly against me.
“I thought you were going to die, Tucker. You did die. You crashed in the ambulance on the way here. On the operating table. They didn’t think you were going to make it.”
“God wasn’t ready for me yet,” I say softly then kiss the top of her head. “How are you doing?” I tip her face up and gently brush my thumb over her split lip.
“I’m better now.”
“Ramiro?”
“In jail where he belongs,” she growls. “They have enough evidence on him, Wilbur Huck, Darren, Kara, and the rest of their security team to lock them up for a long, long time. It was on the news earlier. Web Safe is going to be lucky if they can keep their doors open after this. So I guess I’m out of a job.”
I laugh. “I bet we can find you something else.”
