Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 69807 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69807 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
If Copper found out that I was spending so much time with Reign and not telling him, he wouldn’t understand.
Why?
Because Reign had avoided him like the plague since he’d gotten out of prison.
Fuck.
She really needed to talk to him.
“Hey, Chevy.” I heard my name called.
I looked up to find Dru waving me down.
I held a finger up to Reign to let her know to wait, then headed for Dru.
“Your first surgery was canceled. The guy has an infection, and they decided to wait to see if they can get it under control,” she explained.
“Fuck.” I sighed. “That sounds amazing.”
It sounded amazing because it meant I could grab a couple of hours of sleep before my next surgery at eleven.
“Cool, I’ll be sleeping,” I said abruptly.
Dru, used to my shortness, didn’t say a word as she went back to whatever she was doing on the computer.
I headed for Reign and said, “You can hang out in the breakroom while I catch a couple of hours of sleep.”
“Okay.” She smiled and started following me.
I tried not to get annoyed, but inevitably gave in when she followed me into the room where physicians usually slept when they were trying to catch a few Zs between patients.
“You can sit in that recliner there,” I pointed to it across the room.
“What is this place?” she asked.
I was short when I said, “Exactly like it looks, Reign.”
Reign sighed. “Go to sleep, grumpy.”
I did.
I woke up completely disoriented when a huge, hard body landed next to me.
Laughter followed, and I knew without opening my eyes that it was my brother and sister.
Which brother remained to be seen.
The light turned on, and then there was a feminine cry from beside me that had my brows furrowing.
That’s when I realized what had happened.
Reign had crawled into the bed beside me.
I frowned, wondering why she’d done that, and then realized my mistake.
Because it was Copper that was next to me half on top of Reign, looking like I’d just punched him straight in the belly.
His eyes turned to me, and I saw the betrayal there.
Fuck.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
“Copper, wait,” I said as he got up and left the room.
Five minutes later, my sister was gone too after giving us both a dressing down.
I closed my eyes and counted to ten.
Then I stood up, slipped my shoes on, and said, “You need to fix this, Reign, or I will.”
Reign winced. “I’m sorry, Chevy.”
“I don’t care anymore, Reign,” I said stiffly. “This will not break apart the family that I just got back.”
I left the room after that and headed for the nurses’ station, anger riding my coattails.
Three
Being single past 30 is like playing hide and seek except no one’s looking for you.
—Aella’s secret thoughts
AELLA
I watched the seriously grumpy man in jeans and a tight black t-shirt storm down the hall, knowing it was Chevy’s brother without having to be told.
The two men looked eerily similar.
Tall, gorgeous, and dark.
This one, though, I hadn’t seen before.
I wondered why.
A few minutes later, Chevy’s sister came, a frown on her face.
If I thought the brother’s frown was ferocious, though, it was nothing compared to Chevy’s.
I watched as he walked up to the board that showed his surgeries for the day, arms crossed over his chest, anger tight in his features.
What had happened?
“I’m sorry, Chevy,” Val said quietly from beside him. “I didn’t know you’d be in there with someone.”
He cursed under his breath, then said, “Sorry. It’s not your fault. I just have a friend with boundary issues, and a brother that is in love with that friend.”
Ruh-roh.
That didn’t sound good.
“Want to tell me about it?” Val asked.
Chevy sat down heavily onto a chair, and at first I thought that was a big, resounding hell no.
But then he started talking, and I realized that he was just collecting his thoughts.
Val was one of maybe a handful of people that Chevy actually liked talking to, and if anyone could get him to talk, it was her.
I wasn’t sure why that was, but it was something I was highly interested in.
Then again, anything that had to do with Dr. Chevy Clayborne interested me.
Even that woman that he said was a friend that looked at him like he was more.
“My brother and my friend, Reign, were best friends when we were younger. When my brother went away, he tasked me with taking care of her. Honestly, I was a selfish little shit when I was younger, and didn’t much care to have anything to do with her. When we moved here, she followed, and that’s when I really started to realize that we’d just kind of forgotten her existence. One day, Copper asked about her, and I realized that I should’ve tried a little harder. I reached out, and from then on, we’ve been friends.” Chevy scrubbed his hands down his face. “Reign is a sickly woman. She’s been in and out of hospitals her entire life. And six months ago, she was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. I’ve been telling her to tell my brother, but she refuses, saying she doesn’t want to burden him.”