“No, you don’t,” I choked out.
“It’s a debt I’ll never be able to repay,” he said, ignoring my words. “You saved my boy.”
“They might’ve left him alone,” I argued reasonably. “He was already down.”
“Guess we’ll never know,” he said, just as reasonably. “But the intention was there.”
“I didn’t think about it—” I replied, frustrated. Why was no one listening to me? I hadn’t made some grand decision to save poor Leo.
Dragon leaned down so we were eye-to-eye. “Fact that ya did it without thinkin’ doesn’t make it less brave,” he said seriously, tightening his grip. “It means that the core of ya, the part of ya that reacts on instinct, protects others before yourself. That ain’t nothin’ to brush off. I know men I’ve bled beside for years that can’t say that.”
“I’m glad he’s going to be okay,” I whispered back.
“I’m glad both of ya will,” he whispered back. He leaned forward slowly and pressed his lips to my forehead, holding them there for a moment before letting me go. He looked at Mark. “Go put your woman to bed, Woody,” he ordered. “She looks like she’s about to fall over.”
“I’m on it,” Mark said.
I stumbled along beside him, trying to understand the weird shift that had happened. For years, I would’ve done anything to make people look at me the way they were now, but for some reason, now that I had it, it just felt wrong. Everything felt mixed up.
“Climb in,” Mark said as he opened my door for me. “Get comfortable. If you fall asleep on the way, I’ll carry you inside.”
“There’s no way I’ll fall asleep,” I replied, still trying to figure out what happened back there.
“We’ll see,” he said in amusement before shutting my door.
I waited while he put Olive back inside and climbed into the truck beside me. His hand came out to rest on my thigh as he backed out of the parking spot, and stayed there as we drove away from the hospital. Then, as if I’d finally run out of batteries, my eyes grew too heavy to keep open and I passed out.
* * *
“You scared the shit outta me yesterday,” Mark said into my ear just as the sky outside started to lighten. I wasn’t sure what had woken us up, but I’d felt the moment his breathing had changed. His hand slid up my torso until it rested at the base of my throat. “Why the fuck would you do that?”
“I don’t know,” I replied honestly, staring at Olive’s sleeping face. “As soon as Drake started to fall, I just knew I had to move.”
“We had it covered, Cec,” he said in frustration. “You should’ve stayed in the house. What the fuck were you thinkin’?”
“I couldn’t let him do that,” I said softly.
“Who?” he asked, leaning up on his elbow to look at my face. “Warren?”
“No,” I said, turning a little so we were face-to-face. “Dragon. I couldn’t let him make the choice between me and Leo.”
“Were you afraid he’d hand you over?” Mark asked, leaning forward, his eyebrows raised in surprise. “Baby, you know I’d never let that happen.”
“No,” I said again, shaking my head. My heart started pounding as I remembered the moment. “No, I was afraid he wouldn’t.”
Mark closed his eyes in understanding and let out a long breath. “Baby,” he whispered.
“He’s been through enough,” I said. I swallowed, trying to dislodge the lump in my throat. “Plus, you know, it wouldn’t have worked out for me, either. I’d never be able to show my face around here if that happened.”
Mark scoffed. “You’re full of shit,” he said, opening his eyes to grin at me. “That shit didn’t even cross your mind.”
“Well, maybe not then,” I conceded. “But I’ve thought about it since.”
Mark laughed quietly. “You can’t keep doin’ shit like that,” he said, his expression growing serious. “You’ve got responsibilities now. You know you’re about to do somethin’ that could get you hurt, take five seconds to think it over, yeah? Fuck, I about shit myself yesterday.”
“You’re kidding, right?” I said, wrinkling my nose at him. “From this point forward, the only thing you’ll have to worry about is me twisting my ankle on the curb at the grocery store.”
“Oh, yeah?” he said, his lips twitching.
I relaxed into the pillow we shared. “Yeah,” I said with a sigh. “You know, my life was normal in San Diego. Nothing ever happened. I even paid my taxes.”
“Well, holy shit,” he said. “Better not tell Casper.”
I laughed. “Poor Dad,” I mused. “He’s too intelligent for his own good. Someday all those back taxes are going to catch up to him.”
“I’m not payin’ into some greedy politician’s pocket,” Mark said, mimicking my dad’s voice.
“Or the fuckin’ lobbyists they pay off to get ’em elected,” I mimicked, too.
Mark laid back down and used his chin to move the hair away from my neck, so he could kiss me there.