Waking up in Vegas

by Natasha Preston

  I sip the water she holds in front of me.

  “We’ll be okay,” Dad says.

  “All I’m going to be doing is sleeping. There’s no point in you staying. Get a couple hours sleep and then come back at visiting time in the morning with Fliss and Mase,” I tell them.

  I’m not seven. I don’t actually need my parents to sit by my side all night. Though, it was fucking nice to wake up and see them.

  Mum and Dad glance at each other, knowing I’m right.

  “Okay,” Mum relents, putting my water on the side. “But we’ll come back first thing.”

  “Of course.” I grin.

  “We’ll drop you at home, Wren,” Dad says.

  “I’m not leaving,” she says, stubborn as ever.

  I look over.

  “Don’t even bother,” she tells me. “I’m not going anywhere. Besides, we need to talk, and you’re now awake.”

  Can’t say I’m not loving her stubbornness at the minute. “You can’t sleep in a chair.”

  She lifts her chin. “Watch me.”

  “Wren…”

  Shaking her head, she turns from me to my parents. “Thanks, but I’m staying the night.”

  Dad laughs. “All right. Do you need anything?”

  “I’m good.”

  Mum and Dad leave after two very slow minutes of good-byes.

  Wren turns to me with tears in her eyes. “You’re a bastard.”

  Well, I wasn’t expecting that.

  Fifty-Seven

  Wren

  I actually want to punch him in the broken ribs for how much he terrified me today.

  “Sorry, what?” he asks.

  He looks exhausted. I know I shouldn’t be doing this now, but his parents leaving has opened the dam.

  “I was so scared,” I admit, my eyes stinging with fresh tears. “I heard the crash, and I was screaming your name, but you wouldn’t answer. Luke practically had to put me in the car. Then I saw you in that turned car with blood everywhere, and I thought you were going to die.”

  I swallow a golf ball and swipe the tears from my face. I never want to feel like that again.

  “Wren, I’m sorry.”

  “I was going to kill you if you died.”

  His face falls but only for a second, and it’s replaced by a hopeful smile. “You do like me, then.”

  I watch him, staring into those dangerous blue eyes. “I might. A little bit.”

  I love you!

  “What were you saying on the phone?” I ask. “Before you crashed?”

  He takes a deep breath. “I was going to say that I’ll sign the paperwork, if that’s what you want.”

  My spine straightens.

  “Is that what you want?”

  “No, Wren, we’ve established it’s not.”

  “Have we?”

  “Okay, no. We’ve not had a conversation about it, but I thought it was clear.”

  I shake my head. “It’s very unclear.”

  His lips lift at the corner. “All right. I want to stay married, but we don’t have to acknowledge it if you don’t want, and I need to take you on a date.”

  “You want to date your closet wife?”

  “Closet wife. Excellent. No, I don’t care who knows. What I mean is that you don’t have to introduce me as your husband. Is that okay with you?”

  “Staying married and seeing where things go between us?” I nod. My heart beats harder. “That’s okay with me.”

  His perfect smile spreads. “Good.”

  “You should sleep now, Brody.”

  God, I want to sleep. My whole body is exhausted, and my eyes sting with the need to close. He must feel much worse.

  “You’ll be all right there?” he asks.

  I pull my legs up and curl into the back of the chair, facing him. “I’ll be fine.”

  I would sleep on the floor if I had to. But I’m so not telling him that, or it’ll go straight to his head.

  “Night, baby,” he breathes, his eyes closing.

  Smiling to myself as my heart soars, I whisper, “Good night, Brody.”

  I watch him for a minute, my eyes taking longer to open between each blink. He doesn’t look great, but sleeping there, he’s absolutely perfect.

  So, I know I wanted to stay here, but old me is dumb. Hospitals are noisy, and people keep coming into the fucking room what feels like every three minutes. The vending machine has horrible coffee, and no one will give me any morphine.

  It’s now seven in the morning. Brody is still sleeping—he hasn’t woken up—but I don’t want to leave the room until he’s awake.

