Kissing the top of her head, he held her close. “I didn’t want to be anywhere else.” As she looked up, he cupped her face in his hands, kissing her nose, and everything was going crazy inside of her. “Call me later, when things calm down?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“And I doubt you’ll be joining us on the road?”

“Probably not.”

“Okay, so I’ll see you in a few days?”

She nodded. “Yeah. FaceTime me? I probably won’t leave the hospital until he does.”

“Yeah, of course,” he said, pressing his nose to hers. “Miss me dreadfully?”

She smiled as her heart sang for him.

I love you. I love you so much it rattles my soul. I want to spend the rest of my days with you and never leave you. Ever. I don’t care about anything else that we haven’t figured out because I love you, Vaughn. I love you so much.

But she knew she couldn’t say that.

“Of course, as long as you do the same.”

“Always,” he said with a wink before kissing her mouth once more. Pulling away, he asked, “Is there anything else I can do?”

“You’ve done it all,” she answered, her gaze holding his. “I can’t ask for more.”

“You could.”

“But I won’t.”

Smiling, his lips met hers once more as he lifted her off the ground, kissing her with everything he had. She took it. She craved it. When he placed her on her feet, he kissed her nose once more before letting her go. “Call me.”

“I will.”

“Okay. Bye, babe.”

“Bye, JoHo.”

As she watched him pat Rodney’s leg, saying good-bye, her heart went wild in her chest. She loved that man. More than she had realized she did, and she didn’t know how it happened. But she didn’t care because there was no other option than loving Vaughn Johansson. That didn’t even scare her. She was ready. She was, but she knew he wasn’t.

And that hurt.

It hurt to be so invested, but unsure if he was. Did he at least have a little of his heart in them? She wanted to believe that. She knew he was holding back, and she didn’t know what to do. She understood that he didn’t want to rush it. She got it, she did, but if it was right and they were right, who the fuck cared how it happened as long as it did?

“B?”

Shaking her head free of it all, because what else could she do, she went to Rodney, taking his hand in hers and beaming down at him. He looked up at her, and his eyes were brighter. She saw her Rodney in there as he said, “I missed you.”

Her heart soared. “I missed you, bub. How’re you feeling?”

“Like a thing you poke needles in.” She laughed along with some of the nurses. “My chest hurts.”

“They cut in there.”

“Oh. Am I okay?”

“They think so. I hope so.”

“Do I have to stay here?”

She nodded. “Probably for a couple days.”

His shoulders fell as he looked away. “But everyone will miss me.”

“I’m sure they’ll come visit, and it will go by fast.”

He looked back to her. “Will you stay?”

She smiled. “Yeah, I’m not going anywhere.”

His face broke into a grin as he squeezed her hand. “I love you, B.”

“I love you, bub, so much,” she said, her voice breaking as she leaned into him, kissing his cheek. “Don’t ever do this to me again, you got it?”

He chuckled but grimaced, from the pain probably, as he nodded. “Promise.”

They shared a long, love-filled gaze as everyone worked around them. Soon the room was cleared out, and Brie was in her seat, her legs up on his bed as he flipped through the channels on the TV, waiting for someone to bring him his meal. She was starving too, but she would wait until he was settled. As she watched him fool with the remote, she couldn’t help but cry. She had thought she was going to lose him. She had felt so lost, so helpless, but Vaughn had been there for her.

And that blew her away.

“This TV is dumb.”

“I’ll have Dawn bring your computer tomorrow when she comes.”

“Yes, and my phone.”

“Gotcha.”

Swallowing hard as he leaned back, she smiled as he stroked his thumb along the back of her hand. He loved her as much as she loved him. She had thought Rodney was the only person she would ever love after losing her mom, but she had been so wrong. Clearing her throat, she squeezed his hand, and he looked over at her as she sat up. “I wanna tell you something.”

“Okay.”

“You know how Vaughn was here?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

“He came to make sure you were okay…and also because we’re dating.”

Rodney’s face scrunched up. “You are?”

Dread filled her stomach as she said, “Yeah.”

“Huh, he was right.”

Her brows shot up. “What?”

Rodney smirked over at her. “He told me he liked you a lot and wanted to date you. I told him he was crazy, that you would probably kill him if he asked you out. But he told me that you liked him just fine.”

Her lips parted a bit as she shook her head, completely blown away. “Did he now?”

“Yeah, he asked if I was okay with it. And I said, yeah, as long as he didn’t get killed in the process.”

She snorted with laughter, and her heart swelled. “Really?”

“Yeah.” He looked over at her, and they shared a smile. “I want you to be happy, B, and he’s nice.”

“He is. Really nice.”

Rodney grinned over at her. “So you’re happy?”

“I am,” she answered, emotion clogging her throat. “Very happy.”

Squeezing her hand, he shared a smile with her that touched her soul before he said, “That’s all I want.” As if he hadn’t just wracked her soul, he turned back to the TV. “Can we see if Dawn can come today?”

As she stammered with laughter, she nodded. “Yeah, I’ll call.”

But first, she had to text Vaughn.

Brie: Are you on the plane?

Vaughn: Almost, about to board.

Brie: I have something to ask you.

Vaughn: Yes, I do want to do you in the butt.