wouldn’t have to hide out,” I said flatly, surprising myself. I’d been so careful with my words since we’d come to Eugene. I should’ve known I’d blow it eventually.
Aunt Callie started to laugh. “Pot,” she said to me, then swung her arm toward Rose with a flourish. “Meet Kettle.”
Almost everyone laughed at that.
“Boys are home,” Lily said from behind the bar. “I can hear them.”
“Why do you still have bionic hearing?” I asked, spinning toward her. “Your eyesight is back, your hearing should go back to normal.”
“I’m just more observant,” she shot back, wiggling her head as she took a drink of her water. “And Olive’s fine, by the way. I haven’t heard her, even after your little shouting match with Brenna. Brave of you.”
I looked over to see Brenna striding toward the front door. “It was an accident,” I admitted.
“They’re right, you know,” Lily said. “All of us have done things we weren’t proud of, or felt responsible for shit that happened. You don’t hold the record on that.”
“Fine,” I mumbled. “I get it.”
“I mean, you were still an asshole to me when we were younger. Remember when you threw that pen at my face?”
“When Leo was over?”
“Yeah,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“I got into so much shit for that,” I said. I thought back to that moment. I had been an asshole. I’d also been a stupid kid and so desperate for Lily to get better that I’d thought that if I could make her angry or startle her badly enough, her eyesight would instantly come back. She’d been so scared that she went blind, it made sense that the opposite could happen, right? My stomach burned at the memory. Explaining my motivation seemed pointless, I’d still been a jerk.
“Hey, baby,” Mark said, finding me as the men funneled into the room. “Why are you still awake?”
“It’s loud as hell here,” I said, leaning into him as he wrapped his arms around my waist.
“You ready for bed now?” he asked.
“Sure.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Lily said, shooing me. “I’m going to get a couple hours of sleep before I head back to the hospital, but I’ll see you at some point.”
“He’s really okay?” I asked, almost embarrassed to ask.
“He’s going to be okay,” she said, smiling softly as she reached out to squeeze my hand. “Just a few more scars to add to his collection.”
I knew it was a massive understatement, but I was thankful for her reassurance anyway. I’d never wanted anything bad to happen to Leo, but it would’ve been so much worse now, when he held my baby sister’s happiness in his hands. I smiled before turning to kiss Mark hello.
“How’d it go?” I asked as he towed us toward our room.
“Woulda felt better if the rest of the team was there to get a look at things,” he said. “But it went fine.”
“How long is Eli staying?” The rest of his team had headed out that morning to take care of things in San Diego, and I knew Eli was anxious to do the same. I was finding that Mark’s friends weren’t the most patient people when they had a plan in motion.
“He’s leavin’ tomorrow,” he said with a sigh, stripping as we reached the doorway. He was down to nothing but his jeans in less than a minute. I checked on Olive, who was still completely passed out, before watching him slide the denim down his hips.
“When are you going to go?” I asked tentatively. I wasn’t looking forward to being apart, even for as long as it took him to pack his things and put his house up for sale. There wasn’t any question that Olive and I would stay in Eugene, though. I’d dragged her on enough road trips for a while, and we’d already agreed that Mark would go alone.
“Don’t wanna think about that tonight,” he said softly, reaching out to help me pull my shirt off. “Alright?”
“Fine with me,” I said, raising my arms.
“You’re so beautiful,” he breathed. “Fuck, sorry my hands are so cold.”
“Fine with me,” I said again, smiling.
Mark laughed quietly. “Thought about you all day,” he said as he finished pulling off my clothes. He knelt at my feet to take off my socks and help me step out of my pants and underwear. “Just like this.”
“You thought about me naked?” I asked dubiously.
“I always think about you naked,” he replied, running his hands up the backs of my thighs. “Its my favorite way to think about