Not Just Friends (Hot in the City #3) - T. Gephart Page 0,89

God, Mack must be a mess.

“Is someone with Mack?” I asked from the backseat.

“North,” Tibbs offered over his shoulder. “Leighton called him and he met us at Target, he drove Chief to the hospital.”

The tightness in my chest eased knowing Riley was with him. I hated to think he was alone, and could only imagine what he must be feeling.

The trip to the hospital was made in silence. Tibbs giving Cap a status report while trading text messages with North who was with Chief, both Jared and I listening as he relayed information. My hands were knotted in my lap, watching traffic pass in a blur until we reached New York-Presbyterian Allen.

We were ushered into a waiting room. Hayden’s brother and sister-in-law, along with a blond I didn’t recognize, were already waiting with North and Mack. Chief looked terrible, like he hadn’t slept in a month, his hair ruffled at weird angles from having his hands run through it too many times.

Like I was on autopilot, I walked up to Mack and offered him a hug. He gave me a weak smile, circling me with his big arms as I told him I was sorry again.

“It’s not your fault, Presley.” He dropped a soft kiss on the top of my head. “So stop apologizing.”

It was hard to agree, my nodding more to placate everyone than because I actually believed it. I took a seat, feeling useless as I waited like everyone else.

Jared slung his arm around me, pulling me closer as he kissed my forehead. I needed to be touched, wondering if it would raise too many eyebrows if I crawled into his lap and snuggled against his chest.

I’d never been that girl.

Never needed a man to be my anchor, happy to fill that role for myself.

But it was different with Jared, it just felt less like an emotional dependency and instead, a partnership of support. And at that moment, it was support that I needed.

When the doctor finally came to tell us Hayden was out of surgery, I almost wept in relief. Her vitals were strong, but she was still in recovery, the doctor letting Mack know he’d be able to see her soon.

I’d never seen Mack so grateful, shaking the doctor’s hand like he was going to dislocate the poor guy’s shoulder.

“I’m going to get some coffee,” I whispered to Jared, needing something to do other than sit around and feel terrible. “I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll come with you,” he offered, standing up before I’d had a chance to agree.

His fingers linked into mine, North raising a brow when he saw our joined hands, but he didn’t say anything. Even if he didn’t guess what our hand-holding meant, I wasn’t exactly going to make an announcement.

Hey guess what everyone, Hayden didn’t die annnnd I’m dating Leighton! Woo-hoo!

Yeah, that was going to have to wait for another day, hopefully one that felt less shitty.

There was a vending machine next to the coffee one, Leighton pushing in some dollar bills and getting some candy bars while I got some coffee. I’d planned to get some for everyone but was stopped from pressing the button again by Leighton’s hand after the first two.

“Why don’t we take a minute, sit out here, and then we’ll go back in.” His head tipped to a couple of random seats by the machines. “It’s going to be a while before we’ll be allowed to see her.”

I nodded wordlessly, letting my weight sink into one of the plastic chairs as Jared took the one beside it. The coffee was terrible but hot, the brown watery liquid burning my mouth when I tried to sip it.

My eyes stayed hypnotized on the paper cup, concentrating so hard on the swirling patterns in the coffee that my eyes started to water.

“I have to ask, Presley. I need to know what you need right now. I don’t want to push you to talk about it, but if you do, I’ll listen.”

“I don’t know,” I shrugged, feeling like it was the first time in my life where I didn’t have a plan. “I don’t know what I need.”

Kinda ironic that someone who could run a multimillion-dollar business with all its moving parts, couldn’t decide what she needed at a single point in time. But that was where I was, too many foggy thoughts to sort through and no idea how to start organizing them.

“Then I’ll wait until you tell me.” He wrapped an arm around me and took a sip from