Page 75 of Until Posey

I sat in the chair beside him. “Holy shit. How’d you manage that?”

“Million-dollar question,” he muttered. “My phone was ringing, and I tried to answer it like an idiot with my hands full of paint cans.”

I shook my head. “That was smart on your part.” Sarcasm dripped from my voice.

“Yeah, well, I never claimed to be the brightest bulb in the pack,” he teased. “Anyway, turns out, it was the kid who brought the Firebird in. He just wanted an update.”

I smothered a laugh even as tears fell again. “How did we get here, Hunter? How do we fix this?”

“Guess the question is, do we want to fix it?” He turned his head to look at me. I could see the exhaustion in his eyes, along with the pain of loss and the agony of breaking his foot. More than anything, I wanted to ease both emotions anyway I could.

“Yes,” I said with a nod of confidence. “I was stupid and selfish, and I didn’t listen to a thing you said. Just judged you because of my terrible experiences. I wish I could take it all back.”

“I should have told you the truth from the beginning. Sure, you would have hated me more from the start, even if I won you over with my charm later, but I did what I thought was best for Destiny. I let my hero complex interfere with reality. I blamed myself for Hope dying. I thought if I could protect Destiny, it made up for Hope’s death. In the meantime, I really was trying to find family. Maybe not Pedro’s, but Hope’s. You were right. Destiny deserves her biological grandparents or an aunt and uncle. Someone other than me and my fucked-up complex.”

“She only has you,” I said, knowing the truth all along, but afraid of what it could mean for Destiny.

“She has us,” he corrected. “Me and you. Plus, my family. I know I’m doing this backwards or if I even need to, but I’d like to adopt Destiny. Really give her the Banks name.”

I huffed a tiny laugh. “Since you’re on her birth certificate, legally, you’re already her dad. I also cancelled the DNA test. The only person who would be hurt in the long run is Destiny. I can’t put a baby through what I went through. I can’t stand the thought of her going from home to home because no one wanted to adopt her. Or worse, ending up in a home with a psychotic foster brother, who actually kills people, not attempts to, as was my case.”

“Posey,” Hunter murmured, holding out his hand.

I took it. “I might have lied to get in here, too.”

Hunter gasped with feigned shock. “No. Not you, Posey. You’d never lie.”

Asshole.“I said I was your fiancé.”

A small smile tugged at his lips as his eyes drifted shut. “I like the sounds of that—fiancé. We should make it official.”

I scoffed. “We barely know each other, Hunter Banks.”

“Ireland barely knew Mack when they got engaged. Jackson and Waverly made a kid their first time together.” He shrugged. “I think we’re right in the mix. Don’t you?”

“But marriage? Are you sure? Shouldn’t we wait until you’re not on drugs from breaking your foot?”

“Would you believe I’m free balling the pain with only a couple of Ibuprofen? I haven’t asked for the hard stuff yet. It hurts like a son of a bitch, but I can’t stand narcotic pain meds. They fuck with my head too much.”

Worry filled my stomach. How could he be so fricken calm with a broken foot? There was no way. I’d be screaming my fool head off, begging for relief. “You really should take something, Hunter. Being in pain isn’t good for the body.”

“I know, Baby girl. They gave me Naproxen. So far, so good. Uncomfortable until they set everything and put me in a boot. I think the toenail hurts more than anything.” He squeezed my hand. “Scared the fuck out of Landon when I passed out, too. He’s here wandering the halls somewhere.”

The curtain pulled back just then, and the doctor grinned. “You must be Hunter’s fiancé,” the man said, extending his hand to me. “I’m Doctor Riley.”

“Uh, yes, I am. I’m Posey. It’s good to meet you, doctor,” I replied. “Or it would be, under better circumstances.”

The doctor chuckled. “This knucklehead gave his brother a heart attack, but I assume he filled you in on what’s going on?”

I nodded. “Such a Hunter thing to do.” I laughed. “Just tell me how I can help him, and I’ll make sure he follows everything to a T.”

“You’ve got a keeper here, Hunter,” the doctor said as the nurse set up everything to cast his foot. “Most of what we have to worry about is this toenail.” He motioned for me to join him at Hunter’s foot. After he clicked the light on, illuminating Hunter’s foot, he pointed to the empty nail bed. “You’ll have to watch for infection. I think the whole nail separated at the bed, which caused the bleeder, but if there is still some nail in there and the cuticle changes color, or he has a fever, bring him back right away. I’ll put in his charting he might need to a debridement on a follow-up visit. I’m also going to set him up for an appointment with an orthopedic doctor.” He glanced up at Hunter. “Is there anyone in particular you’d like to see?”

“Dr. Jay,” Hunter said. “He took care of my little brother’s girl, and he worked wonders on her leg.”

“Perfect,” Dr. Riley said. “He’s in network, and he’ll be perfect for something like this. I will caution, though. You might need surgery. As it is, your foot is pretty swollen. I can’t see how many bones in your foot broke, but there are at least three. He’ll know more once the swelling goes down in about a week.”

“Fuuuck,” Hunter grumbled on an exhale. “Sorry, doc.”

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