Chapter 93
Rory opened his eyes and tried to focus. “Sorry.”
“You’re tired, so we’ll go now. The nurse said we shouldn’t stay too long anyway.” Barry got to his feet, closely followed by Jimmy and Jake. “We’ll come in again tomorrow when hopefully they’ll discharge you.”
“Thanks for coming in and for rescuing me and…” Rory yawned.
“No problem, bud,” Jake said. “Gotta look after our little bro.”
“Remember, I put a fresh set of clothes in here,” Barry said, tapping the cabinet next to Rory’s bed.
Rory didn’t remember, but thanked Barry anyway.
“The clothes you were wearing were wet and the EMT’s had to cut them off before wrapping you in an aluminum foil blanket,” Jake explained.
Rory nodded in understanding.
“Fuck, Rory, for a little dude, you sure got a big cock,” Jimmy said.
Rory couldn’t muster up the energy to get embarrassed. Although surely the cold had shrunken everything? He guessed not.
Barry whacked Jimmy upside the head, disturbing the hat he’d just put on.
“Ouch!” Jimmy reached up and rubbed at his head.
Jake snickered so Barry whacked him, too. “What the fuck you do that for?” It was Jake’s turn to rub the back of his head.
“Gotta treat both my cowboys the same, otherwise the other one gets jealous.” Barry winked at Rory and leaned down to kiss his cheek. “It’ll get easier, I promise,” he whispered.
It was the closest any of them had come to mentioning the events of earlier, and Rory was pathetically grateful. He blinked back tears, he couldn’t cope with any more drama today.
Not to be outdone, Jimmy then Jake kissed Rory’s cheek, each saying something about how they couldn’t wait to have him back on the ranch where he belonged. Rory wasn’t sure about that, especially with Zane there. But he’d deal with that tomorrow.
* * * *
Rory woke from a doze and sensed someone sitting by his bed. Opening his eyes he had to blink a few times before the image of Tonya resolved itself.
“Uh, hi,” she said, shifting in the seat. “I know I’m probably the last person you’d wanna see right now, but I need to tell you a few things that should, uh, well…”
“Yes?” She was indeed the last person he wanted to see. Or maybe that’d be Zane. However, Rory was proud of himself for not snapping out the word, or screaming it or pressing the nurse call bell to get Tonya ejected. He stiffened. Had she come to gloat? Say how she’d stolen Zane from him by trapping him with a pregnancy? He tried to relax. He was being stupid.
“It’s okay. Honestly.” She gave Rory’s hand a brief squeeze.
Rory stared at her but didn’t speak. How could it be okay? She was pregnant with Zane’s baby, and from the looks of her, she was due to pop it out anytime soon. At least she was in the right place if labor started now.
“I wish I’d have said more to you earlier today, that way…” she swallowed. “All of this,” she swept a hand around the room, “could have been avoided.”
Rory wasn’t sure about that. She had been as pregnant that morning as she was currently.
“I don’t love Zane. Don’t really know him. Not like you do.” She rubbed at her distended abdomen. “When I saw you guys at the bar on your birthday I could tell from the way you looked at him, stood close to him, smiled at him, and shot stay-away-from my-guy daggers at me, that you loved him, or at least had very strong feelings for him.”
Rory opened his mouth, a denial on his lips, but what the hell! “Yes, I love him…very much.” Tears sprang to his eyes. “Not that I’ve ever told him. Doesn’t matter now though anyway.”
“Men!” she growled. “You’re always too scared to talk about your feelings. Not macho or whatever.” Tonya produced a Kleenex from somewhere and dabbed at his eyes. “I had exactly this same conversation with Zane earlier.”
“What?” Did she mean…
“Yes!” She sighed dramatically. “Zane loves you.” She shook her head. “Of course he does. He’s as gone on you as you are on him. Saw it at the bar, too. The way he looked at you, hovered over you, sat next to you, practically carried you to the bathroom and then out of the bar.”
Rory was reeling.
“Men!” she repeated more softly. “Blind as well as dumb.”
Rory’s mind whirled. And the pain meds didn’t help. Zane loved him. Why hadn’t he said anything? But then, why hadn’t Rory? But one look at Tonya’s pregnant body and Rory shook his head. “But it doesn’t matter anyway.”
“Why?” She looked genuinely confused.