Catching Summer (Second Chances, #6)(51)

“No, not yet. As soon as I got up, I went out for a run and then came here.”

“Evan and two of our friends were in an accident last night.”

His eyes went wide. “Are they okay?”

“Evan and Derek are, but Brianna’s dead. She was pregnant, too, which makes it even harder.”

Philip grabbed my hands. “I’m so sorry, Summer. Does anyone know what happened?”

I shrugged. “Evan says that someone in a truck pushed them off the road. He couldn’t see who it was.”

“Well, hopefully they’ll find out who did it. I hate seeing you go through this again.”

I chuckled, but there was nothing humorous about it. “Me, too. It’s like I can’t escape tragedy.”

Philip squeezed my hands. “If you ever need to talk, you know where I am. I’m always here for you.”

“I know, and it means a lot to me.” Letting his hands go, I stood and he followed. “I should probably be getting back to the hospital. Evan’s really torn up over the accident.”

Philip nodded and walked me out to my car. When I got inside, he was about to shut my door and then stopped. “I just want to say one thing before you go,” he began.

I put the key in the ignition and started it up. “What is it?”

“If someone has a death wish for Evan, I’m sure as hell glad you weren’t in the car. I’m sorry about your friend, but you need to be careful. Running them off the road wasn’t an accident. I hope they catch whoever it is, because next time it might be you. Just be careful out there with him.”

Shutting the door, he glanced at me one more time before turning on his heel and starting off down the sidewalk. He had a point, but I wasn’t going to let anyone scare me away from Evan.

—

Evan looked a lot better when I went back to the hospital in the afternoon. The doctor was in there along with two nurses, going over all his vitals. I had a feeling his smile was just a front so the doctor would release him. Sneaky bastard. He was still in pain, but he did a good job pretending that he wasn’t in agony, both emotionally and physically. As soon as the doctor and nurses left, his real feelings started to show. His smile disappeared, and his shoulders sagged. I set his bag down and sat on the edge of his bed.

“I brought you something,” I announced, handing him the box with his apple fritters and my scones.

His lips tilted up in a genuine smile. “Let me guess, you got your scones, too.”

I opened the box and pulled one out, taking a huge bite. “You know it. I actually only went there for me. I figured I’d get your fritters while I was there,” I said with a wink.

He tried to laugh, but then hissed in pain. “What the f*ck, that hurts.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. I just didn’t realize how sore I really was.”

Once I finished my scone, I lifted up his bag and set it on the bed. “I brought you some clean clothes and your toiletries. Do you want to take a shower?”

A sly smile lit up his face. “Only if you take one with me.”

I gasped. “What if someone comes in?”

“Then we tell them I needed the help. Which in all honesty, I kind of do.”

He tried to get out of bed, but I stopped him. “Give me one second and I’ll get everything ready. The last thing I want is for you to fall and hurt yourself.”

“I knew you would see it my way,” he boasted triumphantly.

Once the water was warm, I helped him out of bed and out of the hospital gown he was in. If the circumstances had been better, I would’ve laughed at seeing his bare backside through the slit in the back, but I couldn’t bring myself to laugh. His whole body was battered and bruised. After shutting the bathroom door, I removed my own clothes.

“I’m surprised you didn’t break anything after being thrown from the car,” I murmured, helping him into the shower.

He rubbed his fingers up and down my arms, making me break out in chills. “It looks worse than it really is, I promise. The doctor said that not wearing my seatbelt might actually have saved me. Instead of being crushed by the car, I flew out.”

Since I couldn’t wash his hair because of the bandages, I took the soap and washed his body. There was nothing sexual about the way I touched him. I liked being able to help and take care of him when I knew he really needed it. “Are you ready to watch the game?”

“Yes and no.”

“Luke’s going to come by and watch it with us. I thought you could use the cheering up.”

Turning me around, he took the soap from me and washed my back before circling around to the front to my breasts. “Making love to you would cheer me up. As soon as I’m healed, you better be ready.”

Biting my lip, I faced him and took the soap away. “Don’t worry, I will be. I can wait as long as I need to.” Once all the soap was rinsed off us both, I turned off the water and grabbed a towel off the rack. Evan reached for it, but I gently smacked his hand. “I got it. Just stand there and let me do the work.” I dried him off and then stood back so he could watch me rub the towel across my body, intentionally going slower around my breasts. He licked his lips, a growl of satisfaction rumbling in his chest. I would do anything to cheer him up. “All right, let’s get you dressed,” I laughed. I helped him into his boxers and shorts before lowering his Cougars jersey over his head.