Page 44 of Rescue

“Guess I’m not such a helpless pregnant lady after all, huh?” she asks, leaning against the doorway. “I scared the hell out of all of you!”

“Shit,” Reed mutters, leaning on Paige.

“You scared me!” she cries, and Daisy laughs.

“I figured you of all people would want the full experience, Paige.”

Paige looks like she’s trying to decide if she wants to scream or cry. Finally she lets out a long peal of laughter. “Okay, Daisy. That was pretty good.”

“That was terrifying, Daisy,” I say.

“Definitely,” Haylee says, laughing shakily.

“I think Cash is still running,” Levi points out, smirking.

“Good one, babe,” Daltrey adds, joining her in the doorway. The smile drops from her face.

“Don’t think I didn’t see you trying to get out of there without me,” she says. “You didn’t even know I wasn’t next to you!”

“I’m sorry,” he says, hanging his head. “You really scared me!”

“Remember this the next time you’re acting all condescending about my pregnancy,” she says, jabbing him in the chest. “I am kick-ass and strong.”

“You are,” he agrees, wrapping an arm around her.

“And what are you?” she presses.

“A giant man-child.”

She kisses his cheek. “Don’t forget it.”

The walk back through the cemetery is no longer so scary, now that we’re all laughing. We catch up with Cash a few hundred yards from the tomb. “I knew it was Daisy all along,” he says. “I was just trying to add to the experience for you guys.”

“You know what, Cash?” Haylee says. “You’re kind of full of shit, aren’t you?”

“Haylee, dear,” Levi says, grinning at her. “You’re fitting in beautifully.”

As we make our way back to the hotel, it doesn’t escape my notice that Haylee never releases my hand.

“This was great, Lennon,” she tells me at her door. Everyone else has made their way into their own rooms, leaving Haylee and me alone in the hallway.

“It was, wasn’t it? That’s Paige for you. She has a way of taking something silly and making it fun.”

“She’s definitely fun,” Haylee agrees. “They all are.” She pauses, her eyes falling from my face to my chest. “I think that’s what I need right now, you know?”

“Fun?” I ask, and she nods.

“Fun and… friends.” She meets my eyes again, and hers are wide and pleading, like she’s hoping I’ll understand something. “If you couldn’t tell the other night, I’m pretty fucked up.”

“Haylee, you don’t have to worry about that with me.” I take a deep breath, preparing myself to unload my secret. “I’m definitely messed up myself—”

She holds up a hand. “Let me finish, okay? I’m pretty fucked up, Lennon, about a lot of things. And probably the last thing I need right now is some big, emotional attachment.”

My throat feels dry. What she’s saying makes sense—it’s what Reed has been telling me since that morning in Newcastle. So why does it hurt so much to hear it from her?

“I like you, Len,” she says, her voice softer. “I think we could be really good friends.” She pauses, searching my face. God, she’s so beautiful. “Is that okay with you?”

“Of course it is,” I say without thinking, even though it isn’t. I don’t know exactly what I want from Haylee Hunt, but it sure as hell isn’t friendship.