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I wasn’t. I wasn’t special, not really. I liked to think I was, but there were other girls out there like me.
Still, Will said, “No, I haven’t.”
Meeting his hazel stare, I felt something in my lower gut warm. For a moment, neither of us said anything. Hell, at this point, I wasn’t quite sure what to say. Were we bonding? Did people bond this fast? It was hard to say, because Declan had held me at an arm’s length for so long, not wanting to get close to me. Will, on the other hand, seemed to have no problem with it.
I had to be careful around him. I might start to like him a bit more than I should if I wasn’t careful. How fucked up would me crushing on Will make everything? I’d rather not find out.
I took another sip of the coffee, not knowing what else to say. I thought with Will here, things would be easier, at least for a while, at least until Will left and I was faced with dealing with Travis, but the opposite was true.
Things were only growing more complicated, and my feelings, my heart? The most complicated thing of all.
Chapter Seven – Ash
After getting our food and paying—and by paying, I meant Will fronting the check, because hello, poor—we drove to the hospital. The food smelled delicious, I had to admit. The bags sat on my lap, full of Styrofoam containers. Will parked in one of the hospital’s many parking lots, hurrying around the side of the car to help me out and grab the bags off my lap.
We headed inside, passing the front desk as we went straight to Declan’s room. I didn’t think it was visiting hours, but again, having money meant you could toss out a lot of the rules that everyone else had to follow.
Since Will’s hands were full, I was the one who opened the door to his room and stepped inside first. When my eyes landed on him in the bed, I temporarily forgot where we were. When I saw that he was awake and conscious, I couldn’t help but do what I did next.
I rushed him, threw my arms around his neck and hugged him as best as I could, considering he was on a bed and I was standing beside him. His musky scent filled my nostrils, and I breathed him in, focusing on his scent and not the sterile hospital sheets over his body.
“Careful with him,” Will warned, and I pulled off of Declan enough to see that he was wincing.
He was wincing, in pain, from my hug, and he refused to say anything. I’d knocked into his injured arm without knowing. I wanted to hug him again, but I settled for placing my good hand on his shoulder. Declan’s dark, chocolatey brown eyes met mine, and my heart did a little flip.
“How are you feeling?” I asked, hating that he was here.
“Better than I was last night,” Declan said, speaking softly. The way his stare held mine, I never wanted to look away. My hand on his shoulder squeezed, and even though there was only a foot between our heads, it felt like miles. I wanted to close the distance, to lean into him, feel his arms around me.
Fuck. Who the hell was I trying to kid? I already had it bad.
“We brought breakfast,” Will spoke, breaking into our serious stare down.
I pulled off of Declan, coughing as I looked away, but Declan’s uninjured hand shot out, grabbing mine. “How are you?” he asked, a crease of worry between his brows.
My hand. He meant my hand.
I kept telling that to myself, but all I could focus on was the way his fingers gripped mine, how soft but strong his grip was. It was hard to do anything but lose myself in his dark stare. “I’m okay,” I finally said, pulling myself out of his grasp when it loosened. Touching Declan would only lead to thoughts I shouldn’t have, so it was best not to do any touching, I think.
Declan glanced to the door, which Will closed after coming in. “What happened?”
“I fell,” I said, the lie tasting sour on my tongue. I hated lying to him, to his brother, not to mention the whole staff of this hospital, but it was all I could do. Travis had to be taken down, but with his money, he’d just get off if I reported him. No, he had to be taken down in a different way. A way his money couldn’t save him from.
“Because of me,” Declan muttered, hurt flashing across his face. He sat up, propping himself up as he stared at me, guilt drawn across every feature. “Ash, I didn’t—”
“Shh,” Will told him. “Let’s eat, okay?”
Declan thought I fell because of what happened to him, because of me slipping in his blood or something? Great. Now I felt even worse, knowing he blamed himself for this, too. Just what I needed. But it wasn’t like I could tell him the truth, at least not yet. And Sabrina’s diary…that would have to wait for a while, too. For now, it still rested in my backpack, near my desk.
Will passed out the food, and the plastic silverware, telling me to grab the seat near the bed. He pulled in another chair from the hallway, situating himself at the foot of the bed, his food on his lap.
We ate in silence for a while. The French toast was good, but they were no chicken nuggets.
“I’m going to see if I can get you out of here later today,” Will spoke after swallowing a bite of his omelet. “I’ll tell them I’m going to take a week off school so I can watch over you.”
“Will,” Declan started, glancing at me, as if he was embarrassed at his older brother’s antics. Personally, I thought Will was being sweet.
“No buts,” Will said, and that was that. “And I am going to take a week off. If someone tried to get to you, they’ll have to go through me if they want to try again.” The way he shoved his fork into his hash browns, like he was imagining the hash browns being whoever had hurt Declan, made me smile.
