Page 172 of Just This Once

“Oh, yeah,” he answered with sternly lifted eyebrows. “I know. So prepare to get lectured—a lot—during your recovery for keeping it from me.”

Shaking my head in worry, I guessed, “You?”

But he wrinkled his nose distastefully. “Nah. They wouldn’t let me donate. But we’re getting one even better for you.”

I squinted in confusion. “Who?”

A throat cleared from the end of my bed, so I glanced down to find a gorgeous blonde standing there, who gifted me with a bright smile and eager wave. “Hi,” she said. “That would be me.”

“Xander,” I croaked. “You?—?”

She nodded. “Yep. Me.”

“Thank you,” I rasped, feeling my eyes water. “Thank you.”

Glancing past her, I found Foster and Raina flanking her on either side. Then, there were the Bashfuls and the Sleepys near Keene and Thane.

“Wow,” I murmured, dazed by everyone who was present to see little ol’ me. They’d shown up for Hope the Terror.

More tears gushed from my eyes. I knew I didn’t deserve so much love, but I was grateful for it anyway.

“You’re all here.”

“Of course,” Alec assured me. “We’ve been here all night, and Foster showed up about an hour ago.”

“Back from Florida,” I realized, recalling the last things I remembered. “Did you win?” I asked as I glanced around again for the last member of the seven.

Chuckling, Foster shook his head at the question but then answered, “Yes, ma’am. We did.”

“Good,” I murmured. “I’m a little too tired to kick someone’s ass for blaming your girl if you’d lost.”

As the room rumbled with laughter over my joke, my smile fell. I tried not to be disappointed that I didn’t spot Parker among the rest, but I couldn’t help it. I wanted him.

Alec must’ve known what I was thinking, though. Smoothing down my hair, he said, “He’s here. But this hit him pretty hard, so he’s—well, he’s a complete wreck. He can’t visit you for very long before he loses it again and has to take another walk to calm down.”

I winced. “You know about that too, huh?”

“What? That you’ve been sneaking around with one of my best friends behind my back? Oh yeah.” Still smiling, he patted my shoulder in comfort, even as he said, “And I plan to lecture you about that later too, don’t worry.”

“I’ll go tell him you’re awake,” Thane spoke up, waving at me with a sympathetic smile before squeezing one of my feet through the blankets and taking off.

As I watched him go, Alec snickered and shook his head. “I swear, Hope, only you could break someone as hard as Parker Ohrley.”

My chin wobbled. “I—I didn’t mean to,” I said. Looking up at my brother, I begged forgiveness with my eyes. “I swear, I never meant to hurt him. Or you.”

He sent me a soft smile. “Then you probably shouldn’t have lied to either of us.”

“I didn’t think he’d help me with my list if I told him the whole truth of how much time I really had left.”

Alec frowned. “What list?”

I blinked. “So he didn’t tell you everything?”

Making a face, he lifted his hands. “Trust me. I’m pretty sure I don’t want to knoweverything.”

As the rest of the room snickered, I rolled my eyes at my brother, only to feel Parker’s presence like a prickle on my skin.

My gaze shifted to the entrance, and there he was, still in the board shorts that he’d spilled bourbon on in the boat, along with flip-flops and a button-up beach shirt.

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