by Nicole Dykes
I shake my head at him. “No. Just tell me.”
He swallows hard, his Adam’s apple dancing in his throat. “He’s alive, but Dylan was shot.”
My knees almost buckle, “He was what?”
He wraps his arms around my waist, pulling my weakened body to his strong, sturdy one. “Cassie, he’s alive. I don’t have many details, but he’s in surgery to remove the bullet. He’s alive.”
I shake my head, dumbfounded. “Who the hell would shoot Dylan?”
He pulls me in tighter, kissing my temple. He’s trying to calm me. “I’m not sure. I’m taking you to Kansas City now. Let’s go.”
As we walk to the car I feel like a shell of myself. I can’t lose him too. How could this happen? It’s like our last name is cursed. I’m finally happier than I’ve been in my life and boom my brother could be dying right now or dead for all I know.
When we get to Hunter’s truck I hear him hit the unlock button and he opens my door, but I’m frozen, “I can’t do this.” I whisper.
“Yes, you can, Cassie. You are strong.”
I shake my head, “No I’m not. I can’t do this. I can’t have people tell me that he didn’t make it through surgery. I can’t hear all of the condolences and the pity looks. I can’t go through this again.”
His lips find mine for a quick, chaste kiss. “No matter what happens, I will be there, but he is going to be fine. I promise you it will all be okay.”
I open my mouth to argue, but he hoists me up into the passenger seat of his truck and after making sure I’m fully inside he shuts the door before running around to his side.
We drive in near silence. The thoughts in my head of my parent’s death is crippling me. I thought after that I could handle anything, but losing Dylan? I won’t come back from that. Luke sure as hell won’t. Jax. Brooke. None of us.
We arrive at the hospital in Overland Park two hours later and with Hunter’s arm around my waist we make our way to Dylan’s hospital room. Jax called about an hour ago to say Dylan is out of surgery and in recovery now.
We walk into the room and I see my brother, the man I who I always thought was bulletproof lying in the bed. His eyes are open and he’s talking to Jax. The room is packed and I can’t believe they allowed everyone in here.
Alex and Brooke are standing in the corner. Luke is here, but I’m guessing Hannah is still back in Manhattan. Charlotte is standing with Shriller. How the hell did Shriller beat us from California? Then I remember that Luke was trying to call me and Hunter for a few hours. I am never turning my phone off during class again. They can all kiss my ass.
Dylan notices me and he groans, “Who the hell called, Cassie?”
I glare at him and walk over toward his bed, “Are you kidding me? Why wouldn’t they call me. You were shot!”
He waves it off, the IV in his arm visible. “I’m fine and I don’t want you to see me in a hospital bed.”
Jax wraps an arm around me, “Nothing can take him down. Dylan here is made of steel.”
I shake my head trying to fight the tears. “How the hell can you all joke? This isn’t funny.”
Brooke walks over and hugs me, brushing Jax off. “It’s not, but he’s okay.”
A tear falls as I soak in Brooke’s comforting scent and I let her console me. She lets go and then turns to the rest of the people in the room, “Let’s get out of here and give them a minute.”
Everyone clears out, but Hunter silently checks with me before he leaves. Once I give him approval he follows them all out and I sit in the chair next to Dylan’s bed. I’m too stunned to talk, but Dylan somehow isn’t. “Cassie. It was a flesh wound. I’m fine.”
“Liar. You were in surgery for a while.”
“All right. So it lodged in my arm a little, but I’m okay. Hell they are going to let me out tomorrow.”
I wipe another tear. “It could have hit your heart.”
“Or it could have missed me all together. Shit, Cassie things happen.”
I look over at him. He doesn’t look frail or beat up. He still looks like my brother, “Mom didn’t die right away.”
His eyebrows furrow, “What?”
I sniff, the tears are uncontrollable. “My mom. She was alive at the scene like Gabby. Dad he….” I don’t finish. My dad died instantly in the car wreck. “When the cop came to get me he said that my mom and sister were alive, but that my mom needed surgery badly, but wouldn’t go without talking to her kids first.”
I see Dylan swallow and then place his hand on mine. “You guys never told me that.”
“No, it’s not something we talk about. I haven’t even discussed it with Luke. They rushed us to the hospital and there she was. Mom. She was bloody and looked so different from her normal put together self, but she had a smile on her face and it was her.”
“Shit.” He breathes out.
My hand is cold compared to his warm one. I continue, bringing back the painful memories of that day. “She told us that she loved us and she swore it would be okay, but it wasn’t. She didn’t make it out of surgery. Maybe if she wouldn’t have been so stubborn and would have just went directly to surgery she would still be here.”
