Page 23

PATRICK

I was a grouchy fucker. The moment I left Piper’s room this morning, my mood was shot. She was the only thing keeping me on the right side of happy. But now I was stuck in this room with Chase and Nick playing War and pissing me off every time they shouted. I just wanted some fucking sleep.

That and a blowjob by Piper.

“No! You’re fucking wrong. Ace beats King,” Nick snapped.

“Not in War. Ace is the low card.”

“Bullshit.”

“Oh, I’m calling bullshit alright. You’re just making up rules as you go along.”

“I am?” Nick said incredulously. “I think you’re imagining things again. Are you seeing Asher right now?”

“That’s fucking hilarious. Pick on the guy who had a tumor.”

“I will if you start making shit up in a simple fucking card game.”

I would roll over and tune them out, but my leg was supposed to be elevated. I grabbed a pillow and shoved it over my face to drown out the noise, but it wasn’t thick enough.

“I suppose now you’re going to tell me that the Joker is supposed to be in the game also.”

“Name one game where the Joker is a playing card,” Chase argued.

“Canasta, Euchre, Crazy Eights, Go Fish?—”

“Go Fish?” Chase burst out laughing. “Why don’t you just name every fucking game your grandmother played.”

“Hey, leave my grandmother out of this,” Nick snapped.

I’d had enough. I grabbed the pillow and chucked it across the room, wiping all the cards from the table in one stroke. Nick and Chase both shoved back from the table, shouting at me for ruining their game.

“Shut the fuck up!” I yelled. “I’m trying to get some fucking sleep!”

“Hey, we’re just having a friendly game of cards.”

“Friendly?” I snapped at Nick. “You’re fucking worse than Fox.

At least he would sing me a show tune to put me to sleep!

And he’d probably bring me shawarma. I haven’t seen either of you fuckers offer me anything, but you sure as hell love to walk in here with roast beef sandwiches and fucking lasagna! ”

“You never said you wanted any,” Chase argued, crossing his arms over his chest like he was the one who should be offended.

“I shouldn’t have to ask for it. You should be bringing it to me just because I’m in the fucking hospital.”

“When I was in the hospital, all you brought me was Asher to make me think I still had a fucking tumor,” he said with a shrug.

“That’s because I was testing you.”

“And you wanted to fuck with my head.”

“Fine. You win. You didn’t bring me food and you’re annoying the hell out of me. Will you leave now?”

“No can do,” he grinned, so unlike him. “Lock wants us to stick around. He said he can’t deal with you getting into more trouble.”

“Like I’m the only one,” I muttered. “Go get me food. Real food. I don’t want any liquids or salad. I need people food. Man food.”

“Technically, liquids and salad are people food.”

I glared at him, but he just laughed all the way to the door.

Thankfully, Nick followed suit, leaving me in peace.

I closed my eyes and tried to go back to sleep, but Piper was invading my thoughts.

Her naked body, the way she rode my cock when we were in the forest, the way she kissed.

Fuck, it was going to be hard to find someone as wild in bed as her.

And now that I knew she got all her ideas from books, I was desperate to find out which ones she read so I could find out what other shit was in them.

The door opened all too quickly and my tired body revolted at the idea of anyone disturbing the peace. “Get the fuck out,” I muttered without opening my eyes.

“Wow, you’re just a peach today.”

Her feminine voice lifted my spirits and my cock. My eyes flew open and I grinned at her, motioning her over. She was in a wheelchair, but I assumed that was just because it was hospital policy since she hadn’t been discharged yet. “Thank God you’re not a man.”

“There are so many questions…Starting with, would any woman do?”

“Not at all. If you were the nurse, I’d jab the needle in her eye.”

“That’s a little violent for three o’clock in the afternoon.”

“Since I left your room, I haven’t had any peace. I sent the guys to find me food. They were annoying the fuck out of me.”

“Beans?”

“I doubt they serve Bush’s here.”

“You never know. If I had been thinking clearly, I would have brought all those cans with us. Even though they had been expired for two years.”

“Well, I’m not dead yet.” I nodded to her feet. “How bad is it?”

“Eh, it hurts, but I’ll survive. It can’t be worse than jumping out of a plane and hoping I don’t catapult to the Earth and die. What about you? Still happy about your new Terminator status?”

“I was thinking of going into competition with this teammate of mine, Thumper. Of course, he has a bionic leg, and I just can’t compete with that. Definitely not cool enough.”

“Not at all.”

“When are they springing you?”

