Page 123 of Don't Call Me Daddy
I chew on my lip and shake my head, pulling my hand free from Leo’s grip. “We have to go back to the festival?—”
“Baby, we don’t have time. It’s going to take an hour to get to the airport as it is, and you still need to account for security?—”
“I’ve got Guy stalling right now, and the whole ending ceremony depends on you being there.”
He shakes his head. “There’s nothing more important right now than making sure you catch that flight. Ivy, I can’t let you do this, not for me. I couldn’t live with myself if I messed this opportunity up for you.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “I can’t leave my sister’s ashes. We’ll deal with this later, but right now, we need to hurry, or all of this will be for nothing.”
He purses his lips because there’s no way he can argue against that.
“Do you two need a minute of privacy or …” Luka interrupts.
We both look over. I forgot they were here. Poor Leo looks so startled that I truly don’t think he even noticed his brothers before he kissed me.
He looks back at me with confusion on his face, and I shrug.
“I might have asked your brothers for help. Hope you don’t mind.”
“Well, now that we know you’re safe, I think I’ll head back,” Jett says, pulling out his keys from his pocket.
Leo opens his mouth to respond, but then his eyes go wide, and he’s dropping to his knees in front of me to get a better look at my wound. “Jesus Christ, Ivy, what happened to your leg?”
“It’s not as bad as it looks.” I try to pull him up, but he doesn’t budge as he examines the cut.
“This is going to need stitches. We need to clean this up, so it doesn’t get infected.”
I grab his face between my hands. “Leo, I’m fine, really. It’s just a cut.”
His eyes search mine, and he finally nods. “Okay. Well, if you insist on going back, then we’re stopping at the medical tent first thing. I don’t want to hear any arguments.”
“Okay,” I say sheepishly, feeling so mixed up about everything and hoping I’m making the right decision.
Leo looks up at Luka. “Can I ask you for one more favor, little brother?”
Luka shakes his head. “Don’t even think about it?—”
“I’ll owe you one. Big time,” he says, holding out his hands.
Luka pauses, staring at him like he’s considering, then pulls his keys from his pocket with a sigh. “Fine, but you’d better not put a single scratch on her, or I’ll never offer to help you out ever again.”
Leo catches the keys and dangles them in front of me. “All right, let’s get to that parade.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Leo
“Thanks again, Dr. Stone.”
Ivy put up a good fight, assuring me she was fine, that this could wait, that we didn’t have time to stop first, but I wouldn’t budge on this. I don’t consider myself to be a squeamish person, but seeing her covered in blood like that really did a number on me.
Luckily, Dr. Stone was already waiting with all the supplies to give her stitches, and it saved us hours of sitting in the emergency room. It’s one of the many reasons I love this town—everyone’s always willing to go the extra mile to help one another.
Maybe Ivy missing her flight was inevitable whether we came back or not, but it didn’t stop me from trying to think of every solution possible the whole ride over. I begged her to let me try to fix this—well, as best as I could, talking through a motorcycle helmet.
I offered to swing her by and grab her bags and her sister’s ashes so we could at least attempt to make her flight. I evensuggested calling in a favor at the airport, maybe making a donation if they agreed to stall the flight to buy us time to get there, but Ivy wouldn’t hear of it.
If I didn’t know better, I’d think this was another way for her to avoid having to deal with telling her sister goodbye … or maybe telling me goodbye. But who am I to force her to leave when she doesn’t feel ready? Fuck, of course I can’t stand the idea of telling her goodbye, but I can’t let her give up on her dreams for me either. This entire situation is a mess, and it’s all my fault for disappearing on her today.
