Page 35 of Impossible Love

“You’re confused from the blood loss,” I tell him. “I’m the one who saved your ass.”

“If you recall, I saved all y’all’s slowpoke asses on that one,” Finn says.

“I’m not going to the hospital!”

“Sure you are,” I say, getting ready to toss him in the back of the truck.

“Hey! Put me in the back seat, assholes! It’s too bumpy back there!”

Special K shrugs and we all change direction. Declan opens the back door, and we slide him in. I ball up his suitcoat and shove it under his melon of a head. Special K slides in to make sure Evander’s leg and foot are supported.

“Careful with that shoe. It’s a Berluti.”

I lean down and hiss into his ear. “Are you fucking kidding me, Ev? Who tries to break a horse in Italian leather loafers? Just stick to contract clauses and leave the horses to Finn, all right?”

Declan gets behind the wheel. Summer joins him up front while Special K decides to ride in the back with Evander.

“We’ll meet you there,” I tell Declan, smacking my hand against the side of the truck a couple of times as a send-off.

We watch the pickup head down the ranch lane. The sound of Evander complaining about the emergency room fades only when they turn onto the state highway.

“I’ll get Jasmine—she’s inside,” Finn says. “We’ll take my SUV.”

Victoria turns to me, blinking. “Is it always this crazy here?”

“Nah,” I tell her. “It can get a lot worse.”

On the twenty-minute drive to the hospital, I keep an eye on the rearview mirror, where I watch Victoria and Jasmine in the back seat together. It cracks me up to see how Jasmine is in awe of our beautiful visitor. I understand where my niece is coming from.

“Do you like the color pink?”

Victoria nods. “I do. But I can tell by your outfit that you love it.”

Pinkie nods. “Yep!”

I feel Finn’s stare boring into the side of my face. I shake my head as a warning not to even start with me.

The instant we walk through the automatic doors of Sweetbriar Regional Medical Center, we know how to find Evander. All we have to do is follow the sound of his big mouth.

“How about we sit over here with Summer?” Victoria takes Jasmine by the hand and leads her to the waiting area. “I want to hear more about the butterflies who visit you, Okay?”

“Okay!”

I nod to Victoria in thanks as she shepherds Jasmine to the row of chairs. I appreciate her pitching in the way she’s doing. It surprises the hell out of me, to be honest, considering she came here to take us down.

“What the fuck’s going on with you and that woman, Cal?”

“Nothing.”

“I know what nothing looks like, and that ain’t it, brother.”

I ignore him. We open the curtain of an ER cubicle to see Evander trying to get up from a gurney. Declan and Special K are holding him down and attempting to keep him quiet. Apparently, Declan texted Dad on the drive here, and now Dad’s on his way back from Carson City. And Evander is pissed as hell about it.

“Pussy!” he shouts at Declan.

“Listen up, bro.” Special K presses his elbow into the patient’s chest and leans in. He gets close and keeps his voice soft, but he’s all business. “Your niece is out there, and she doesn’t need to hear your filthy mouth, all right? Not to mention the poor little old lady in the bed on the other side of this thin fabric divider. So shut the fuck up.”

Evander ignores him and continues to struggle.

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