Fall With Me (Sugarland Creek, #3) (44)

“I can grab an Uber back,” I tell her.

Ellie smiles wide, and it feels wrong to enjoy it because in normal circumstances, she’d never smile at me like that. But I can’t help the way my stomach does that stupid flutter thing at seeing her reaction to me.

“I’m just gonna use the restroom quickly and then I’ll walk you out,” I tell Noah before closing the bathroom door behind me.

There’s no way I’m letting her go through a dark parking lot alone at midnight.

My head spins at the unexpected situation I’m in and although I should feel guilty about stealing this time with Ellie, I can’t. If she has no memory of hating me, maybe she’ll realize she likes me more now than when she hated me before.

After drying my hands, I reach for the door handle but then hear Noah say my name and pause.

“Why’d you ask Landen to stay?” she asks.

Kind of a rude question, but I want the answer, too.

“Um…because he’s hot?”

“My brother?”

“Yeah.”

“Landen?”

I roll my eyes at Noah’s insistence to keep asking her.

“Yes! Do you think he likes me?”

If my heart wasn’t already racing at how insane this situation is, it’d be rocketing to the fucking moon right now.

“I-I’m sorry. I know you have a concussion and you don’t remember him, but…what in the actual hell are you talkin’ about?”

I hold back laughter at Noah freaking the fuck out. Not that I blame her.

“What do you mean? Oh shit, is he married? I didn’t see a ring.”

Definitely not married.

“No.” Noah laughs again. “But you don’t exactly like Landen. Hell, I’d argue that you hate him.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose and contemplate barging out there to shove Noah out of the room just to shut her up. But I don’t because I want to hear what else Ellie has to say about me.

“Why would I hate him? He seems very sweet. Plus, he’s too hot to hate.”

“Actually, I dunno why because you never told me, but trust me. You can’t stand him.”

“So why is he here if I hated him so much?”

Question of the century. Because I’m stupidly obsessed with you.

“Well, Landen helped you train. Technically, he helped me help you train. And he was very worried about you, so he drove us here as soon as the ambulance took off from the rodeo.”

“Did he know I hated him?”

“Yeah, we pretty much all do.”

“So wait. You’re sayin’ he helped me train and came to watch me race even knowing I hated him?”

Noah pauses, then finally responds, “Yes.”

“That doesn’t sound right. What guy would do that for someone who doesn’t like them? I couldn’t have really hated him, then?”

“Trust me, you did.”

Goddammit, Noah. Put in a good word for me or something.

“Landen continued to be nice and supportive because he liked you. He tried for years to get you to like him back. But I guess he finally realized you never would and has a girlfriend now.”

Fuck my life. She really just threw out any ounce of hope I just had out the window.

“Oh…” Ellie’s voice sounds disappointed, and now I’m worried I’ve been in here too long. “Do you think it’s serious?”

Noah bursts out laughing. “Now I know they gave you the good pain meds if you’re pushin’ this hard for Landen.”

And that’s my cue to get out of here.

“Ready to go?” I ask Noah, trying to avert my gaze from Ellie as if I didn’t hear everything she said about me.

“Yep.” Noah leans over and carefully hugs Ellie. “I’ll check on you tomorrow first thing. Text or call if you need anything.”

“Will do.”

“I’ll be right back,” I reassure Ellie before we walk out the door.

When we get to the nurse’s station, Dr. Murray rounds the corner and stops us. “I didn’t want to mention this in front of Ellie, but seeing as you’re her friends and will be around her, I need to caution you on not telling her too much about the things she doesn’t remember. It’s better to let it come back naturally or it’ll just confuse her mind even more. She won’t know what’s a real memory and what she just remembers being told.”

I glare at Miss Big Mouth. A little too late for that.

“What if she never remembers?” I ask. “Do we share with her at some point?”

Dr. Murray crosses his arms, nodding. “Yeah, I’d say if in a couple months she needs help filling in holes of what she does remember, that’ll be fine. Most likely then, it’s a lost memory anyway and won’t come back. But in most circumstances, the brain fog leaves within a few weeks. She probably won’t remember the day of the accident and possibly the day before, but everything else should come back to her as her brain heals. It’s why she shouldn’t do any vigorous activity.”

Not sure if that should put me at ease or on edge. Either way, I wish I knew how long I had for this second chance at showing her who I really am.

Noah and I thank him, and then I walk her out to the truck.