Sugarlips (Beefcakes Book 2) by Katana Collins (best love novels of all time TXT) 📗

the plastic seat groaning its protest as my bare thighs slid across it. “Of course not. You have a big family stuffed into a tiny room,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m just giving you all some space.”

He slid into the seat across from me. His brown hair was tousled and messy in a way that had me thinking of our night together, and I ached to run my fingers through it. My pulse raced with the memory. “What if I don’t want space?” The question was so clearly not about the hospital room or his mother.

I gulped. “Well, it’s not entirely up to you.”

He sighed and dragged a hand down his weary face. “After this surgery and everything with my mom is stable… do you promise we’ll talk about what happened between us?”

Us. One simple word and yet it had my heart sputtering like a leaky engine. “Once we know she’s in remission, yes. But until then, we just need to…” What? Act like that night never happened? Go back to just being friends? I was a champion at suppressing my feelings, but I wasn’t sure even I could accomplish that. Not with my business partner. And certainly not with my best friend.

Even still… I had to try.

“Pretend?” Liam offered. I shrugged, not sure of what else to say. “I guess your sister would be pretty upset if she found out.”

My breath caught. He thought this was about Elaina. Of course. And why wouldn’t he? I had told him as much months ago when we kissed. But he didn’t know she had given me her blessing. I swallowed my sip of coffee and it went down like a pile of sand. “What are you doing down here, anyway? Shouldn’t you be up with your mom?”

“She sent me to get you.”

“She… what?” That didn’t make sense. I shook my head and clutched the coffee tighter in my palms, blowing at the steam billowing off the top. “She only just got out of surgery a couple of hours ago. She needs to rest. And she needs you. And the rest of her kids. I’m the last person who should be in that room—”

“But she’s asking for you. And what Mom asks for, Mom gets. Especially today.” He matched my smile with a thoughtful grin of his own. “Just don’t get too cocky… she’s also asking for coffee.”

I rose fluidly from my seat, grabbing my own mediocre coffee. “If she’s asking for coffee, she must be feeling pretty good.”

With a tip of his head, he nodded. “She looks great… not even just for having just had major surgery. She’s alert and talkative. I can tell she’s in pain, but overall, she’s doing well. I need to find the doctor to check and make sure she’s actually allowed a cup of coffee, though.”

“Oh, I can do that for you—” He caught my elbow, stopping me just as I pivoted, turning in the opposite direction.

“Don’t you dare. She’s asking to see you. Then we’re all going to let her rest up before the going away ‘party’ tonight for Neil.” He put the word party in finger quotes. By most standards, it was going to be pretty lame—they were only allowing us thirty minutes in the common room before Linda was required to be back in bed. But a few of Neil’s friends were driving down from Maple Grove… because that’s the sort of town we were. Unfailingly loyal.

I didn’t argue with Liam and let him go in search of a doctor while I made my way back down the hall to her room, poking my head inside with a light rap of my knuckles against the doorframe.

Linda was alone in the room, which was pretty surprising considering there were four Evans kids roaming around this hospital.

She blinked her eyes slowly open and deeply inhaled, shifting in her bed. “There you are,” Linda said, smiling warmly at me.

I grinned and edged closer into the room, shutting the door behind me. “You look good,” I said honestly, noting the warm, rosy color in her cheeks. “I’m sorry if I woke you.”

She shook her head. “You didn’t wake me.”

“Where is everyone?” I slid into the seat at her bedside and tucked my purse between my feet.

“Neil had to call the new employee they’re hiring. And Addy and Finn went off to make sure we had enough food for tonight.”

“Are you sure you’re up for this party—”

She waved my concern away. “The last time my oldest son left town, he did so in the middle of the night without so much as a goodbye to his family or your sister. I’m not letting a little cancer let him slink away again.”

Elaina. I almost forgot she had given me a card to give to Linda. I tugged the sealed envelope from my purse and handed it over to Liam’s mom. “Speaking of, this is from my sister. She wanted you to know she was thinking about you today.”

Linda’s painted lips pulled into a smile and she set the card, unopened, on her bedside. “Thank you.”

With a tilt of her head, wisps from her gray-blond hair slipped from her braid and coiled around her heart-shaped face.

I put on a braver smile. If Linda can maintain her bravado throughout all this, then I had no excuse. “So… Liam said you wanted to see me?”

Her grin widened. “I just wanted to say thank you for being here today for Liam. It’s amazing how with four children, only one of them has a friend loyal enough to come down and wait with him all day.”

I searched her face, noting that she had already put lipstick on. That small fact made me smile. I never thought I had much in common with Linda Evans until this very moment. “I’m sure others wanted to be here,” I offered, not knowing at all if it was true or not. I knew nothing about Neil, Finn, or Addy’s friends.

She smiled graciously. “Probably. But you … you’re always