Page 104 of Stay With Me

Shayna nods.

“It was a white lie because I wasn’t having sex with anyoneat the time,but I had been having sex with Charlie before that. Lots of sex.”

“I knew it,” Shayna hisses. “Was it good?”

“For fuck’s sake, you two, can we not talk about this?” I beg.

Both women laugh and I rest my head on the side-rail again. These two together are nothing but trouble.

An hour later, Emily is in her room in the neurological intensive care unit and Shayna and I sit with Ben in the surgery waiting area.

He’s really squirrelly, pacing around. Shayna and I give each other looks, and I know we’re both wondering why Ben is reacting this way.

Finally, when Trina’s been in surgery for close to three hours, the surgeon comes out to the waiting room to tell us that everything went well, and Trina is going to be okay.

“When can we see her?” Ben asks.

“She’s just getting settled in the ICU. Give the nurses about ten minutes and they’ll be out to get you.” With that, the surgeon nods and takes his leave.

I breathe a sigh of relief and Ben’s entire body visibly relaxes as he plops himself into a chair and scrubs both of his hands over his face and through his hair. He closes his eyes and takes a few deep breaths, his facial features less tense than I’ve seen them all day.

After a few minutes, Ben’s phone rings and he answers. “Donley. What’s up?” He pauses and listens for a minute. “Excellent. Keep him in the interrogation room. I’m going to see how Trina is and then I’ll be down.”

When he hangs up the phone, Shayna and I stare at him, expectantly.

“We got him. Meadow Creek shut down their end of Route 47 when we called them, and they got him trying to exit. He tried to flee but couldn’t get away. Between the vehicle damage, Emily’s description of him and his vehicle, and the rear and front dash cams I had installed on Trina’s car, there’s no way this guy is getting off.”

“Thank God,” I say.

When the nurse comes to get Ben a few minutes later, Shayna and I head over to see Emily and update her on Trina’s condition.

I’ll give Ben some time with Trina and then I’ll go see her.

As Shayna and I walk into Emily’s room, I throw up a silent prayer of thanks to whoever answered my prayer from earlier.

My best friend and the woman I love are going to be okay.

CHAPTER39

CHARLIE

Emily lies sprawled out on her back on our bed, her gorgeous naked body on full display for me. As I rest on my side, my head propped up on my hand, I lazily stroke her skin over the fading blue and purple marks scattered over her hand and shoulder on her right side where her body took most of the brunt when she flew into the car door and window in the accident.

“See, I told you I was okay to have sex. It’s been a week and a half since the accident. I’m almost all better.” Emily grins up at me, apparently pleased that I finally gave in and we made love—very carefully—this morning.

I can’t take my eyes off the reminders of the accident on her skin, though. I’ll be grateful to see those bruises gone. “Does it still hurt?” My voice is soft, hushed.

“Only a little bit. It’s not bad.”

I think she’s telling the truth, but there is a part of me that fears she’s downplaying the pain, so I’ll worry less.

There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask her since I got her home, but I’ve held back, not wanting her to feel any pressure. But I can’t wait any longer.

I reach up and gently grasp her chin, turning her head until she’s looking at me. “Stay with me.”

Emily smiles. “I am staying with you.” She lifts her eyebrows in a quizzical look.

“I mean permanently.” A small gasp escapes her. “Stay with me. Move in. We’ll get all of your things out of storage, and we can use whatever you want and sell the rest or something. We can keep all your stuff and get rid of mine. I don’t care. I just want you here.”

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