Hustle Him (Bank Shot Romance #2) (31 page)

Ty was not recognizable, and it wasn’t just from all the tubes and wires that were hooked to his body. His legs and arms were
being
propped up and they were covered in casts. He had a severe contusion on his head, and they had to shave his hair and operate to remove the swelling around his brain. His face was black and blue and both of his eyes were completely swollen shut, not that he ever opened his eyes.

I refused to leave when my mother left that night. Instead, I slept in a chair. I wasn’t supposed to, but the nurse was pretty nice and said that the more time I spent there, the sooner he might wake up. At first, I had this notion that if I stayed long enough he would open his eyes and I could tell him how much I loved him and that I would never leave again.

However, he never woke up.

His mother and father started to
visit only
only visit
on weekends. With him not being able to help and now having the hospital bills, they couldn’t afford to hire someone to work the farm while they sat at the hospital. I promised them that I would spend every day there, except when they came, just in hopes of seeing those brown eyes that I loved looking back at me.

My friends tried to get me to go out and get my mind
off of
off
things. My best friend Brina had been around for all of mine and Tyler’s ups and downs.  Our town was tiny and everyone knew everyone. We all even attended the same church when we were younger.

Ty was never
Brina’s favorite person, but she would never want him to be like that. I refused her offers each and every time. My mother took me to see a shrink, claiming I was giving up on life. She didn’t understand that Tyler Mitchell was my life. I couldn’t let go
.
,
I wouldn’t.

The past six months had been hard for me. My professors were very lenient considering what I was going through, and I was the poster child for needing extensions, but I managed to keep up with my grades. I still had a few more weeks left before summer break. One good thing was that the hospital was about ten minutes from the campus.  After my classes, I would go straight to the hospital. Some of the nurses had been nice enough to bring a folding table for me to do my class
work on.

For hours, day in and day out, I would sit there talking to him. Sometimes I would even study aloud with him. For my literature class, I would read everything
aloud
to him
. I held his hands, kissed his face
,
and cried against his chest, but he never even moved a finger. He just lay there lifeless, hooked up to machines.

When the accident had first happened, his parents were so kind to me, but as time passed, they began to blame me for everything. To say that I wasn’t their favorite person anymore was an understatement. The hardest part of that, for me, was that Tyler had bought me a horse a few years back that I happened to keep on his farm. When I made the drive home, I would always stop and see Daisy, my Morgan Quarter horse mix. She was only about sixteen hands high, but it was plenty enough for me, since I was only
five-three.

five three.

Besides
Brina, Daisy was my only friend. People at college even stopped talking to me. It hurt so much and the worst part was that I knew it was my fault. I caused all of this to happen, and every time I looked at him lying there, hooked up to so many machines, it made me want to die myself.

My new shrink had prescribed me some antidepressants when I admitted to her that I had thought up a plan on how I was going to end my life. I had planned it all out so that I would die in Tyler’s arms at the hospital. I had even managed to swipe enough pills to do it. My confession did not go over well. I had to spend twenty-four hours in observation for starters, and continue with therapy indefinitely.

When I had suicidal thoughts now, I kept them to myself.

No matter what anyone says to me, I know I caused this. They can use every nice word known to man and
candy coat
candy-coat
their words, but it doesn’t matter. I broke Tyler’s heart and
,
after a fight at a party, I ruined his life.

Chapter 2

Savanna

I had set up a makeshift study area at the hospital. Exams were a week away and I needed to get good grades on all of them.  The lighting was poor in the hospital room, and I could never get used to the damn beeping of the machines. I was halfway through reviewing my notes when I lay my head down on the desk. My body was over exhausted and I just wanted to take a nap.

I woke to a familiar voice calling my name. When I opened my eyes, I saw Ty trying to pull the wires off his face and body. I got up and ran over to the bed. “Oh my God, you’re awake. Ty, I missed you so much. I can’t believe you finally woke up. I am so sorry about everything. Please forgive me
,
Ty. I never wanted us to be over.”

“Shh, don’t cry
,
baby. What happened? What day is it?”
He
he
asked while looking around the room.

“It’s Friday. God Ty, it’s been six months. You were in a coma.”

“Stop playing
,
baby,” he said as he laughed.

His eyes sparkled and I had forgotten how perfect they were. His dark eyelashes accented them as he blinked. “I’m not kidding. I have to get the doctor,” I said as I started to head out of the room.

“Wait! Please just come hug me,” he requested.

I rushed back to his side and reached my arms around him. When I placed my lips against his, I could feel the tears rushing down my face. I had missed him so much. Our celebratory kiss intensified and he pulled me up onto the bed with him. I didn’t care who walked in, I just wanted to be close to him, to feel him holding me. Our tongues met and mingled together and he reached his hands down the back of my shorts and grabbed my bare ass. He used his hands to grind me against his hardness and I gasped. I had waited so long to feel this again. I reached down and pulled up the hospital gown as he began tearing down my pants. Ty threw the thin white blanket over my back as I positioned myself over his rock hard shaft. He slid inside of me and we both moaned simultaneously at the feel of being together again. We began moving at a steady pace, when I lay my head on his chest and closed my eyes for a second.

When I heard someone enter the room, figuring that it was just a nurse, I didn’t look up. I didn’t want anyone to tell me to stop. I didn’t even care if they called security. I had waited six months to touch the love of my life, no one could ruin this moment.