  The nurse has just done her rounds and left us to it. The only place I’ve been is to the bathroom or the vending machine down the hall because I’m scared he’ll wake up alone.

  Brody stirs, taking a deep breath.

  Wake up! Wake up!

  His eyes move behind his eyelids. If I spoke, he would probably wake. But that would make me a bitch, waking my… husband after his accident so I can get decent coffee.

  Yeah, no.

  Dark blue eyes flick open and peer up at me. God, I love him.

  “Morning,” I whisper.

  “Hey,” he rasps.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Shit. You look terrible.”

  Scowling, I slap his forearm. The one that isn’t broken.

  “Sorry.” He grins. “You didn’t sleep much?”

  “Not all of us are allowed the drugs.”

  He smirks. “You weren’t in an accident.”

  “You didn’t spend all night on this chair. Do you know how many times the nurse came into this room to check on you through the night? It’s insanity. You’re not that needy.”

  His lips stretch into a wide, amused smile. “You know what I do need?”

  Rolling my eyes, I stand up. “I’m going to get a latte. Do you need anything that doesn’t involve the removal of clothes and me getting kicked out of the hospital?”

  “Then, no.”

  He’s definitely going to be fine.

  “I’ll be back.”

  “Wren,” he says, catching my hand as I turn to leave.

  “Yeah?”

  “I need you.”

  I squeeze his hand. “We’re in a hospital, and you’re pretty banged up.”

  “Kiss me, woman,” he groans, frowning as if he’s in pain.

  Oh.

  I feel my cheeks heating. Bending down, I place a very PG kiss on his lips.

  “That the best you’ve got? Baby, it’s been forever.”

  “It’s been, like, a week, Brody. I’ll be back in a minute.”

  I sound cool and casual, but inside, I’m freaking out.

  Biting my bottom lip, I force my feet to walk out of the door without doing some lame dance on the way. My heart is wild, beating fast as the feel of his lips on mine lingers.

  “Good morning,” the nurse who woke me up three times says.

  “Hi. He’s awake.”

  She nods. “Great. I’ll check in on him. Are you going to get something to eat?”

  “Decent coffee.”

  “There’s a Costa machine in the food hall.”

  “Then, that’s where I’m going.”

  With a polite smile, she hurries off, probably overworked and in desperate need of a break herself.

  After my coffee and checking in with the family, I head straight back up. James and Louise are already on their way. Felicity and Mason are coming for the morning visiting hours, and my parents and Luke are coming in the afternoon.

  I carry two lattes back up, hoping that Brody will be allowed one. I’m not sure why he wouldn’t.

  When I get to his room, he’s sitting on his bed with damp hair.

  “You showered?” I ask, licking my lips. Even banged up he’s still painfully handsome.

  He looks up and smirks. “Disappointed you missed the show?”

  Yes. “Please, I know what that looks like.”

 
“We’ve never showered together,” he tells me.

  “I’ve seen you naked.” And I might have, on more than one occasion, fantasised about him joining me in the shower.

  “I can’t go home until tomorrow at the earliest.”

  I walk over to him, my pulse racing harder with every step. “That’s no surprise.”

  “It sucks in here.”

  Sitting on the bed, I tilt my head to face him straight on and stroke his cheek. He stops breathing for a second. “It could have been so much worse.”

  “I have too much to do to die right now,” he murmurs.

  “I’m sure the Grim Reaper really cares about all of your plans.”

  “I only have one plan.”

  “And what’s that?”

  His eyes, so intense and determined, dive into mine, and he whispers, “Make you fall in love with me, so you’ll never consider a divorce again.”

  My mouth drops on a gasp.

  He wants me to fall in love with him.

  I’m already there.

  “Sleep,” I tell him as he yawns.

  He lays his head back against the pillow and stares into my eyes. “You’ll be here when I wake?”

  “I’m not going anywhere. Ever again.”

  His eyelids close and he smiles.

