Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 100476 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100476 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Jordy frowns, but nods. “It’s not about Roux. It’s…”
“Spit it the fuck out,” Cal snaps.
“Terrence. He…” A pained expression crosses over Jordy’s features.
Cal falls to his ass, ripping at his hair. “No.”
Pulling the blanket around me, I rush over to him, hugging him from behind. This will break him. Terrence can’t die. He just can’t. Cal’s body trembles as I start to cry.
Jordy snaps out of it and squats down in front of Cal. “No, man, he’s not dead.”
“What the fuck?” Cal growls. “What—”
“He woke up.”
A beat of silence.
Jordy smacks Cal’s cheek. “He woke up. Terrence woke up. Let’s go. Roan’s almost here. He can drive your truck. Get ready.”
Terrence woke up.
Oh my God.
Cal
I’m numb as Roan drives my truck. Jordy sits in the back seat with Tierra. Everyone is quiet. Nervous. Happy, but also worried. The moment I snapped out of my daze after Jordy told me Terrence woke up, I scrambled for clothes and flew out the door without so much as a goodbye to Charlotte.
Guilt niggles at me, but I can’t worry about her right now. Charlotte will be fine. She has Roux and Penny there. I need to focus on my best friend.
“Grandma hasn’t responded since she called this morning,” Tierra mutters. “You think he’s okay?”
“I’m sure he’s fine,” Roan states as we pull into the hospital parking lot. “Probably just busy talking to him is all.”
He parks my truck and we all pile out. I lead the Hoodlums, stalking through the hospital like a man on a mission. We find his room but are stopped by a nurse.
“He can have two people in there at a time—” the nurse starts as Tierra pushes past.
I want to yank her back by her ponytail, but I know I don’t have that right. T is her cousin. Her blood. I scowl, nodding at the nurse, and walk with Jordy and Roan over to a waiting area. Jordy plops down beside Roan and I sit across from them. They wear matching worried frowns. I scrub my palm over my face, getting a whiff of her.
Charlotte fucking English.
Last night had been completely messed up. I lost my mind with her. That’s not who I am. I fuck around with girls. We have a good time. Laugh. Play. Tease.
I certainly don’t hurt them.
Completely wreck them.
Try to devour their fucking souls.
She’s so beautiful and there’s a magnetic pull with Charlotte. Something about her calls to the baser parts of me. If I could carve her out of my mind, I would, but she’s not going to allow it. With each encounter, she burrows deeper and deeper and deeper.
My phone buzzes with a text. I pull it out of my jeans pocket and stare at her words.
Charlie Girl: Is he okay? How are you?
Stupid questions I don’t know the answers to. I don’t respond and instead rise to my feet. Sitting still is too hard. Not when my best fucking friend is on the other side of that door. He needs me and I need him. I’d do anything right now just to see his smile. To hear his infectious laugh.
Tierra shows up out of nowhere, her eyes wide and her body trembling. I grab her shoulders and give her a shake.
“What’s wrong?” I demand.
She blinks slowly, her chin quivering. “You can go see for yourself.”
I tear off running down the hall and push into the room where a doctor, a nurse, and Rhetta are crowding Terrence’s bed. They have him sitting up, speaking lowly to him.
“T,” I bark out, rushing over to the foot of the bed so I can see him.
His face is screwed up in pain, wet tear streaks on his sunken cheeks. The uneven shape of his head is jarring. I’d noticed it before, but seeing him upright and awake only makes it more real. They did a real shit job of patching up my boy.
He lets out a pained moan, writhing in the bed. I’m horror-stricken. I don’t know what to do. Absently, I touch his foot over the blanket.
“Give him something for the pain,” I hiss to the doctor. “He’s hurting.”
“We have,” the doctor assures me. “Part of this is him just coming out of it. We need to give him time to adjust.” Then, to Terrence, he says, “Can you try opening your eyes again, Terrence?”
A low, child-like whimper rasps out of Terrence’s throat, shredding my heart. He sobs as though it’s too painful. His knees draw up and his hands curl into bony fists.
“It’s okay, Terry,” Rhetta urges. “Cal’s come to see you. Go on and look at him.”
Terrence’s bottom lip wobbles and snot runs from his nose. Rhetta dabs at it with a tissue. After several minutes, he cracks open his eyes. Slowly, he opens them wider. They lock on me briefly before they roll back and he howls in pain. I swallow hard, trying not to fucking cry too. His leg stretches out again. I grip his foot, trying to send strength his way.