Graham appreciated Brad’s confidence in his healing powers. “I should get back to Kara. I don’t want to leave her for too long.”
“Understood, man.” Brad waited until he was steady on his crutches, then asked with a grin, “I guess we won’t see you back on base tonight?”
“Guessed right. Keep me updated,” he added when Brad gave him a back slap, then steadied him as he pitched forward a bit.
“Sorry,” Brad said sheepishly.
“Good luck tomorrow. Kick some ass,” he told Greg who came in for a quick guy hug.
“Goes without saying. Now, go give Reagan the boot so she can drive us home.”
“Already booted. She’s sleeping,” Reagan said, placing a light hand on Graham’s shoulder. “And it looks like she’s actually resting, so try to be quiet when you go back in. I’ll come check on you in the morning and hopefully I’ll be able to drive you back to her hotel, but call me if anything changes.”
“Thanks. You’re the best.” He kissed her cheek, which had Greg raising a brow.
Then Reagan linked arms with Greg and walked between him and Brad toward the exit, heels clicking on the worn linoleum flooring the whole way.
CHAPTER
25
They left after breakfast, once the morning doctor had cleared her to check out, and managed to make it into Shreveport, Louisiana, before Graham called it a night.
“I could have figured out how to get home.” Kara reclined on the hotel bed, feeling foolish and not a little guilty that Graham had left the games early to drive her back. He wasn’t 100 percent healed himself, but insisted he’d rather drive her than risk her flying so soon after a concussion. She hadn’t had the energy to argue at the time, but having slept most of the first day’s drive, her fighting form was back.
“Yeah. Fly home, and watch your brain explode midflight. Great option.” He rested his crutches next to the bed and slid down beside her. His knee was still in its brace, which was much thicker and longer than the one Brad wore.
“How long do you have to wear that?”
“Only until we get back and I can get into a doctor at home. They knew I’d be traveling home so they gave me a sturdier brace than I’ll probably need on a regular basis. How are you feeling?”
He’d checked in with her every step of the way, insisting they pull over often, and that she sleep when she could instead of keeping him company. Being coddled should have annoyed her . . . but she was still in pain enough to admit it felt wonderful.
As he shifted and rolled, she let him settle down on the bed with the TV remote, then snuggled up against him. He’d been so careful to touch her, avoiding contact beside a whisper of a kiss here or a light graze of the fingers there. Now she needed the comfort of his heat, his skin, his touch. Needed it more than her next breath. When his arm opened and gave her more space to cuddle closer, she did without hesitation. Her head jostled slightly as he wrapped his arm around her back to pull her in tighter, but she bit back the moan. If she said anything, he’d insist they sleep separate. She couldn’t handle another night without him.
“Zach sounded okay, didn’t he?” she said as he turned the TV on to a nightly news program, closed captioning on and sound muted. “He wasn’t suspicious of us taking a car back, and being a few days late?”
“Not really. He sounded more depressed that I ‘lost’ than for you to be late getting back.”
“I need to find a way to thank Frank and Mary for taking him in in the first place, and then keeping him longer than planned without warning.”
“We can invite them over for dinner. Or a bottle of wine. Check with Marianne.”
“He sounded like he was having a blast though,” she said, relieved.
“Face it, Mama. He’s having fun without you.”
She pinched his side and had the satisfaction of his grunt, though he didn’t budge. “I’m still his Important Person.”
“Of course you are.” He kissed the top of her head, then started surfing channels, still on mute.
“You can be an Important Person, too.”
He was quiet for a while, still flipping. Then he whispered, “Thank you.”
She nearly fell asleep with the warm, reassuring sound of his heartbeat and the pain medication she’d taken home with her coursing through her veins. But then he squeezed her gently and asked, “Will you guys move in with me when we get home?”
“That’s . . . wow.” She took a moment to think. Because she’d been focusing on his heartbeat to lull her, she noted that it had sped up exponentially. “It’s a big step.”
“You already agreed to marry me. I’d say moving in together is sort of a half step back from that.”