Page 78 of The Callahan Effect

"I do."

I reached carefully across the space between us, ignoring the protest from my hip as I offered him my hand. "You were shocked. You needed time."

"I needed to be a better friend."

"You’re the best friend a man could have and I love you like a brother."

Corey’s eyes filled.

"I don't deserve you."

"Yes, you do."

For a heartbeat neither of us moved. Then Corey stood, stepped carefully around the side of the bed, and wrapped his arms around me as gently as he could.

I hugged him back just as tightly as my injuries allowed. Neither of us cared that tears found their way onto our cheeks.

After eight years of friendship, neither of us needed to pretend the tears weren't there.

We stayed holding each other for a long time. Neither of us seemed in any hurry to let go, as though the embrace itself repaired something words never could. I'd forgotten how many memories lived inside a friendship stretching back eight years. Backyard hockey games with plastic sticks, endless weekends spent at rinks throughout Florida, celebrating championships, suffering heartbreaking defeats, and every ordinary day between those moments had shaped us into the men we were now. One difficult conversation hadn't erased any of that. It had simply forced us to find our way through unfamiliar territory together.

Corey eventually let me go, lingering beside the bed as though he wanted to make certain I really was there before settling back into the chair.

"I spent the whole flight telling myself I wasn't going to lose it the second I saw you."

"How'd that work out?"

He glanced at the damp sleeve of my hospital gown and smiled.

"About as well as you'd expect."

"Yeah."

We shared the kind of smile that only existed between people who'd known each other for years.

"I'm really glad you're okay, Mase."

"I'm really glad you're here."

"I owe Jack an apology too."

"For what?"

"I judged him before I knew anything about him." He shook his head. "I was jealous, and all I could think about was the fact he'd turned your life upside down."

"He kind of did and you have no need to be jealous."

Corey huffed a quiet laugh.

"I've figured out Jack is probably the best thing that could have happened to you."

I couldn't disagree.

"I've never been happier, Corey."

"I can see that." He rested his forearms across his knees. "It hit me somewhere over Texas."

"What did?"