Hellion, a New Adult Romance Novel(59)
“You can use my cape,” Jersey says, reaching into his pants.
“Uhhhh …” I’m too stunned to stop him, and within seconds I’m holding a very warm, blue satin cape that I’m pretty sure was stuffed in his underpants.
“Why do you have your cape in your pants?” I ask.
“Jersey …” My mom is shaking her head, giving him the guilt-trip look. It never works on him like it does on me, lucky bastard that he is. He has some sort of parental force-field I’d kill to have in my armory.
“I put it in my pants so you could have it,” Jersey explains, leaving me to go stand by Mick again.
“I told him to leave it at home,” my mom says. “I thought he listened.” She’s glaring at the back of his head.
I can’t help but smile through the remainder of my tears. “He’s very stubborn.”
She raises eyebrows at me. “I wonder where he learned that.”
I nudge her with my arm. “Stop. Where’s dad?”
“He’s in the cafeteria. They have pecan pie.” She rolls her eyes. She doesn’t need to say anymore. My dad is a fiend for the stuff. He’ll even skip football for a chance at a slice.
My mom looks over at Mick. “So … sounds like you kids had an exciting first date.”
I cringe and squeeze my eyes shut. “God, Mom, could you please not go there right now?”
“What? What’d I say?” She’s all innocence except for the shitty grin on her face.
The door opens and my dad walks in. “Thank God,” I mutter, standing up at the side of the bed. I have some nasty-ass hospital socks on, but nothing’s going to stop me from getting a hug from my dad. He’s my rock.
“Baby girl. Look at you,” he says, arms open.
I meet him halfway, again not able to keep the tears away. “Hi, Daddy.”
He’s sniffling too. “I thought you were really hurt, bad girl. You had us very worried.” He reaches down and smacks me on the butt. “Don’t ever do that to us again, you hear?”
I nod, unable to respond with words.
He pushes me away and holds me out at arm’s length. “You okay in there?” He reaches up and taps my forehead.
I nod again. “Yeah. Pretty much.” I sniff hard and use the back of my hand to wipe my face. I can’t even imagine what Mick’s thinking, but I don’t care right now. I just want to be smothered in parent-love. Ain’t no medicine around quite as powerful as that, as far as I’m concerned.
“That’s a pretty dress you’re wearing,” he says, looking down to my knees. “Did you get it on sale or maybe at a vintage shop?” There’s a hint of a smile on his lips.
“Shut up.” I’m suddenly hyper aware of the fact that my gown is open in the back and I’m ass-end towards Mick. I reverse and re-align my rear-end to the other bed, positioning myself next to my mom again. “I’m going to burn this thing as soon as I have my own clothes back.” I look around. “Where are they, anyway? Where’s my purse?”
My mom pats me on the arm. “We have all of it in a bag in the car. I’ll bring you some clean things later when they discharge you.”
I scoot back up onto the bed, ignoring the twinge of pain in my chest. “Good. Think flannel. I’m going to spend the next week in bed.”
“Teagan said something about your school project being picked up by the law firm she’s working with?” my dad says.
“Oh, really?” I try to play dumb, but I’m pretty sure my parents aren’t falling for it.
“Yes, I think your plan of sleeping for a week isn’t going to work out so well,” my mom says. “Teagan told us you have an appointment with her lawyer and his partners Monday. They want to talk to you about the work you did.”
She lifts an eyebrow at me and I feel completely and totally busted. But I’m not going to let on because I don’t have all my strength yet to deal with the ‘rents. I need all my faculties to negotiate myself out of corners like that.
“Oh, really?” I say, smooth as buttah. “Huh. She didn’t mention it. I’ll have to call her later.” I look at Mick. “So, you guys probably didn’t think you’d be seeing Mick again so soon, huh?” I nod my head, trying to get them to pick up the ball and run with it.
“He’s looking better already,” my mom says, getting up and walking over to his bedside. “How are you feeling, Mick?”