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10.

Z OEY

I heard them before I saw them, which was perfectly normal considering what my friends were like, especially when they were in a large group. Of course, my brother groaned because he’d be on the receiving end of their sharp tongues, something I knew he secretly enjoyed because he liked to verbally spar with people, and some of them were so good at it that they never lost an argument because they just never shut up.

“Are you up for that crowd to invade, or do you want me to run them off?”

“Is it weird at my age to say I just want my mom?” I asked.

“Absolutely not. I called her, and she said that they’re coming home tomorrow, so you can get pampered then.”

“They don’t have to cut their trip short for me!”

“At this point, both of them are looking for any opportunity to come home, I’m sure. You know they’re not the best travelers.”

“She puts so much into planning such a great trip that I think the actual trip itself is kind of a let-down.

“Let’s get this party started!” Evi Conner said as she walked into the small room the ER staff had put me in after I arrived with Janis.

“Any word on Janis?” Vivi asked as she came in with her sister. Before I had a chance to answer, she said, “We just had an interesting interaction in the parking lot.”

“What happened?” Zane asked with concern.

“We saw a ghost,” Lark said with a raised brow as she stopped next to my bed. “It was quite a shock to say the least.”

“Is that ghost still haunting the place, or did you convince it to go away?” I asked hesitantly, knowing by her demeanor and tone that she was talking about Garvey.

“Checking on Janis.”

I glanced over at my brother and then back at Lark before I said, “I don’t feel confident that this is the time or place for what we both know is going to happen, so if you could take care of that issue for me, I’d appreciate it.”

“Not a chance.”

“Come on, Lark. Do me a solid.”

Lark chuckled before she said, “I probably won’t be here for the seance because I’ve got kids waiting for me at home.”

“Why do you two always talk in code? It drives me nuts,” Zane said grumpily.

“We’re not talking in code, you’re just too dumb to understand us,” Lark said cheerfully. As if she was talking to a puppy or a small child, she said, “Hello, Zany Wany. How’s our good little buddy?”

“Still wishing you’d fly away, Baby Bird. It’s a dream of mine.”

“In your case, dreams don’t come true,” Lark said with a grin. “However, I have a feeling one of mine is about to, and I hope I get ringside seats.”

“Family should never bet against each other,” I reminded her.

Zane thought I was talking about him going toe to toe with Lark and said, “You better be on my side, Zozo. We share DNA.”

“And a brain, apparently, although she’s been in possession of it for your entire life,” Lark retorted.

“You look like shit, babe,” Rain said as she reached out to brush my hair out of my face. “I’m assuming those spots are all over you.”

“They are,” I said with a grimace.

“I’ll go out with the guys tomorrow and walk the property to inspect the ant problem and take care of it,” Zane said.

“Let Koda and Griff go with you. They cleared the ants out of my backyard by making them go to war with each other,” Rain said with a grin. “It was barbaric but very effective.”

Dahlia came breezing into the room but stopped short when she saw Zane standing beside my bed and then looked at me with wide eyes right before Garvey and Corey walked into the room behind her.

“Gentlemen! Start your engines!” Lark said cheerfully.

I reached for my brother’s hand and entwined my fingers with his, not because we were the type to hold hands, but because I knew that was the only way I’d be able to hold him still. Of course, judging from the furious look on his face, he might just yank me off the gurney when he launched himself at Garvey.

“I’d like to remind both of you that this is not public property and the administration here is more than happy to prosecute people right before they permanently trespass them from the hospital,” Corey warned.

I squeezed Zane’s hand and pulled on it until he was leaning over me. I curled up so my mouth was next to his ear, but his eyes never left Garvey’s.

“Zane, I swear by all that’s holy, if you lose your shit like I know you’re about to do, I will never forgive you and cockblock every prospective piece of ass that comes across your path until the perfect woman comes into your life. Then I’ll do everything in my power to run her off too.” Zane’s crazy look was aimed at me by the time I was finished hissing my threat near his ear. I smiled at him in a way that made him understand that my words were more of a promise than a threat before I said, “I loved him even more than you did all those years ago, and that love comes with a promise of forever. Family is forever, and so are friendships like the one you had with Garvey. There are bumps in the road, and you know the best way to take those is at full speed because when you get to the end of the race, the people you love will be waiting at the finish line. You were their best friend in the world, and you abandoned both of them when Garvey fucked up. You should have been Corey’s strength when he lost Garvey, but you ditched his ass out of some sort of fucked-up loyalty to me. I’ve kept my mouth shut for years, but I’m not going to do it now. I loved him once, and I know he loved me. His problems were stronger than we were then, and I was the first person to abandon him. I’m not doing it again, and neither are you.”

