Indefinite (Salvation #6)(25)

Quinn smirks. “Also, you probably should’ve put the wine away before you opened the door.”

“Asshole!” I close the door before he can reply, but I still hear his laughter on the other side.

Well, we’ll see how hard he’s laughing when he finds out I’m still going through with it.





12


Quinn





She’s not pregnant. Not yet at least.

It means I have time to change her mind about going through with this ridiculous plan to have a baby with some other guy. That’s not happening . . . over my dead fucking body.

For the last few years, I’ve listened to her talk nonstop about a baby, which was part of the reason I walked away. Being a father was never high on my priorities list. I’m not opposed to kids. I love Liam’s kids. I’m Uncle Quinn to Aarabelle and Shane, and I spoil the shit out of them, but then I give them back.

I get to do all the things I’m not supposed to without having to deal with any of the consequences. Besides, having a kid would’ve gone directly against the plan to have nothing worth living for.

My alarm dings again, letting me know it’s almost time to walk Ashton to work. I sit up and wince as the pain in my leg shoots through my hip. Last night, I overdid it. However, I’d take the pain a million times over again if it means having her in any way.

I stand and head to the bathroom so I can try to tend my wounds. There’s still a gash on my side that’s red as hell today. As bad as this is, I was lucky and walked away with nothing permanent.

Bennett will need a shit ton of physical therapy, and Trevor was the worst of the three survivors. He’s already had two surgeries to repair his leg, and I have no idea if he’ll walk again. All we do know is that his time as a SEAL is over.

Which reminds me of a call I need to make.

Mark answers on the first ring. “Dude, you better have a good reason to call me this early.”

“Good morning, Twilight,” I say with a smile, knowing I woke him.

“Yeah, yeah. What’s up, Quinn?”

I fill him in on the details of the accident and the fact that Trevor may need some help. His wife left him about a year ago, so he has no one, and when he gets discharged, he’ll be totally fucked. When guys like us lose a part of what makes us who we are, we often don’t recover. God knows that, if I wasn’t able to do this, I’d be broken.

Being a SEAL isn’t a job, it’s who I am.

“I’ll check on him. What about Bennett?” Mark asks.

“I haven’t . . .”

“You haven’t called?”

“I’ve been busy trying to get Ashton to forgive me.” It’s not an excuse, but if it were me in the hospital and him out here chasing his girl, he’d be doing what I am. He pretty much threw my ass out of there when I was released, demanding I go get her.

Mark chuckles. “I’m sure that’s going well.”

“It’s a work in progress.”

“Yeah?” Mark laughs harder. “I’ve known that woman for years, and she is stubborn as fuck.”

I’m aware. “She’ll come around.”

“Right. Well, I’ll reach out to Trevor and Bennett. You know that Jackson and I will do whatever we can to help any SEAL who needs a job.”

“That’s why I called.”

Mark falls silent, and then, as if he can’t help it, he starts in on me. “Listen, this call is great, but if you fuck with her head again, you’re going to need to work with me too because I’ll break both your legs. I know you’re an idiot, and I’ve let that part go, but this last time you really hurt her.”

Ashton and Mark have been friends since Catherine came around, and while I usually appreciate the whole big-brother thing, his threat is unnecessary. “I’m not going to hurt her.”

“Good. See to it that you don’t . . . that’s if you can get her not to kill you first.”

“I love her,” I say to him because he understands. Mark was a lot like me in the way he felt about relationships. We had this talk when I first started dating her.

“Took you long enough to figure it out.”

I laugh once. “Yeah, no shit. I have to start on part two of this, thanks for helping with the guys.”

“Don’t mention it. Good luck taming the feral cat.” Mark hangs up while chuckling.

I feel like the biggest dickhead and hate that all my friends think the same thing. I don’t know what the hell was wrong with me, but now that I’m aware of how badly I fucked up, I’m going to make it right.

No matter what I do, I’ll put back her broken pieces and hold them together.





13


Ashton





“All your tests came back great. I see nothing that should prevent you from being able to conceive,” Clara says with a smile. “I’d like to try intrauterine insemination first, and if we’re not successful with that, then we can explore other options.”

My God, this could really happen. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Have you picked the donor?”

I shake my head. “I didn’t look yesterday. I wanted to, but it was late, and well . . . someone took up my damn time. But I’ll have all weekend.”