Page 52 of His Flash Mate
“I have a necklace of hickies and have to pick up Mom from the hospital in an hour.What do you think?”
“I’ll promise to be good to you from now on, baby,” she said in a sultry voice.“Take me back, and I’ll make sure you don’t regret it.”
Her teasing helped diffuse my lingering panic.
“Fine, I’ll take you back this time.But you'd better make sure this doesn’t happen again.You know I don’t do long term, and if he’s still single, that’s the only logical explanation.”I huffed out a sigh.“Why me?”
“Because you’re adorable when you’re drunk, have a great sense of humor, and are level-headed in every aspect except for romantic relationships, which makes you appealing to chase.”
“You’re warped.”
“It’s the predator in me.”
“Well, I need the protector to come out.Men are fine for fun, but nothing else, Miranda.If there’s even a glint of ‘ever after’ in his eyes, you block me hard, got it?”
I saw we were almost to Lunar Pulse.
“I’d better go.We’re almost to my car.”
“Okay.Text me when you’re home with your mom.Do you need me to come in tonight?”
I briefly thought about it.“No.If he shows up, I’ll tell him to get lost.He might not take a third-party rejection as seriously.”
“Call me if you need me.”
“I will.”
I hung up and caught the driver’s soft brown gaze in the mirror.She had her long red hair pulled back into a high ponytail threaded through her ball cap.
“Sounds like you had a rough night,” she said without judgment.
“Yeah.Sorry for the drama.”
“Nah, I don’t mind.Glad nothing happened to you, though.Some girls haven’t been so lucky after blackouts.”
A conflict of emotions rushed through me.Guilt.Regret.Fear.Most of it was because I couldn’t remember a damn thing.
She parked next to my car.
“This must be a decent place then?”she asked, looking at Lunar Pulse.“No drugging problems?”
“Yeah, it’s decent.My uncle runs it and watches.There are plenty of cameras from different angles.It won’t stop a drugging, but it makes it a little less likely.He also has lidded cups if you ask for them.”
“Good to know.Have a safe day.”
She didn’t pull away until I was in my car, which I found really thoughtful.I gave her a larger tip than I probably could afford, then headed home to shower and change.
The hot shower and concealer had worked wonders at erasing my mistake.Very little evidence of the night before remained by the time I arrived at the hospital, and I was able to knock on Mom’s door with a smile.
She looked up from the paper the nurse was showing her.
“You’re just in time,” the nurse said.“We’re going over her discharge instructions.”
I listened closely, asking questions and adding calendar reminders for appointments.When Mom and I left the hospital together, she was bruised and moving slowly, but doing well, all things considered.
“I’m so sorry, Sophie,” Mom said as soon as we were alone in my car.
“For what?”
