He holds up both hands. “I know. Inexcusable, but you two met, and all’s well that ends well, right?” He steps closer and wraps his arm possessively around her waist before turning to me. “What do you think of Ellie?”
Ellie?
The brunette and I exchange a look, and she swallows hard. “You’re the best friend?” she asks. “You’re Levi?”
I nod slowly. My lust-clogged brain feels fuzzy. “You’re the girl who has Colton acting like a smitten teenager.” She’s the one Colton’s spent the last two weeks prattling on about. The one he’s serious about—which is a miracle in and of itself. Fuck.
Ellie frowns at him. “Since you stood me up, I was trying to decide whether to have Levi take me home or just let him feel me up in the bathroom.”
That brings me to attention, and I blink at her. Is she serious? Or just fucking with Colton?
Colton turns her in his arms and tugs her close so she’s standing between his legs. “One, I’m here, so I didn’t stand you up. And two, don’t joke about that shit.” He lifts his chin in my direction. “Levi’s my boy, but I’d still have to lay him out if he tried to move in on my girl.”
“Your girl? Since when did I become your girl?” she asks.
“Since now.” Colton grins at her, no doubt buzzed from whatever nefarious activities made him late to the party. If he hadn’t shown up, we’d be occupied about now, but he’s completely oblivious. He dips his head to kiss her neck, then whispers something into her ear. When she nods, he grins like a little boy on Christmas morning. “Sorry, Levi. We’re going to sneak away for a few. I made some promises to my girl and it’s time to prove I’m a man of my word.”
I just met Ellie, so I definitely shouldn’t care that she’s looking at him like he made the moon and stars. And Colton’s my best friend, so I absolutely shouldn’t be standing here imagining how I could steal her away from him. Yet here I am, wishing I’d found her first. “Enjoy your night,” I make myself say. As if I meet women like her all the time. As if I don’t give a shit that she’s officially off-limits.
“Don’t mind if I do,” Colton says. He’s already heading toward the door, leading her by the hand.
Ellie waves her goodbye, and I can’t do anything but watch them go. She likes guys who are bad for her, all right. The only guy around here worse for her than me is Colton.
Levi
Sunday, September 9th
“Where is she?”
The nurse presses her hands against my chest before I can push past her into the intensive care unit. “You can’t see her right now.”
“What happened? Is she going to be okay?” Where the fuck is Colton? What kind of trouble did he bring into her life? Why wasn’t he there to protect her?
“Calm down, sir. There’s nothing you can do right now.”
“Please just let me back there.”
Sympathy fills her eyes. “I’m sorry.” She’s a foot shorter than me and maybe a buck ten soaking wet. I could get around her, but I’m guessing the security officers who would follow would have something to say about that.
“Levi.” A familiar voice calls to me through the fog of my panic. Teagan grabs my shoulder. She’s in her teal nursing scrubs. Her eyes are puffy, her nose is red, and her mascara’s smudged.
“Have you seen her?” I ask. Everything inside me has been in tatters since I got the call, and I can hear the broken pieces in my voice.
She shakes her head. “I was working upstairs when I heard.”
Abandoning the ER nurse who’s given me nothing since I arrived, I focus all my attention on Teagan. “What happened?”
Teagan leads me out of the unit and into a corridor behind the elevators. “We don’t know anything yet. The doctors are doing everything they can for Ellie, but she’s got a fight ahead of her.”
“She’s gonna be okay, though, right? They’re helping her now.” Just the look on Teagan’s face—the heartache and the pity—makes me want to punch a wall. “You’re wrong,” I whisper. “She’ll be fine. She has to be.”
“I hope.” Her voice wobbles, giving hope an extra syllable. As if it needs it. As if the tiny word might not be enough. “Carter said her house looked like it had been ransacked.” She shakes her head. “She’s lucky to be alive, Levi.”
I blink at her. “I don’t understand. Who did this?”
“We don’t know. And right now . . .” The grief on her face tells me more than any words she’s spoken.
“What aren’t you telling me?”