Page 40 of Wild Card

“Well, that’s true. Fucking Paul.” She rolls her eyes. “And Carter can be added to that list now.”

We both laugh a little, but the thought of Carter reminds me of my birthday and then of Tobias. My heart twists and my gut turns a little at the thought of being with him again. I’m both anxious to see him again and nervous that he’s going to reset to the cruelest version of himself. But I want to help if I can.

“As long as you’re sure. It would be a relief to have some sort of work. I’d treat it like a job. I could cook and keep the place clean and stuff.”

“He has a maid, and he orders in or his nutritionist has meals ready for him.”

“Yeah, but it might help if he had some home-cooked food and things like that, you know?”

Xander and Harper exchange a look, and she smiles at me.

“Then you’ll do it?”

“Yeah. I mean if he’s okay with it. I understand if he’s stubborn on the issue, but if he really doesn’t want me there, I don’t want to force the issue. He’s had enough trauma.” I try to keep it lighthearted.

“I’ll talk with him and let you know.” Xander nods.

“All right. If there’s anything else I can do in the meantime, let me know.”

Another nod and then Harper hops up.

“Okay. Now that that’s out of the way… pizza?”

TWENTY-THREE

Tobias

“I don’t need a fucking babysitter.”I bellow at Xander, annoyed he’s acting like some sort of Trojan horse.

He came over under the pretense of us hanging out for a bit together, giving me some company, so I’m not staring at the same four walls. Now he’s revisiting the idea of me having someone stay with me during the days to keep an eye on me. Which is the last thing I’m interested in.

“You do. You need help while you recover, and if you won’t have a nurse stay here then you need to come up with a different plan. You know Easton and I can’t be here. We would if we could. Harper and Wren can give you intermittent help but—”

“I don’t need help.”

“I’m not arguing with you on this. I’m telling you. You need someone to keep an eye on you, to be here when you’re doing things like taking a shower, make sure you get your meals, take your meds. You need the help.”

“And what are you proposing my backup plan is?” I glare at him because I can tell when Xander is angling for something.

“I’m not proposing it. I’ve already arranged it, and you’re going to accept it whether you like it or not.”

“I knew you’d done something already. What did you do?”

“Scarlett is—”

The mention of her name makes me feel sick. It’s worse than I could have imagined.

“No. No fucking way!” I shake my head.

“Too late.”

“I can’t have her here. So whatever you did—undo it. Cancel it. Unfuck it.” She is the absolute last person on earth I want to see me like this. That’s all I need, her witnessing my every struggle, trying to help, and having those big sad gray eyes look at me with pity. No fucking way.

“She’s out of work right now. She could use the income and you could use the help.”

“Not her.”

“Why?”