Taming the Storm

He smiles. “Tomorrow, then.”

“Tomorrow.”

I close the door to his room behind me, and I let out the breath I’ve been holding all night before making my way back down the hall.

Cale, Sonny, and Shannon are all sitting where I left them, sipping on machine coffee.

Sonny gets to his feet. “How’s he doing?”

I lift my shoulders. “He’s doing okay, considering what happened. We talked. He’s real happy that you guys came to the hospital.”

“And how are you doing?” Cale asks, coming over to me.

“I’m okay,” I sigh, feeling mentally and physically exhausted. “I said I’d come back in the morning…that we can try to fix things.”

“Sonny and I will come back with you.”

“Aunt Steph and Uncle Paul will be here then.”

“I know,” Cale says. “But I need to talk to Dex, too. Figure some stuff out with him.”

I meet his eyes, understanding.

I think we all have a lot to figure out.

“We gonna get out of here?” Sonny asks. “I fucking hate hospitals.”

“Let’s go,” I say.

We all start walking toward the elevators. I get my cell from my bag.

I missed two calls and a text from Tom.

I check the time on the first call. He called while I was here, about thirty minutes after I saw him on the street with that woman.

Does he know about Dex? But then, who would have told him? Why did he call? He told me he doesn’t care about me.

Fingers trembling, I open up the text.

We need to talk. Call me.

That’s it?

I’m assuming he doesn’t know about Dex then. Well, I’d like to think that if he did, his text would say something more than that. I know he’s a bastard, but I don’t think he’d be that callous.

And really, what do we need to talk about? How he doesn’t give a shit about me? How he has clearly moved on from me?

Thanks, but no thanks.

I haven’t heard from or seen him in two weeks, and after I see him with some woman, he calls and texts.

Probably feeling guilty or even worse sorry for me.

Yeah, well, I don’t need his goddamn pity.

I delete his text and clear my screen of his calls. I speed dial Aunt Steph. She and Uncle Paul should be in the air now on their way here, but I wanted to let her know that I’ve seen Dex.

I listen through her voice mail greeting. “Hey, it’s me. I just saw Dex. He’s doing okay. The doctor said he’s gonna be fine. I mean, obviously, he’s not fine, but he will be…with some help. I just wanted you to know that I’ve seen him, and he’s doing okay. I’m gonna head home because they won’t let us stay any longer with it being so late here. Call me when you land, and I’ll come get you at the airport.”

I’m going to have to borrow Cale’s car to pick them up since mine is only a two-seater.

Just as I’m thinking that, Cale puts his arm around me.

We come to a standstill at the elevators. Sonny presses the button, and I rest my head against Cale’s chest while we wait. I’m thankful to have them. I might not have Tom, but I have the best friends a girl could wish for. The elevator arrives, and we all get in. When we reach the ground floor, I walk out with Cale’s arm still around my shoulder.

We approach the electronic doors. They slide open, and the night air brings a chill in with it. I shiver. I’m still in my cutoffs and T-shirt.

Cale rubs my arm. “You cold?”

I smile up at him. “I’m okay.” Then, I look ahead.

That’s when my heart falls out of my chest.

Tom is standing across the road, leaning up against his Range Rover, his eyes fixed on me.

A Breath Later—Outside of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, LA

Tom pushes off the car and starts to walk toward me. His eyes don’t waver from mine as his long legs eat up the distance between us. He’s still wearing the same clothes he was in earlier. The thick stubble graces his chin.

He looks as hot as ever. I hate that.

My feet are glued to the spot, my legs shaking. I feel Cale’s grip tighten on my shoulder.

To say Cale is not happy with Tom is putting it mildly. Cale is my best friend. I tell him everything, and I told him what happened between me and Tom—well, barring the sex details, of course. I also left out some of the crueler things that Tom said to me. I knew if I told Cale those, he would have gone to Tom’s house to have words with him, and the last thing I want is those two fighting.

Cale is pissed at the way Tom left things with me. I’ve tried to make Cale understand that Tom hasn’t really done anything wrong—apart from being a mean bastard when he ended things. He never led me on, never gave me false promises. If anything, he was always honest with me.

It’s my fault that I fell in love with him.

The fact that Tom doesn’t feel the same is not on him. No matter how much I want to be angry with Tom, feelings just aren’t something that can be controlled.

From the start, I knew that Tom wasn’t a feelings kind of guy. It just took him telling me the way he did for it to hammer home.

Although…him being here right now is doing nothing for my heart.

Tom comes to a stop a foot away from me. Up close, I can see how tired he truly looks. He has dark circles around his eyes, like he hasn’t slept in a really long time.

My heart starts to pound in my chest.

“Lyla.” His voice is raspy, but it still feels like a balm over the open wound on my heart. I realize that I miss him more in this moment than I have in the last two weeks. It hurts to have him so near and not be mine.