Page 97 of Love in Training
The next thing I know, I’m on a gurney, covering my face to escape the awful glare of overhead lights as I’m wheeled toward the door.
“Wait—what about Rufus?” I ask.
“Don’t worry,” Darius says. “Todd and I will be collecting Rufus kisses until your girlfriend gets here.”
Drew squeezes my hand. “She’s on her way now.”
I let out a breath, fingers trembling in his as my adrenaline drops. As it slowly sinks in that I’m okay now. I’m safe. “Thank you, guys. For everything.”
“Don’t thank me.” Darius grins. “Nothing was going to keep this perfect ten of yours from getting in here. Or your pooch. When Todd and I saw what was going on, we mostly just called for help.”
My lids flutter closed again, a tear trickling from the corner of my eye as the whole ordeal flashes through my mind. From the first terrifying moment after I opened the door, to the time it finally ended with Rufus and Drew barreling in. I rest my throbbing head back on the gurney as I’m wheeled to the elevator, fingers entwined with Drew’s. And I think maybe Kyle got something right after all. Maybe somehow he did protect me.
CHAPTER
THIRTY-SIX
The first thingI see when I open my eyes is a large, blurry shape crammed into an uncomfortable-looking chair. I blink, and a handsome, sleeping man comes into focus in a pair of dark jeans and an unreasonably snug Henley. His glasses sit next to him on a hospital tray table, and just for a moment, asleep like that, he looks so much like Kyle.
Except... he doesn’t. Now that I’m really looking, all I see anymore is Drew.
“Oh, good, you’re awake. How are you feeling?” a nurse says, slipping into the dim room as I sit up. She glances at the hunk of masculine beauty in the chair and gives me a knowing smile. “This guy’s pretty devoted.”
My mouth twitches. “Has he been here all night?”
“We were supposed to kick him out, but...” She rolls her eyes. “I’m a softie for a good dog story.”
My gaze flickers back to Drew, and this time warm green eyes blink back at me. He reaches over, slipping his glasses back onto his face, and my heart does a soft little skip.
“I’ll be back to change your fluids in a bit,” the nurse says, stepping out as quickly as she came. Before the door even closes,Drew has the chair right up next to the bed, and my pulse starts dancing.
“How’s your head?” he asks.
I reach up instinctively, fingers tracing over the gauze still taped to my temple. I received nine stitches, a CT scan, and a cocktail of IV drugs before landing here for observation. It felt like some kind of torture getting through all the questions, tests, and pokes with my head ready to explode. But the IV helped a lot, and I was grateful to come out of this ordeal with “only” a moderate concussion and a few bruised ribs.
“Much better.” I roll awkwardly toward him, trying to get closer without tangling my wires and tubes. “And Rufus... ?”
“Is with your friend Lydia, I can confirm.” He hands me his phone with a lopsided smile. On the screen is a selfie of Lydia and Rufus—she’s grinning at the camera while he drags his long tongue up the side of her face.
“What’s that on his neck?” I ask.
Drew’s eyes darken. “He needed a couple of stitches where that asshole cut him when he attacked.”
“He what?” I zoom in on the photo, and sure enough, a patch of his golden fur is shaved around a stitched, crooked wound. My heartbeat pulses under my skin. “He gothurt?”
“It wasn’t deep. He’ll be okay,” Drew says gently. “He did exactly what he was trained to do.”
“I just...” I swallow, trying to put my feelings into words, but all I choke out is, “That damn dog means so much.”
Drew takes my hands in his and waits until I meet his gaze. “You both do.”
We sit there a minute, holding onto each other. Until finally, I clear my throat. “Listen, Drew?—”
A muffled ruckus cuts through the air, and it’s a second before I recognize the familiar notes ofScooby Doo. I sit up,scanning the room for my phone as Drew hops out of the chair, pulling my device from his jeans pocket.
He hands it to me, then steps toward the door. “I’ll just give you some?—”
“No,” I say too quickly. My face warms at the intensity in my voice and the flutter in my chest. If there’s anything I’m certain of, it’s that I don’t want Drew to leave. I tap the screen to answer, then look at him and mouthWould you stay?