“He almost killed you, Zozo.”

“The man he was before almost killed me, and the man he has become is paying for those fucked-up decisions even years later. He gave up contact with everyone who loves him because he thought that would make things right, but it didn’t. Nothing was right with him gone. You and I both know that, and if you run him off again after he’s worked so hard to get back to us, I will never forgive you.”

“He doesn’t deserve your loyalty.”

“Family, love, and home is forever, Zane. We forgot that once, but luck is on our side now and we’ve got a chance to remember it. He was a brother to you then, and he’s back asking for a chance to be one now. If you’re not man enough to choke down that anger you’ve been chewing on for more than ten years, then you’re not the person I thought you were.”

My brother stood up and yanked his hand out of mine as he glared down at me. Without a word to anyone in the room, he stormed out, and tears filled my eyes as I watched him go.

“It had to be said, Zozo,” Lark whispered as she reached for my hand. She squeezed it and then let it go before she said, “I’m going to find him and make sure he’s okay before I go home to Bax and the kids, okay?”

“Thanks for coming to check on me.”

“Of course. But if you’re gonna keep this shit up, do you think we could get some parking spots reserved for us near the door?”

“Technically, I didn’t have to come today. This is on Janis.”

“I’m sure we’ll all be giving her shit about it for years to come, but I’d really like it if we could stop with the frantic calls telling us that one of our girls is being rushed to the hospital.”

“Good grief,” Rain chimed in. “Never will be too soon to get another call like that.”

“We’re going to stop in and see Janis before we leave, so we’ll let you pay attention to your other visitors.”

“Find Zane for me,” I asked, reminding Lark of her promise.

“On my way,” she said as she walked toward the door with the others calling out their goodbyes in her wake. She blew Corey a kiss and backhanded Garvey so hard in the gut that he grunted and bent forward. Each woman that filed out after her thumped him on the head.

Dahlia was the last one out the door, and she flicked Garvey’s ear before she threw her arms around him and said, “Welcome home, asshole!”

Before he had a chance to reply, she was gone, and as the door closed behind her, he said, “I was sure that my first encounter with that group would leave me with at least three stab wounds.”

“I’m surprised it didn’t.”

“I consider that a win.”

“They’re keeping their options open,” I assured him as I eyed the backpack hanging from Garvey’s shoulder. It looked suspiciously like mine, so I asked, “Is that my bag?”

“It is,” Garvey said as he got close enough to hand it to me. “We’re on our bikes, but if you’d rather not ride, I’m sure Corey can go get his truck and come back for you.”

“Did you go in and see Janis yet?” I asked Corey.

“No. Garvey pussed out when he thought about her room being full of people who probably didn’t know he was home yet.”

“Well, give me a minute to put some clothes on, and I’ll jump into the fray with you guys,” I said as I flipped the covers aside and let my leg dangle over the side of the bed. “You know what’s awesome about this hospital visit?”

“I can’t think of a thing that might be.”

“This time, I’m going to walk out of here within two hours of my arrival.”

Since all I was wearing was Garvey’s T-shirt and my underwear, it wouldn’t take me long to change. When I opened my bag and took inventory, I thanked my past self for thinking to pack a clean bra and panty set. Since I wasn’t exactly in a time crunch or even anxious about the fallout that showing up in Janis’ room with Garvey in tow would bring, I decided to shower before I changed clothes.

A long day of sweaty work followed by wallowing around in the grass and then the craziness that happened a few hours ago had left me feeling sticky and gross. Even though the shower wasn’t the best, I had all the toiletries I needed in my bag to get clean again. It didn’t take me long, and by the time I had on clean clothes with my wet hair braided down my back, I felt like a new person.

One glance in the mirror reminded me that I was now a polka-dotted person with bright red spots all over my face, neck, and the rest of my body, but I was clean and healthy-ish, if a little itchy. That’s what really counted right now anyway.

When I walked out into the room, I was surprised to find that Corey had already left, so I asked, “Did he go to see Janis or . . .”

“He went to do some reconnaissance to see what I’m up against.”

“That’s probably good, although you know it’s just Hank and Nicole right now.”

“Could be any number of people depending on who they were with when they got the call,” Garvey pointed out.

