Page 25 of Beehive Yourself
WALKER: Shit, man, I’m sorry
SAWYER: It’s my fault—I broke my rule and now I gotta own it
I’d fallenfor another McKinley sister.
But this time, my heart would never be the same.
17
HALLIE
“It’s not that big of a deal,” I hear the male voice say, low and growly with a hint of a Southern accent.
I know that voice.
What is he doing here?
I’d texted him a couple of times today, but all my messages had gone unanswered. One of the other nurses begged me to cover a few hours of her shift and I wanted to let him know I wouldn’t be here all night.
“Sawyer Kade, when I saidI’ll see you laterI meant at home.” Looking up from my computer, I meet his tired eyes. “You didn’t have to be so sweet and show up at my work.”
“Didn’t mean to,” he says, holding up his hand, the towel red where the blood has soaked through. “Just need some stitches.”
The responses are emotionless, no flicker of warmth in his eyes when he looks at me. Is he mad about me being here when he thought I’d be home?
“Uh-huh,” I reply, getting up and rounding the nurses’ station as Donna hustles Sawyer into a room.
Her purple scrubs complement her tanned skin, and since the first day I started here, her brown hair has always beenpulled up into a bun on the top of her head, with today being no exception.
“Did you drive here?” I ask as Donna and I work in tandem around the room. He’s not my patient but I can certainly help.
“No, I was at Coastal Eats. Walker drove.”
“What happened?”
“Knife slipped as I was finishing up. It was stupid; I wasn’t thinking.” He doesn’t meet my gaze as he says it, and my stomach bottoms out at the indifference in his tone.
What is happening?
“Sit tight, Sawyer,” Donna says after she’s gone through the standard questions and vitals. “I’ll go grab the doctor.”
Waiting till she’s out of earshot, I lower my voice and will it not to shake. “Are you mad at me?”
“No.”
“You’re acting like you’re mad.”
He sighs with a weariness that screamsI knew it all along, as if he’d been waiting to be proven right—that I’d disappointed him. Tears well in my eyes and I blink them back, not wanting to break down here, not wanting him to see me cry.
We were fine yesterday, weren’t we?
“I ran into your dad this morning,” he says quietly. “Said he was sorry I wasn’t able to make it to dinner.”
“It’s not what you think,” I tell him becauseIdon’t even know what I was thinking or not thinking. I just needed time.
He shrugs one broad shoulder and worries his bottom lip with his teeth. “I got a little carried away since you’ve been here and forgot this was temporary.” When his eyes meet mine, they’re hard, anger simmering in the depths. “That was my mistake.”
“Sawyer…that’s not?—”
