“Don’t be so dramatic. No one is getting tossed out on her ass. I’ll give her plenty of money to get set up in a little house or something. She’ll come out of this marriage with no regrets. I won’t let—” I stop and swallow my words.
Jo already regrets marrying me. The way she was in the car before the crash…that was regret.
Money isn’t going to keep her from regretting any of this. Money isn’t what she needs.
Love is what she needs.
My gaze lands on my dad, where he slumps in his seat, shoulders down like a beaten dog. All these years of being my mother’s whipping post have not worn well on him.
He’s one of the main reasons I never wanted a relationship that went more than skin deep. I don’t want to end up like my dad. A man who loves a woman so much that he allows her to run roughshod over him at every turn, ending up a shriveled shell of who he used to be.
Can I give Jo what she needs?
Do I even want to?
Would our marriage be like my parents’?
Could Jo love someone like me? A guy who never saw what real love is. A guy who’s never loved anyone in his life—romantically, anyway. A guy who married her for all the wrong reasons.
Am I capable of loving Jo the way she should be loved? Truly loved? All-in love. Soul-rending, heart-crushing love?
I fist my trembling hands in my lap.
The idea of handing that kind of power over to anyone scares the shit out of me.
But, if I were ever going to give the ability to end me to anyone, it would be JoJo.
Always and only ever JoJo.
EIGHTEEN
The nurse wheels me out the automatic double doors. My mangled wedding gown is stuffed into a bag and hangs on the handle behind me.
Stevie hops out of the driver seat of her car, hurrying to open the back passenger door. “Hey, bitch. Glad to see those eyes open.”
“Don’t call my wife a bitch.” Tyson smiles as he helps me out of the wheelchair.
“Brat,” I say to Stevie with a grin as I get into the car. “You look like shit. You should go get some sleep.”
“Some idiot got into a car accident and I had to come to the hospital and stay half the night.” She sticks her tongue out at me like a six year old. “Besides, you aren’t exactly looking—”
“Jo looks beautiful, like always. Don’t say mean things to my best girl, woman.” Tyson leans in to drop a series of kisses across my mouth, and then he clicks my seatbelt into place. “Gotta make sure you’re safe and secure this time.”
Best girl?
I narrow my eyes. “Did the doctor tell you something I don’t know?”
They look at each other, and then to me, confusion covering both of their faces as they say, “No.”
Ty asks, “Why would you think that?”
“Best girl? Am I dying?”
Stevie rolls her eyes.
“You are my best girl. You’re my wife, and no one is allowed to call you bitch.”
Did Tyson’s cheeks go pink—just a smidge?
He slides into the seat behind Stevie, and they buckle up.
I catch Stevie’s gaze in the rearview mirror. “Is he blushing?”
Her eyes widen, and she shrugs.
“Let’s get my wife home. I have a lot of things to learn about her.” Tyson takes my fingers in his bandaged hand and brings them to his mouth.
What the hell? Did I get knocked out and wake up in an alternate reality?
I check to see if the sky is magenta or lime green with cotton candy clouds hanging from sapphire stars.
I only flinch twice on the way home. Tyson, of course—solid as the proverbial rock.
Ty jumps out to run around and open my door. “Here, let me help you.”
I let him take my hand. It seems like it will make him feel better.
When I’m on my feet, he bends at the knees to look me in the eyes. “You okay? Feeling dizzy? Nauseated?”
There’s a smile that wants so badly to spread on my face, but I bite it into submission. “I’m fine. Thanks.”
Once inside, he leads me to the sofa in the living room. I sit, and Stevie plops onto the adjacent chair, one leg over the side.
“Want something to drink?” Ty heads into the kitchen.
I follow him.
He turns to me. “I’ll get it. You should be resting.”
“You’re the one with the broken bone. It’s going to be harder for you than it would be for me.”
He shakes his head. “You’re the one who almost died.”
“Almost died? No one said I almost died.” My voice rises.
He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “Okay. The one who had a brain bleed.”
“Blood clot. I don’t think it’s the same thing.”
Tyson reaches out with his good arm and yanks me to him, pressing his lips to mine, hard and quick. “Can you please humor me? I thought I might become a husband and a widower all in the same day.”