Defender (Seattle Sharks 9)

He let out a long breath. “Of course, I’ll give you time. I only meant…” He shook his head. “I don’t know what I meant. Simply that I hate to see you so miserable. And that I hope I never fall in love. It seems to only destroy people.”

“It does more than that.”

Asher laid his hand over mine. “Then what are you still doing here? It’s a four-hour drive back to Raleigh, but I can get you there faster by jet.”

“I went back. I told Nixon to let Nathan decide for himself. To have him call me when he was ready to see me.”

Asher’s eyes lit with hope. Then his shoulders sank as I shook my head.

“Bastard.”

“No, he’s not.”

“How do you even know which one I’m talking about?”

“Either one. Both have their reasons for wanting me out of their life. It’s fine. We were bound to separate anyway. We knew that. The whole time we knew we would end when I moved here.” It didn’t stop it from hurting so damn much.

“You knew that,” Asher said, eyeing me. “And you still continued it anyway. Why?”

“Because,” I said, pitying him the lack of knowledge. Something I used to pride myself on. “That’s what you do when you love someone. You dive in despite the risks. Despite the pain. Because what comes before it is so much sweeter.”

Asher sighed, looking very much like he wanted to pat my head like a wounded dog, but stuck with my hand instead.

“You’re resigned to wait then?” He asked after we’d sat in silence for some time.

I nodded. “If he wants closure of any kind, it’ll be him approaching me. I will not hinder his recovery like Nixon suggests I will. I will not force him to speak with me if it will only set him back.”

Asher nodded, seeming to understand as something clicked behind his eyes. “Very well then,” he said, standing. “Come along.”

“What?”

“I’m not leaving my baby sister to stay in a cheap motel.”

“I wouldn’t call the Plaza cheap—”

“Regardless,” he cut me off, motioning toward the door. “Get your things. You can stay at my place until you find a home of your own.”

“Okay,” I said, grabbing my bag and following him out the door. “What’s the rent?” I tried to joke, knowing my brother had enough money to last him fifteen lifetimes.

He paused just outside the door, his eyes raking me from head to toe as his nose wrinkled. “A shower,” he declared. “Like I said before,” he continued, taking my bag from my shoulder. “You look and smell like death.”

I punched him in the shoulder.

He laughed, and I snorted, too.

My first laugh in days.

I followed Asher out of the building, my broken heart pulsing with a satisfied sort of emptiness.

Nathan was alive.

He was healing.

What more could I honestly ask for?

Chapter 21

Noble

“You feeling up for a visitor?” Mom asked from the doorway of the hospital room I was more than sick of. I’d been in here four days, and all I wanted to do was go home. Well, really, all I wanted to do was find Harper.

I wasn’t exactly sure what I’d do when I found her, but I’d figure it out. Yell at her? Maybe. Demand answers? You bet. Kiss her senseless? Definitely.

Had she used me? Maybe. But even if she had, I knew she loved me. There was no way Harper could fake that kind of emotion. It had been too real. Too raw.

“Sure, Mom,” I answered.

“Good, because I found this pretty little lady wandering the halls.”

Please be Harper. My heart jumped up my throat...only to plummet to the floor when Langley walked in. The publicist for the Sharks was dressed uncharacteristically in jeans, which told me she was here as a friend, and not officially.

“Well, don’t look too excited to see me,” she teased, sitting on the edge of my bed.

“Sorry, I was just hoping you might…” I shook my head and shifted so I sat up straighter.

“Might have brown hair? Maybe a lab coat?” she asked, tucking a strand of jet black hair behind her ear and raising a brow over-inquisitive, brown eyes.

“Guilty,” I admitted.

She sighed and took my hand. “How are you?”

“If you hang around a few minutes, the doc will be by to let you know. And hey, they let me put on real people clothes today, so that’s a step in the right direction.”

Langley looked at my Bauer T-shirt and forced a smile. “And the rest of you?”

“Well, I got a visit from HR yesterday, and the official papers served that my contract is terminated for the team I worked my ass off to get on, so that was a treat. Harper hasn’t called or texted, but she did stop by that first day I was sedated. Had to get her data and everything.”

“Ouch. All of it...ouch. I’m so sorry. I couldn’t even watch that stupid press conference Paulson gave.” She squeezed my hand, and I knew it wasn’t the publicist in her speaking. She really was sorry.