Page 21 of The Recovery Coach
“I’m still starving.”As if on cue, his stomach grumbled.
She chuckled.“I’m done for the day.I can bring you dinner if you want something specific.”
Olivia didn’t want to spend her off hours in the hospital, but for him, she would.With the Freeze leaving on their road trip he might be without visitors.The thought of him spending the night alone hurt her heart.Usually, for a broken bone, he’d be released same-day, but with such extensive surgery—and the concussion—the doctors wanted to keep him overnight out of an abundance of caution.
“Are you sure?You should go home and get some rest.Looks like you’ve had a long day.”
“Gee, thanks.Glad to know I look like garbage.”
He gasped and placed a hand over his heart.“I would never say that,” Connor said, mock outrage in his tone.
“You have said those exact words to me before,” Olivia said with a raised eyebrow.
“Wow, what an asshole.You should have punched me.”
“I probably did.”
The conversation lapsed, and someone knocked on the door.Amanda stuck her head in, her cheery smile fading to a scowl when she saw Olivia.
She quickly covered the scowl with a fake-ass expression of adoration.“Aww,” she said to Connor.“You must be so happy your girlfriend works in this building.So easy for her to visit you.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”Olivia corrected her before Connor could.
Connor’s eyes narrowed in confusion.He looked between Amanda and Olivia as if he were watching a sparring match and didn’t know who to root for.
Amanda put on a sickly sweet tone when she said, “Oh, sorry.You’ve been here holding his hand all hours of the day and night.Even abandoned your work to be here.I just assumed...”
Amanda didn’t assume shit.She had an ulterior motive for whatever show she was putting on, and Olivia didn’t know what it was.Her heart rate ratcheted up, her palms going sweaty, regardless of her innocence.“It’s called being friends,” Olivia said, molars gnashing together in irritation.“Not that you would know,” she added under her breath.
The nurse took Connor’s vitals and made some notes in his chart.“It’s not only me who’s noticed.Lance seemed pretty angry about you spending so much time in here, too.He looked for you at lunch, you know?”
“That fuckwad can kiss mine and Livy’s asses,” Connor said.
Olivia groaned and hid her face in her hands, knowing that his comment was well-intentioned in defense of her, but that it would also make her life so much harder.
“So something is going on between you then?”Amanda asked, her tone conversational and innocent when speaking to Connor.
“That’s not what I said.”
“Lance thinks you’re lying.He was really hurt when Olivia walked out.The least she could do is talk to him.”
Olivia’s eyebrows climbed her forehead.Why the fuck did Amanda care so much?With Olivia out of the way Amanda was free to entertain Lance as much as she wanted.And talking about her like she weren’t standing right there was a step too far.“His feelings aren’t my responsibility.”
“Preach!”Connor supported her.“My girl dodged a fucking bullet.”
“I think Lance would argue that Olivia is his girl.He’d be pissed that you claimed her.”
Connor wrinkled his nose in disgust.“If you care so much what he thinks, maybe you should date him.”
He didn’t know how close he was to hitting the nail on the head, and Olivia needed to walk away.If she stayed any longer, she’d either have a meltdown or deck Amanda right in the nose.
“I’ll grab dinner and be right back,” she said, leaving the room.
Olivia picked up burgers from a greasy little diner a few blocks from the hospital that she liked to indulge in most Friday nights.By the time she returned to Connor’s room, Amanda was long gone.
He greeted her with a warm smile, melting some of her stress away.She returned his grin, handed him his food, and sat next to him, unwrapping her own dinner.
“I heard you talked to your mom,” she said.
