Page 129 of When We Were Reckless
Mason turned on his heel and strode into the hospital, leaving me outside on the sidewalk with my sore shoulder and a mountain of guilt.
“You and Quinn, huh?”
I turned at the sound of Holden’s voice. He pushed off from the pillar and walked toward me. I hadn’t even noticed him standing there, hidden in the shadows. “How long have you been there?” I asked, wincing as I rolled out my shoulder.
“Long enough. It felt like this was Mason’s fight, not mine. So I stayed out of it.” He rubbed his hand over his jaw, looking a lot cooler and more composed than Mason had. “He’s going through a lot of his own shit right now. This sure as hell isn’t helping.”
Mason hadn’t said a word to me. But then, I hadn’t spoken to him in almost a week. “What’s going on?”
His gaze drifted to the front door, then back to me. “Not my news to share. Do you love her?”
It was funny that Mason hadn’t even thought to ask the only question that truly mattered. I nodded once, admitting it for the first time. “Yeah, I do. But it took me longer than it should have to figure that out.” I didn’t add that it might be too late. That was my problem, not his.
He nodded like he’d suspected it. “I’m surprised Mason didn’t notice. It was pretty damn obvious to me. I figured it out that day we all went up to the lake. But sometimes we only see what we want to.”
Wasn’t that the truth? His phone buzzed, and he checked the screen before he pocketed it again.
“Quinn has a fractured wrist and a mild concussion. But her vitals look good.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “Can I see her?”
“I think you’d better let everyone cool down first. My mom’s not too happy about any of this, and I have a feeling my dad won’t be either. If you want to be with Quinn, you’ll have your work cut out for you.”
I didn’t even know if Quinn wanted to be with me. Although, judging by her responses earlier, I’d say that was a no.
The only thing I need protection from is you.
Had she been trying to protect herself from me?
I’d been a coward. Instead of telling her how I really felt, I’d questioned her.
No wonder she hadn’t felt like she could be honest.
One thing I knew with absolute certainty. If I let her go, I’d regret it.
She had made my life so much better, and what had I given her in return? Not a damn thing. It was time to change that. Time to show Quinn how much she meant to me.
Chapter Forty-Four
Quinn
My parents were arguing.I could hear them right outside the door of my hospital room, where all three of my brothers were at my bedside. Not that I wanted them here. I wanted to be alone, but privacy was a luxury I didn’t have right now.
“Why didn’t you know what our daughter has been getting up to all summer?” my dad accused.
“Ourdaughter,” my mom said with a harsh laugh. “How convenient. You’re never around. Do you have any idea whatourdaughter does with her time?”
“I don’t live with her. You’re supposed to be the mother. You’re the one who keeps trying to cut me out. You don’t tell me anything, Abby. If Holden hadn’t called me last night, I wouldn’t have even known our daughter was in the hospital, for Christ’s sake. I don’t even know when she has doctor appointments because you don’t tell me.”
“Well, maybe, if you hadn’t cheated on me, you would know what’s going on in our lives.”
“Not this again. That was five years ago. When are you going to let it go?”
“You threw away our marriage like it meant nothing to you. How am I supposed to let that go?”
“Ignore them,” Holden said like that was possible. Like I could just tune out their words.
A few seconds later, our parents’ voices faded. Either they’d moved away from the door or lowered their voices, I didn’t know. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block out their words. It brought back memories of them arguing when I was a kid. I always used to think my parents had the perfect marriage and my dad had destroyed it when he cheated, but now I remembered that it hadn’t been perfect.
