“Most days.”
“I should work out with you,” I say absently, watching his elbows bend and his biceps flex.
“I wouldn’t mind giving you a workout.” He stops with his arms straight in a plank position and moves his eyes over my bare legs, my breasts, and face, the heat in his look causing my nipples to pebble and wetness to spread between my legs. Really, it should be impossible for me to be turned on after the night and morning we had, but there you go. One look and a few words from him and I’m ready all over again. After experiencing sex with Tanner, I now know what I was missing; sex with Galvin was routine at best, probably because he wasn’t into it and I had no idea what I was doing or what I was missing out on.
“Don’t turn me on when I need sustenance.”
“I’ll feed you after I work out.” He gives me a grin before he goes back to doing push-ups. “Then I’ll eat you after we have breakfast.”
“You’re so bad.” I laugh, leaning forward to grab my cell phone when it starts to ring. When I see it’s Galvin calling, I hit the ignore button. I’ve said everything I need to say to him, and I’m not at a place where we can be friends. When it starts to ring again almost immediately, I frown and set down my coffee, then pick my cell up, slide my finger across the screen, and put it to my ear. “Yes?”
“Cybil.” His voice sounds weird, worried, strained.
“What happened?” I sit up as my heart starts to pound. “Is Jade okay?”
“Jade’s fine, but she asked me to call you. We were on the phone this morning, and her mom started to complain about her chest hurting before she passed out. They’re on the way to the hospital. They think she had a heart attack.”
A sense of dread washes over me while the blood in my head seems to rush to my toes, making me lightheaded.
“I . . .” Tears fill my eyes as I realize I’m not just minutes away, but hundreds of miles, which means I can’t just get in my Bronco to go be with my best friend who needs me. “Oh God.” I cover my mouth with my fingers.
“Cybil,” Galvin calls, but before I can respond, my phone slides from my hand and Tanner places his fingers under my chin, scanning my face. He moves his hand to the back of my head and presses my forehead into his hip.
“This is Tanner. What’s going on?” he asks; then his fingers dig into my scalp. “Now is not the time for that conversation. Cybil’s upset, and I wanna know why.” The sound of my heart beating hard fills my ears, then his rumbled, “What hospital? All right, let Jade know we’re on our way.” I hear my cell bounce onto the cushion of the couch, then land on the floor before he gets down on his knees in front of me and takes my face into his hands. “Sunshine, I know you’re upset, but I need you to keep it together.”
“Maisie’s in the hospital.”
“I know.” His expression softens as he wipes the tears from my cheeks.
“I’m hundreds of miles away.” My chin wobbles. “And Jade needs me.”
“You’ll be with her, baby.” He stands and pulls me up, then urges me into the house and to the bedroom. At the side of the bed, he turns me to face him and wraps his hand around my jaw. “Get dressed and pack what you need to pack. I’m gonna make a couple of calls.” He kisses my nose, then turns to leave.
I blink at the empty doorway, then look around the room before I get myself together enough to put on some clothes and to start packing up my stuff. As I’m shoving my makeup bag in my suitcase, he comes into the room and walks past me to go into the bathroom without a word; then I hear the shower turn on. As I finish packing, I try to figure out how I’ll be able to drive, especially with the tears I’m barely holding back, ready to let loose at any second.
“Are you packed?” he asks a few minutes later as he comes out of the bathroom fully dressed. Wearing sneakers, jeans, and a T-shirt, with a backward baseball cap on his head, he has a black duffle bag slung over his shoulder. If things were different, I would take a moment to appreciate how good he looks wearing a baseball cap, but now isn’t the time.
“Yeah.” I flip my suitcase closed, and he moves me out of the way to zip it up for me.
“Blake’s dad is meeting us at the airport in Missoula in the next hour, so we need to get on the road.”
“What?” I watch as he lifts my bag off the bed.
“He’s going to fly us to Portland, and Janet called a rental-car place at the airport there, so we’ll have wheels when we land.”
Shaking my head, I try to wrap my head around what he’s saying. “Are you coming with me?”
“Yes.” He places his hand against my lower back and urges me out of the room.
“You’re coming with me, and Blake’s dad is flying us . . . like, in a plane?”
“Unless he decides to take out the dragons, yeah, he’s flying us in his plane,” he says, and I stop and turn to face him. “Sorry, shit, baby. I didn’t mean—”
“I’ve never flown in my life,” I admit, cutting him off. “I’ve never even been near a plane. I don’t think—”
“It’s safe, Cybil, and the most logical way for us to get to Oregon.”
“I watch the news. I—”
“You”—he captures the back of my neck and smooths his thumb up and down my skin—“trust me.”
“I trust you.” I don’t even hesitate to agree, and he places his face close to mine, so close I can see tiny bits of gold in his eyes I didn’t notice before, something that’s ridiculous to notice now.
“This is the fastest way to get you home to your family. I promise you’ll be safe. I’ll be with you the entire time, so you have nothing to be afraid of. Okay?” Swallowing, I nod, and he leans in to kiss the tip of my nose. “You need to grab your cell from the back deck while I make sure the house is shut down.”
“Okay.” I head outside to get my phone while he goes to the kitchen, and when I get back inside, he ushers me to the front door and out, leading me to his truck. While I buckle up, I hear the thud of our bags landing in the truck bed; then, a moment later, he gets in behind the wheel.
“Ready?” he asks, placing two bottled waters in the cup holders and a few of my favorite granola bars in the center console between our seats. The sight of them causes my throat to burn as I nod. “Let’s get you home.” He grabs my hand and pulls it over to rest on his thigh before he starts the engine and backs away from the house. As he flips on the turn signal and turns onto the main road, I look at my phone, hoping it will ring while praying it doesn’t. I don’t know what I’ll do if I get a call saying that—
I bite the inside of my cheek, refusing to finish my thought.
“I’m proud of you, baby.”
“You always say you’re proud of me when I’m not doing anything worthy of that praise.” I smile, but it feels forced.