He runs his fingers of his other hand through his hair and lets out another deep breath, “Your mom was one of the most incredible people I ever knew. She was so fucking strong and smart.”
“Then why the hell didn’t she go to surgery? Didn’t she know we needed her?”
He looks me dead in the eye, “Maybe she knew Cassie. Knew that she wasn’t going to make it no matter what. Maybe she wanted to see you guys one last time to let you know that it was all going to be okay somehow without her. Hell, now that I’m a parent too, it’s what I would want if I knew I wasn’t going to be alive another day.”
I sob, taking my hand from under his and bringing both hands to cover my face. In my heart, I know he’s right. My mom was being brave for us. “I miss her so much, but she was right. We were okay. You came and rescued us and built something amazing and then today you almost left us too.”
His voice is stern. “No. I will never leave you guys. Hell, I have the toughest guardian angel there is and there is no way in hell I’m letting her down. Sylvia trusted me to take care of you guys. Today, Cassie, it was a fluke. It’ll never happen again.”
I drop my hands and look at him, “You don’t know that.”
He looks so certain, “Trust me. I’m not going anywhere.”
“What happened today?”
He lies back fully on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. “Fate. Fucking fate.”
“I have no idea what you are talking about.”
He chuckles softly, “Brooke’s car is in the shop so I went to pick her up for lunch instead of the usual just meeting at the house or getting blown off because she’s too busy or vice versa. When I got there, there was guy grabbing her by the shoulders on the steps of her building. I swear I’ve never ran so fast in my life. He pulled a gun and I pushed her out of the way.”
I’m shocked and I just stare at him, “This was someone Brooke knew?”
“Some guy who lost his kids because of a drug problem. He was a tweaker Cass, drugged out of his mind and lost without his kids. He blamed her. If I wouldn’t have been there, who the hell knows what would have happened.”
Brooke knocks on the door at that moment and asks if it’s okay to come back in. We both nod and everyone files in. Hunter stands by the door and I look over at Brooke, “Did they catch that guy?”
She nods, “Yes. He’ll be serving some serious time.”
“That’s so scary.”
Jax nods, his arms wrapped around Charlotte. “No shit. Brooke isn’t going to work alone for a long, long time.”
Dylan and Luke nod their heads in agreement and Brooke just shakes hers. “There are dangers everywhere. I know the risks of my job, but I’ll be damned if I will let fear get to me.”
I look at her wide eyed, “You’re a mother. Sylvie needs you.
Where is she anyway?”
“My friend is watching her.” She turns to Dylan, “But I need to go get her soon.”
He nods, “Go. I’m fine, but we are talking about this more, later.”
She laughs and gives me a hug, followed by Alex who follows her out.
Jax shakes his head, “You need to put that damn woman on a leash.”
Dylan laughs, “Yeah right, Jax. You try that shit with Charlotte there and let me know how that works out.”
We’re back to happy and joking. It’s crazy to think what could have happened today. How different all of our lives would have been, but at the end of the day, Dylan is right. Anything can happen. I take a lesson from Brooke too. We can’t let fear rule us.
These people are my life and damn if I’m not going to enjoy every single bit of it. Even the scary moments. Even the bad. I will not let anything stop me from enjoying my life because we don’t know how long we get.
Epilogue
Cassie
About one year later…
I look up at the ceiling in Hunter’s bedroom listening to the shower run. I can’t believe we only have one more semester together in college before he graduates. The NFL teams have been going at him like crazy since the regular season ended, but from what I know he hasn’t signed with any of them.
I want him to have his dream. I want him to have his career, but I’m scared to be apart from him. He’s been my constant. We spend as much time as we can together, but we also have our own lives. He and Luke are still close as hell and I’m sure it kills Luke to have to hang out with his sister when he’s in town, but I think it’s growing on him.
I’ll never forget the way Hunter was there for me that day Dylan was shot. He was there, always near, but stayed in the background. He let me hear what I needed to hear from Dylan. Telling Dylan about that last day with my mom was liberating.
The shower turns off and it’s not long after that my drop dead gorgeous boyfriend walks out, still wet and hot from his shower with nothing but a towel. Holy hell, what was I just thinking about?
He walks over to his dresser and pulls out a large white box. “I got you something.”
I raise an eyebrow as he walks over to the bed and sits down, his towel opening a little revealing his strong thighs. I seriously can’t think. Present? “It’s not Christmas. Or an anniversary.”
He laughs, “Just open it.”