  I watch him, and after a few minutes, he falls asleep. Sitting back in the uncomfortable chair next to him, I take out my phone. Indie and Mila have no clue what’s happened, and they’ll be pissed if I don’t call.

  “Hey,” Indie says softly. Her voice, low and rough, sounds like she’s been crying.

  “You okay?” I ask, slipping my hand into Brody’s.

  “Uh-huh. What’s up?”

  I frown. “I just wanted to let you know before you hear from someone else. Brody was in a car accident yesterday.”

  “Oh God, Wren! Is he okay?”

  “He’s kind of bust up. Cuts, concussion and broken ribs. But he’s alive and sleeping in hospital now.”

  “Shit. What happened?”

  “A car ran him off the road.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “I am now.”

  “How long will he have to stay in hospital?”

  I lay back in the seat. “He should be home tomorrow.”

  “I’m sure you’ll make him rest.”

  “Damn straight, I will.”

  “You two together?” she asks. I can hear the smile in her voice.

  “Yeah.”

  “Good. And I’m glad he’s going to be okay. That must have been so scary.”

  It was. I don’t tell her that I was on the phone and heard it because I can’t talk about that right now.

  “I was terrified. We only knew that he wasn’t awake.”

  I glance across at his peaceful face. His chest is rising and falling.

  “Thank God he’s all right.”

  “What’s wrong, Indie?” I ask.

  “Nothing, why?”

  “You sound… sad. Is it Spencer?”

  She takes a ragged breath. “I haven’t heard from him in two weeks. That doesn’t sound a lot but…”

  “No, I get it.” They used to speak every day.

  “I’m just being stupid.”

  “You’re not. As soon as Brody’s doing better, we’ll meet up, yeah?”

  “Sounds good. You focus on him.”

  “Nice try. I can focus on you both. Prepare for a shitload of texts.”

  With a quiet laugh, she says, “Send Brody my love, and I’ll speak to you tomorrow.”

  “Love you.”

  “Love you, too, Wren.”

  I hang up the phone and sigh. As soon as I’ve got Brody better, I’m going to kick Spencer’s clueless arse.

  Fifty-Eight

  Brody

  There isn’t a part of my body that doesn’t hurt. Every inch throbs, but it’s nothing compared to the torture of having to keep my hands off Wren. My parents and siblings are in the room.

  Last night, she agreed to give things a go, and I have to refrain from putting my mouth all over her.

  I can barely follow what everyone is saying because Wren is sitting right beside me, her arm pressed against mine, laughing as if I’m not so hard that I think my dick might snap off.

  “Wren, you should go home for a while,” Mum says.

  She shakes her head. “I’m okay.”

  “We’re here, love. He’s fine now.”

  Wren presses herself harder into my side. “Maybe a bit later.”

  Oh my God, why won’t the rest of them fuck off?

  “It’s okay, you know,” I tell her, pushing a little harder. “If you want to go for a while.”

  “Later,” she repeats.

  Later means never.

  Yeah, that’s where it’s fucking at. She doesn’t want to leave.

  Dad holds his hands up. “All right. I’ll go and get us all something to eat if no one is leaving.”

  My shoulders slump in disappointment. They can leave.

  “I’ll come with you, darling,” Mum says.

  Mase stands up. “Me, too. I need a piss anyway.”

  “Lovely,” Wren mutters.

  Felicity, obviously itching to say something, twists her body on the end of the bed, so she’s fully facing us. “You two are on? Like, on?”

  “Kind of,” Wren replies.

  I side-eye her. What the fuck does that mean? My hand that’s not wrapped in a cast balls into a fist. “Kind of?”

  She looks up and shrugs. “You said you’d take me on a date.”

  “That’s on, Wren.”

  Her eyes search mine for answers, the way she did the night everyone found out we were married.

  I’m not specific enough, not spelling it out for her. Wren doesn’t want any room for doubt or second-guessing.

  “It’s on. Okay?” I thread my fingers through hers.