“Now. The nurse just brought my discharge papers, but I told her I needed to stop by here first. She got this really lovey-dovey look on her face and almost started crying.” Piper’s eyes widened in horror at the thought. “I just went with it, hoping she didn’t try to hug me. It was really weird.”

“Well, I tend to have that effect on people.”

“Hey, I saved you , asshole.”

“You did,” I agreed. “So, where to now?”

“A hotel. Juliette got me a room. I’m spending no less than two days in bed before I complete my mission.”

I barked out a laugh at that. “Your mission?”

She tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled.

Fuck, that little move made me want to leap out of bed and kiss her, but that would be bad.

Just because she made me smile didn’t mean my dick could have her.

Besides, she just got out of a relationship, and that wasn’t good for anyone, especially me.

I didn’t need a woman who would cling to me.

“I still have to get back to New York— well, New Jersey. Dick weasel sent my things to some storage company and I need to get it back before he has it all destroyed.”

“Need some help?” I wasn’t sure why I offered. I wasn’t in the position to do much of anything at this point.

“What are you gonna do? Run him over with your wheelchair?”

“I’m sure I could have it modified to fire weapons also.”

“I might not mind seeing him gunned down, but let’s hold off until I get my things back.”

“Well, I’m not getting out of here for at least another day. Think you can hold off that long?”

She sighed heavily, “I suppose. It’ll be tough to lounge around after hiking through the forest for days, but somehow, I think I’ll survive it.”

“If you get bored, you can always show the staff how to make your own pouch and boil water.”

“Invaluable knowledge,” she nodded.

I found myself speechless as I stared at her beautiful face. Everything about her was just mesmerizing, and for some reason, it seemed like I was having the same effect on her. But that spell was broken the moment the door opened and the nurse walked in.

“Ready to go, hun? Your friend is getting the car.”

“Sure,” Piper smiled at her. “I’m ready to put my feet up and maybe have a spa day.”

The nurse started to wheel her out, but for a second, it felt like this was the end, like I might not see her again. “Hey, Piper. Don’t leave without saying goodbye.”

She glanced over her shoulder and grinned at me. “You couldn’t get rid of me that easily.”

I really fucking hoped not.

Hobbling out of the hospital on crutches was not how I planned for this trip to end, but there was nothing to do about it. Piper was safe, and so was everyone else. I’d survived worse before. A broken leg was nothing.

“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Chase grumbled. “I can’t wait to get home to Mercy.”

“Not so fast. I need to help Piper with something.”

I really hoped she hadn’t pulled a disappearing act on me.

I liked her company too much, and I wasn’t ready to see her go just yet.

Not that I would ever admit that to her.

I didn’t want her to get any ideas. It wasn’t like I wanted to date the woman or anything, but she was surprisingly fun to be around, and I desperately needed some fun right now.

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Why? Didn’t she already leave?”

“Nope. She’s at the hotel with Nick. I asked him to watch her. She already got herself in trouble by breaking into her ex’s office. That’s why she was running at the airport.”

“So…you want to invite more trouble. While you have one leg.”

“I have more than one leg,” I retorted.

“Yeah, but that other leg is pretty shitty.”

“Fuck you very much. I’m fine.”

I pushed to the entrance and opened the door to the van. Only, there was no fucking way I was gonna fit normally into the seat with a full-length leg cast. I moved the seat back, but with my long legs, there was no fucking way to fit.

Chase stood behind me, fucking laughing at my predicament. “Something funny?” I snapped.

“Yeah. I’d say this is really fucking funny.”

Glaring at him, I opened the sliding door and moved the seat all the way back. Except, there still wasn’t enough fucking room. I’d have to swing my leg across the middle aisle to have enough room, which would be pretty fucking hard since my right leg was fully casted.

I gathered the crutches in one hand and shoved them at Chase, then grabbed the doorframe of the van and hauled myself inside, sliding into the seat.

It was awkward as fuck and I had a hell of a time with the seat being so far back.

But once I was in, all I had to do was swing my leg to the center.

Not that swinging it was easy since I barely fit my large frame in the van like this.

“Goddamnit,” I cursed, tugging at my useless leg.

“Still wanna help Piper?” Chase grinned.

“Yes, I really fucking do,” I snapped. “So, get your ass in the driver’s seat and take me to the hotel.”

“Are you gonna repeat this process when we get there?” I narrowed my eyes at him. “Hey, I’m just trying to be prepared. I think I’d like to film this next time.”