I take his order and sit up, dressed only in his large t-shirt. I pull the top of the box off and look and see it’s a Dallas Cowboys hoodie. I look over at him, “You know I’m not a huge football fan, but if I watch a game I’m rooting for the K.C. Chiefs, right?”
He laughs at me again and pulls the hoodie out, “Well, I thought maybe you would want to cheer for your boyfriend occasionally.”
“You signed a contract?”
He nods his head, “Yeah. It’s in Dallas so it’s not too far from here. We will make it work, Cassie. I promise.”
I’m happy about that. This is what I wanted, but then again, I heard the other offers. Dallas was third ranking in the pay. “You took a pay cut to be near me.”
It’s not a question and I’m not sure I can let him do this. Before I can say anything his full lips find mine and he brushes them over my lips slowly. “When you are talking millions, who gives a shit?”
I shake my head. “Hunter…”
He kisses me, it’s too brief but still sets my body and soul on fire. “Don’t. It’s done. It’s what I want and in two years, I’m hoping you will come with me. If it fits into your life.”
“You will always fit into my life.”
“Cass. I love you.”
“I love you too.” I bite my lip, knowing he’s going to argue with what comes out of my mouth next. “I want to go with you now.”
“Cassie, you want to finish school. We’ve talked about it nonstop for a year.”
I nod my head, “We have, but relax I’m not quitting school. I want to transfer and finish in Dallas.”
When I knew Dallas was in the running I came up with this idea. Truth be told it was also an option if he signed with Broncos also. I could handle moving to Colorado. Now if he would have signed with the Chargers, I’m not sure I could be that far away from my family.
“Cassie, you can’t follow me.”
I shake my head defiantly, “I’m not. I’m going with you. There is a difference. I’ll still have my own life, but with you. I want this. More than anything. I’ve already looked into schools there and with my grades I can get in no problem. I’ve even discussed it with Dylan and he will cover the tuition.” I wrap my arms around his neck, “We could even live in sin.”
He smiles at that and kisses me again, taking my hand in his, “Or…” I feel a ring slip onto my left finger, “We could live as husband and wife.”
I pull my hand so it’s in front of my eyes. My heart is pounding as I look at the beautiful modest diamond ring. “Wow.”
He swallows hard. Is he nervous? As if I would ever say no. “I can get a bigger ring soon.”
I shake my head, “Don’t you dare. I love this. It’s us before your career, before you’re totally famous.”
He grins and kisses me, moving his lips down my neck. “So, is that a yes?”
I nod and moan at the same time he puts just the right amount of pressure on that perfect spot on my neck that makes me weak. “Yes. Hell yes!”
I can feel him smile against my skin, “You’re sure, Cassie?”
“Never been more sure of anything in my entire life, Hunter. This is what I want. I want a life together.”
Who knew that from so many mistakes and bad decisions could come the perfect life that I didn’t even know I was capable of having? He shows me every day that I’m stronger than I always thought. That I’m not a screw up, but actually something special.
The End
Letter from the Author:
I just want to thank you for taking the time to read Hunter and Cassie’s story. Cassie has been very dear to my heart since book one. In a way she reminds me of so many of my friends growing up. Lost and in some ways broken, but strong. She’s been through so much in a short time and I knew from the beginning I needed to give her some peace. I hope you enjoyed her story as much as I did. I also hope that you aren’t finished with the Monroes just yet. Book 5 is coming as soon as I can get it out.
I’ll try to update as soon as I can, but for now I’ll leave you with the two main characters from Book 5… Alex and Shriller J
If you want to connect with me you can find me here:
https://www.facebook.com/Author-Nicole-D-1607194522867504/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13701591.Nicole_Dykes
Email me at [email protected]
Special Thanks To:
I want to thank my beta readers. I know that I do beta reading very differently. Instead of one or two readers that read it all at once when it’s finished I see it as a full journey. I have 5 amazing beta readers that start reading from the prologue all the way up until the end with me. They get a chapter or two at a time and provide me with amazing feedback. Most of all they keep me going. They motivate me to keep writing the story and never try to force their own ideas on me or change the story in anyway, they give me their honest in time reactions and I can’t even tell you how much this helps me as a writer. It’s like the characters are as real to them as they are to me and I feed off it. Thank you so much to all of you! I don’t know what I would do without you and your kind words of encouragement. You all offer something unique and are a huge part of these books.
To the members S.A.S.S., bloggers, all of my readers and Facebook followers, you are amazing and I don’t know what I would do without any of you! I feel the love and encouragement every time I open Facebook or an email from you. Thank you so much for everything!
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