  “Yeah.” She beams. “Okay.”

  “Good, because I have fallen so in love with you, it’s unreal.”

  “Brody,” Her eyes fill with tears. “I love you, too.”

  Her lips find mine, and I soar.

  In the end, I’m forced to stay in the hospital for two full days.

  “I’m fine to go home,” I say.

  “You’re going to need some help for a while, Brody. Don’t be so stubborn,” Mum says.

  “I’m not moving home.”

  “A few days, a week at the most. Or I can come to you.”

  There is no way in hell I am having my mother move in with me for a few days. She means well, but no.

  “You should stay at mine,” Wren says.

  My eyes slide to her.

  “This morning, you could barely walk down one step. You need help.”

  “Your place?”

  With her parents. I love Rachel and Graham, but that might be weird.

  “Yeah. Until you can properly dress yourself.”

  “I dressed myself this morning.”

  She grins, and it lights up her eyes. She’s done that a lot since we exchanged the L-word. My jaw aches from smiling, too.

  “But it took you a whole five minutes and was hilarious.”

  “Wow, thank you.”

  Mum laughs. “You go home with Wren or with me. If you go to your apartment, no one will be there when Wren, Dad, and I go to work.”

  “I don’t need round the clock babysitting.”

  “You can barely move. At mine or Wren’s, you will have more help. Humour me on this for a few days. Please?”

  I roll my eyes. “Fine.”

  “Good. Home with me and Dad or to Wren’s?”

  “It’s a tough one,” I say, wrapping my arm around Wren.

  Besides, Luke might be there. He visited last night with Emma. It was short and awkward.

  One person who hasn’t actually left yet is Wren. I think the nurses respect that.

  After signing release paperwork, I get into Mum and Dad’s Volvo. They’ll drop us off at Wren’s. She g
rips my hand in the back and breathes deeply.

  “You okay?” I ask as the small space fills with Johnny Cash, a favourite of my parents’.

  “Yep.”

  She hasn’t been in a car since my accident.

  Her hand tightens around mine.

  When we pull up at Wren’s thirty minutes later, she practically leaps out of the car. Luke comes outside the house and leans against the doorframe.

  I open the door and twist my body to get out.

  Inside the house, I’m ushered to the sofa. Luke is now in the living room, sitting on the recliner.

  He looks up and takes a deep breath. “You look like shit.”

  “Luke!” Rachel admonishes. “I’ll go and make some tea.”

  “Thanks, man.”

  Wren sits down beside me and bites her bottom lip, like she’s unsure of how close she should be.

  “Think you can all give us a minute?” Luke asks.

  Wren looks up at my parents, who nod and follow Rachel into the kitchen.

  “Okay,” Wren replies, looking at me with an expression that screams Good luck.

  Luke and I couldn’t put this off forever. We can’t let this end our friendship.

  “A fight right now would be totally unfair,” I tell him.

  He rolls his eyes. “Wren was so scared.”

  I wince. “I know.” She has barely left my side. “Look, this, Wren, it was a surprise to me, too.”

  “I get that. But how did it all happen so fast?”

  “It was crazy. We hung out a couple of nights. I was only waiting for this guy to go home so she wouldn’t do something she’d end up regretting. But it was nice, you know? We’d never hung out alone, and I saw a completely different side to her. Gone was the annoying Wren who’d only ever seemed to fun-block.” I laugh. “It took me a matter of days to be more than skin-deep attracted to her. She’s amazing… albeit difficult. The night we got married, we’d been drinking. I hadn’t planned to go out again but she wanted to, and the night before had ended fine. Enter the engaged couple, and we got completely swept up in the idea of a wedding. Neither of us thought at all.”

  “Fuck,” he growls low.

  “I’ll never forget waking up and realising what we’d done. After we were refused an annulment, I thought Wren was going to kill me, but despite being angry and gutted, we dealt with it. Neither of us blamed the other one—not even when we learnt that we couldn’t divorce for a year.”