the other room, his phone began to ring.
“I’m right there with you.” Kayla shifted in his arms, glancing toward the room, where the phone continued to blare. “Do you need to get that?”
“Are you kidding?” He shook his head, drawing his palms down her bare back. “No. No way.”
She laughed and moved against him, her body soft and warm against his. “Do you mean that? What you just said—are you serious?”
“Positive.” He circled his palms over her back, memorizing the curve of her spine. “I’ve been thinking about it for days. Maybe longer. Maybe—God, I’m not good at this.”
She laughed and reached up to cup his face. “You’re better than you think,” she said. “For the record, I feel the same. I’ve probably been there a while, actually.”
He let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. How unbelievable to hear those words. To say them himself. To know he had the balls to put them out there in the universe and hope for the best.
He’d come so fucking far.
The phone rang again. Kayla’s brow furrowed. “You sure you don’t need to get that?”
He shook his head, then paused.
Wait. That ringtone. It wasn’t his mother’s. It wasn’t his brother’s or Grady’s or anyone else he could just ignore.
In an instant, Tony’s blood ran cold. Every last drop drained to the tips of his toes.
“Tony?”
He barely heard her as the phone rang again. It was the ringtone he’d programmed years ago—the one reserved for emergencies only.
“Leo.”
Kayla’s brow furrowed. “Your friend from high school?”
Tony closed his eyes as the phone fell silent, then rang again. He wasn’t sure where to begin. Wasn’t sure how to tell her.
But he knew right then that everything was about to change.
Chapter Seventeen
Kayla dressed slowly in the too-bright bathroom, trying to pretend she wasn’t eavesdropping on Tony’s call.
“And she wouldn’t go to the hospital?”
Her skin prickled at the word hospital as she strained to hear the next words.
“No, you did the right thing. I appreciate you getting her home.”
More silence. Kayla peered through the half-open door to see Tony sitting on the edge of the bed with his head in his hand. The other hand gripped the phone so tightly his knuckles had gone white.
“There’s nothing else you could have done,” he was saying into the phone. “I’ll get there as soon as I can. Could you—would you mind checking in again? I hate to ask, but—”
From the bathroom door, Kayla could hear the mumble of a voice on the other end of the line. The mysterious Leo seemed to be reassuring Tony, but it did nothing to ease the grave look on his face. He’d managed to pull on a pair of sweatpants, but he had no shirt or socks. He shivered, and Kayla started toward him, intent on draping a blanket over his shoulders.
But the bark of his voice stopped her in her tracks. “Fucking asshole,” Tony growled. “I swear to God I’ll fucking kill him this time.”
She gripped the edge of the dresser. In all the time she’d known him, she’d never heard Tony’s voice like that. As she stood there, helpless, she watched his jaw clench and unclench.
“Thanks again, man,” he said into the phone. “I’ll start packing now.”
And then he switched off the phone.
For the longest time, he didn’t look up. Just sat there with his head in his hands, staring at the floor. Kayla started toward him again, grabbing her pashmina off the dresser.
That’s when he looked up. Kayla froze, struck by the hollow, haunted look in his eyes.
Hesitating, she stepped forward and draped the wrap over his shoulders. He didn’t resist. Just sat there, rigid and silent, as she arranged the pink pashmina around the broad expanse of tense muscle.
“Is everything okay?” she murmured, instantly regretting the question. “I mean, obviously, everything’s not okay. I just meant—”
“My mother is sick.” The words fell like loose gravel, clattering to the floor. “Really sick. And she refuses to go to the hospital.”
Kayla swallowed, trying to understand. “Is it a phobia or something?”
Tony snorted, shaking his head slowly. “Yeah. A fear of her fucking husband losing his shit over medical bills.”
She felt herself flinch. Tony noticed, too, and remorse filled his eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” she said softly. “I understand you’re upset.”
“Yeah, but I shouldn’t take it out on you.” He shook his head again, jaw clenching. “Goddamn it. I’m no better than him.”
“What?” She blinked, trying to understand. “Tony, no.” She reached out and touched his shoulder, and it was his turn