“That’s true,” I conceded. “But their focus is going to be on Janis, especially since this isn’t their first rodeo with allergic reactions.”

“I remember this happening a few times when we were younger, but nothing this bad.”

“One year, she had it so bad that she dressed as an EpiPen for Halloween.”

“That’s morbidly hilarious.”

“That’s Janis.” I hefted my backpack onto my shoulder and asked, “Are you ready?”

Garvey shook his head before he took my backpack and said, “Do you need to check out or anything?”

“I’ll just leave my key card on the desk as we walk out.”

“If I were a scientist, I think I would be happy right now.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because I think I just discovered why the two of you were bitten so many times.” When I just raised my eyebrows in question, Garvey smiled and said, “Obviously, the ants were attracted to sarcasm, which is what you and Janis thrive on, so they couldn’t resist.”

I frowned and said, “I’m covered in ant bites, and you’re cracking jokes.”

“How covered?”

“They’re everywhere.”

“If you need someone to rub Calamine on those hard to reach areas, I volunteer, especially if you have to be naked for me to get to them.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I promised as I walked past him through the door into the hallway. He had to direct me to the room they’d given Janis, who would be staying through the night and maybe even the next day to make sure that her anaphylactic reaction was over and she wasn’t going to have any complications. I stopped just outside the closed door and waited for Corey, who was coming from the other direction, carrying a tray of drinks and a few to-go containers. When he got close enough, I asked, “Who’s in there?”

“Spruce was examining her when I got here a few minutes ago, so I went to get Hank and Nicole something to eat.”

“That’s sweet of you.”

“Don’t tell anyone. You’ll ruin my reputation.”

I looked over at Garvey and asked, “Are you ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

Corey thrust the drink tray toward him and said, “You might get a better reception if you bring gifts.”

“You think that’s going to help?” Garvey asked.

“Probably not, but it’s worth a try.”

I tapped on the door and waited until I heard Janis’ father, Hank, call out for us to enter, and then I pushed the door open and walked inside with the guys behind me. I gasped when I saw Janis and heard Garvey and Corey do the same.

Her face was so swollen that I couldn’t even tell if her eyes were open. The spots that I had complained about on my skin looked like welts on hers, and she was covered in them.

“Holy shit,” I whispered.

Janis lifted her hand and brushed her hair back from her forehead before she asked, “Is my hair fucked up? Do I look okay?”

I put my hand over my mouth to stifle a laugh before I said, “Yeah, that’s it. Your hair. It has nothing to do with the spots all over your skin or the fact that your face is twice its normal size.”

“I make this shit look good.” She scoffed before she said, “I see you brought Dumb and Dumber.”

“I noticed that myself,” Hank said with a blank look as he stared at Garvey. When he turned back to me, he said, “If you’d shut the door behind you, the trash wouldn’t blow in.”

“It’s a good thing it did since he’s the one that breathed for her when she couldn’t.” Hank’s expression of total confusion clearly showed he didn’t know it was Garvey who had saved Janis, so I said, “He gave her rescue breaths until the ambulance got there.”

“Oh, thank God! I thought it was Dumber who had his mouth on me. That’s why I asked Spruce for those high-powered antibiotics,” Janis mumbled before her eyes fluttered closed. In a sleepy voice, she mumbled, “He’s probably got shit that even antibiotics can’t cure.”

Corey growled behind me, and I saw Nicole, Janis’ mom, pull her lips in to hide a smile as she looked at the floor between her feet.

“I fully intended on beating you like a dirty rug the next time I saw you, but instead, I can’t thank you enough.”

“Corey or Zoey could have done it if they needed to. I just happened to be closer to her when Zoey pulled up.”

“Stop selling yourself short,” Corey warned. He looked at Hank and proudly recalled, “He handled the situation like a champ. Jumped right into action and didn’t stop until I carried her to the ambulance.”

“Thank you,” Hank said as he thrust his hand out toward Garvey. “I hate holding grudges, and now I don’t have to because I owe you one.”

“You don’t owe me anything, sir,” Garvey said as he shook Hank’s hand. When he let go, he held the tray of drinks toward Hank and said, “These are for you.”

Nicole had been quiet since we walked into the room, but when I glanced over, I saw her walking around Janis’ bed toward us. She winced when she got a look at my face and then smiled at Garvey before she wrapped her arms around him for a hug.

“Welcome home, Gar. It’s about damn time.”

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