After at least four minutes of making mad
,
passionate love in that hospital bed, I heard a man clearing his throat. I jumped up
off of
off
the desk and looked around the room. Ty was still hooked up to the machines and everything I had experienced had been a damn dream.

The guy cleared his throat again.

I don’t know why I did it, but I just sat there staring at him. He wasn’t a stranger; in fact, I had known him since I was around ten years old.  The dream was so fresh on my mind that I couldn’t let myself speak yet. I wanted to go back to sleep and see Ty. It had felt so real.

“I figured you’d be here,” the guy said rudely.

I finally let myself snap out of my fantasy. Seeing yet another rude person from Ty’s family was the last thing I needed. “Colton Mitchell, are you really going to be that way to me too?” I asked defensively.

“I
aint
got nothing
ain’t got anything
to say to you
,
Van. I wasn’t here. All I know is what my aunt and uncle tell me,” he explained.

I shut the book I had been looking at before I fell asleep. “So what are they saying now?” I asked.

Colt stood in front of me. He had removed his dirty baseball hat and held it in his hands. He was even more handsome than a couple years ago when he last came to visit. When we were kids, he would make fun of me for having a gap between my teeth and a flat chest. He called me the ugliest boy in town. I was a late bloomer, I couldn’t help that, but the braces did solve the tooth issue.

Now Colt, well, all the girls liked him. He was older than all of us, at least by three or four years, maybe more. His teeth were always perfect and he had the body of a man by thirteen years old. His shoulders were broad
er
and under that old t-shirt was probably the finest chest this state had ever seen. When we were younger his hair was longer, but now it was only long enough to barely show out of the bottom of his hat. It was messy and I could see the shape of the ball cap still in it.

I didn’t know the last time he had seen Tyler, but he would be surprised at how muscular he had gotten before the accident. Being on the college football team caused him to bulk up a bunch and by the first game; he was thirty more pounds of muscle. They shared the same hair color. It was dark in the winter, but from working the crops, got lighter in the summer.

I noticed I was daydreaming about the Tyler I missed, and gave my attention back to Colt.

He shrugged and looked down at his cousin in the bed. “You already know what they are saying
,
Van. Can you blame them?”

Tears filled my eyes. Tyler was lying lifeless, I had lost him, and now I had lost them. The family that I had loved as my own for so many years. “No.” I covered my face with my hands. The tears poured out and I could feel my body shaking. “I am so sorry,” I said in a muffled voice.

“Ah hell
,
Savanna. I don’t know what to say to you. I sure as heck don’t feel like
hearin
'
ya cry.” His southern accent was so strong, but I guess that’s what happens when you live in Kentucky.

I stood up and started grabbing my things. “Maybe I should just go then, because all I seem to do is cry and ruin people’s lives.”

I started walking past Colt. His strong hand grabbed my wrist. “You don’t have to leave,” he whispered, seeming unsure of his reaction.

I stood close to him and looked up into his eyes. They were still that light green that I always remembered. His brow was creased in a way that made me think he was in pain. He had thick dark eyebrows that made his eyes seem even lighter and accentuated his frustration with this situation.

“If I could take things back, I would. I never wanted this
,
Colt, I swear,” I confessed.

He leaned over the bed, looking at Tyler. “Yeah, I reckon it was just bad timing. I know he liked his Jack. His momma and daddy didn’t know about that. I don’t blame ya, but I would like the whole story. The full one,” he replied.

I nodded my head. “Okay, but not here. I don’t like talking about it around him. I know it sounds silly, but I feel like he hears me. I don’t want to upset him,” I admitted.

“Fine, I have the truck. You want some dinner? I got off a plane a couple hours ago and haven’t had nothin to eat all day,” he confessed.

I hadn’t gone anywhere with anyone for so long. At first, I wanted to say no, but this was Colt, someone who knew me before I was with his cousin. He knew I wouldn’t hurt anybody intentionally. “Okay, we can grab something to eat.”

I leaned over and kissed Ty before following Colt out of the hospital room. When we got outside, I recognized the old pickup truck immediately. It was Ty’s fathers. I assumed that Colt borrowed it to come see Ty. We both climbed into the old clunker and headed down the road.

Colt pulled over at an old diner on the edge of town. They were known for being open twenty-four hours and having the best pies around. We found a small booth in the far corner of the place and sat down facing one another. Once the waitress got us drinks and we both ordered food, Colt got right down to business.

“You gonna start explainin' soon?”
He
he
asked.

I played with my paper place mat, never looking up at his face.  My sexual dream with Ty was still fresh in my head and I felt myself blushing just thinking about it. I took a deep breath and focused on the guy sitting across from me. The one that made fun of me since I was around ten. “A month before the accident I told Tyler that I needed some time. I was struggling with my courses and figured if we just spent some time apart I could focus better. I swear it
was not
wasn’t
because I didn’t want to be with him. My feelings for him never changed,” I promised.

Colt took a sip of his beer. “Did you explain that to him?”

“Of course I did, but he just assumed it was something else. Anyway, after a week or so, he stopped calling me so much. I missed him, but I figured he was just giving me some space.” I fell silent for a moment, because the next part of the story was like stabbing myself in the heart.