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“You’re bleeding,” she said.
“It’s nothing.”
“How come when I told you, you snapped at me?”Alec asked, and I laughed, causing pain to rip through me.I winced, body pulling into itself.
“You’re hurt.”
“I’ll live.”I tried to smile, but I flinched instead.“They tried to cut down the tent.I stopped them.”
“Alone?”
“Yeah, and he got the shit kicked out of him,” Alec said.“And done.”Alec slowly let go of the rope I had clung to as if my life depended on it.He took one step back, two.The silence spread between us, and on the third step, we collectively exhaled.
“Ow.Fuck,” I muttered as the breath cut deep.
“He needs a hospital,” Alec said.“I wouldn’t be surprised if he has a few broken ribs.”
“Oh my God,” Sherry said.Her hands fumbled, and she grabbed her phone.“Hi, I need an ambulance at Vine Valley Vineyards.Possible broken ribs.Thank you and hurry.Please.”
Her eyebrows pinched together as she touched my ribs.I shuddered at her touch.“Sorry.”
I forced a smile, even though it hurt like hell.“It’s okay.”
“You idiot,” she whispered, eyes filling with tears.“You held up an entire tent for me?”
“I wasn’t going to let them destroy it.My father destroyed too much, and I wouldn’t let him destroy you, too.”
She leaned in, brushing her lips against mine.“Thank you.”
“So uh, I found those chargers,” Alec said.
Sherry pulled back, her eyes darting between Alec and me.“What chargers?”
I let out a low groan, but not from the pain, from the death glare Sherry had me in.
“Oh shit.”Alec’s hand went to the back of his neck.
Sherry’s gaze narrowed on me.“Ben, what aren’t you telling me?”
“There was a transit issue with the chargers.I didn’t want to stress you out, so I took care of it.”
“How did I not know about this?”
“I purposely left them off the checklist.”I shifted, but fuck, it hurt.“I was going to tell you after I found them.Promise.”
“You got jumped, saved the day, and lied about the chargers.”
“Lying would entail me saying something that wasn’t true.I prefer withholding information.”
“Whatever it is, don’t do it again.We’re a team.We’re in this together.Okay?”
I nodded.“Okay.”
“I’m just glad you’re okay.You could have gotten seriously hurt.”
“I’m not a doctor,” Alec said.“But I’d say he’s seriously hurt.”
We both glared at him, and he held his hands up, backing away.“I’m going to go wave the ambulance down.Let you two have a minute.”Alec hurried off toward where his truck was.