with a confidence she didn’t walk into the hospital with. “Oh, that man has no problems in bed, I will tell you that much,” she says with pride. “Though, I guess if you want to stick around our house now, you probably won’t be hearing any noises for the next month or so.”
“Whoa, whoa. Don’t put a stake in my man’s heart like that, girl. If there’s a will, there’s a way,” Jags adds in. Jags seems as though he’s exactly like the two of them—Cali and Tango—and I’m just the odd ball who turns a shade of maroon when someone talks about life between the sheets. Maybe it’s because I was raised that way, Mom being so conservative and Dad being assertive, and yet passive at the same time. There wasn’t a whole lot of talking in my house, and there certainly wasn’t any affection to be seen. I don’t even know what it’s truly supposed to be like. All Landon did was mess that up even more.
“You have a valid point,” Cali says. “It’ll take a lot of nursing to get that man back on his feet.” Oh my gosh, here we go again.
“A lot-t-t-t of nursing,” Jags adds in, “but if anybody can get Tango up, you can.” How are they so comfortable having this conversation with each other? They literally just met for the first time a little over a week ago.
“Mrs. Wright, you can go on in and see your husband now. Just one at a time for the moment, though. Room five-eighteen,” I nurse calls over.
Cali doesn’t say much to us as she stands up. “We’ve got Tyler. You go on in,” I tell her. She rushes for the door that leads to the patient rooms and doesn’t look back at us. I would hate to be in her position right now, just wondering how this is all going to turn out and when her world is going to blow up again.
“You think Tango’s okay?” Jags asks me.
“I don’t know. Cali doesn’t usually overreact unless she has a real reason to.”
“I’ve heard,” he says. “I think he’s okay, though. He has to be okay. No one goes through that shit twice in a lifetime.”
“Yeah, people do,” I mutter softly.
“I know. I was just trying to make it sound better,” he says with a lazy grin.
“Do you always have a smile on your face?” I ask.
“Whenever I’m trying to hide something, I sure do.”
That’s what I thought. I lean forward and glance over at Tyler, who’s rummaging through a stack of kids’ books in the corner. “What are you hiding, Mr. Jags?”
Jags leans forward, meeting me halfway between the row. “You show me yours and I’ll show you mine,” he winks.
“Do you always have a dirty mind?” I follow.
“Yes, Ma’am. Guilty of that.”
“Why?” I press.
“Because you’re hot and out of my league and every man wants what they can’t have.”
I want to respond with something as slick as what he just said, but my mind is spinning in circles around the words, “You’re hot.” He thinks I’m hot? No one has ever referred to me in such a way. I get beautiful, pretty, and cute, but not usually hot. I don’t expose more than I should, unless I’m bending over looking for electrical outlets evidently, and I don’t flaunt what I have since I don’t see a reason for it. It usually only ends up causing unwanted attention and that clearly hasn’t gotten me anywhere in life. “I’m not sure I’d refer to myself in such a way, but I appreciate the compliment.”
“Are you fucking serious?” he asks, appearing taken aback. “You’re probably the hottest chick who has ever spoken to me.”
Again, shocked, I respond with, “That is not what I’ve heard about you.”
Looking only slightly appalled with my accusation, he recoils with, “Don’t believe everything you hear, doll-face.”
“Tango was saying you were with some girl at the bar just last night,” I tell him.
“He said that to you?” Jags asks.
“Well, not exactly. I can hear everything through the bedroom walls, though. He was telling Cali you told him about some girl named Bambi?
Jags laughs a little but also looks strangely angered by my comment. “Bambi isn’t who you think.”
“I don’t think anything, Mr. Jags. It’s none of my business what, or who you do with your time.”
“You’re obviously thinking something, or you wouldn’t have brought it up.”
“I’m thinking that any girl named Bambi must be one special lady,” I say.