so many levels of wanting her, he could hardly think, could focus on nothing but her, wanting to hear her tell him what turned her on.
As he kissed his way down her torso, dropping to his knees in front of her—to keep her entertained while she considered her first request—footsteps pounded up the stairs.
He dropped his forehead against her thigh. It was as if his family sensed he was about to get himself into trouble. “Fuck,” he muttered before rolling back to his heels and plucking his shirt off the floor.
Charlie grabbed her shirt and bra off the bed and quickly tugged them on.
A knock pounded at the door. Triss’s voice was strained with panic. “Charlie? Alexei?”
Instantly on alert, Charlie checked her shirt and opened the door, no more than a margin, and squeezed her way out while Pike stood stupidly waiting inside. He stalked to the door, listening and wishing to hell he hadn’t fucked this entire Christmas up so bad that he had to hide when his mom needed help.
Through the door, he heard his mom say, “It’s Kyle. He’s having chest pain.”
Fuck this. Pike rushed out.
Triss whipped her head back, her brow bunched in confusion, but she focused on what was more important.
Charlie was all business, and he could picture her running the halls of the hospital.
As his mom and his practice girlfriend ran down the stairs, he asked, “Want me to grab Alexei?”
Charlie looked up from the landing. “Please.”
Not his area, and not afraid to admit he didn’t have a fucking clue how to be helpful, he ran across the main room and knocked on Alexei and Devon’s door. “Alexei? Wake up. My dad’s having chest pain.”
“Coming,” Alexei’s froggy voice answered, a light clicked on, he heard him say something muffled to Devon, then Alexei appeared in yesterday’s jeans and a t-shirt in seconds. “Fill me in,” he said, already on the move.
“That’s all I know. Mom came up looking for you and Charlie.”
They tore down the steps and made straight for his parents’ room. The door was open wide, the light on, and Charlie was sitting next to Kyle as he sat uncomfortably on the bed, grimacing, but talking.
Pike’s legs filled with lead, and he trudged the last few steps and stopped at the doorway, gripping the doorframe to steady himself.
Charlie was calm and had her fingers on Kyle’s wrist, efficiently gathering data. “What did you have for that snack?”
Answering for him, Triss said, “We had some of that cheese dip with the sausage leftover from dinner.”
Alexei dropped to his knees by the side of the bed. “Hey, Uncle Kyle. What’s going on?”
Like a team, Charlie and Alexei quickly assessed, asking a few dozen questions, staying so damn calm. As they talked, his dad seemed to look a little better, pale and holding his side, but less scared.
Finally, Charlie said to Alexei, “I haven’t worked in the ER in a few years, but I’m thinking gallbladder, or maybe something gastric.”
Alexei nodded.
Charlie turned back to Kyle and pushed his hair off his forehead.
He smiled and grabbed his side again, grimaced, and let go again.
Calm and confident, Charlie said, “I really doubt you’re having a heart attack. Your pain is on the wrong side and the wrong spot. But you look like hell. Let’s get you to the ER, okay?”
While they were talking, Triss stuffed her feet in a pair of shoes and grabbed her purse. “Thank you,” she said to the room while she gathered supplies mindlessly.
Charlie popped up and took Triss by the arm. “Let’s see what you need.”
While she walked Triss through a few necessities to get through what looked to be a long night, Alexei helped Kyle up. He was already looking better, but he grabbed his side periodically and gritted his teeth.
“Should I call an ambulance?” Pike asked, feeling utterly useless and brimming with questions he couldn’t articulate.
Charlie casually shook her head no, reassuring him with a sweet smile.
“Okay,” Pike said, catching his breath and trying to unclench his jaw. “I’ll, uh, get the car started.”
Alexei nodded and said, “We’ll get them out to you.”
At least feeling like he could be useful as a driver, Pike ran down the stairs and stuffed his feet into his boots, grabbing his sweatshirt and plucking the keys from the pocket as he ran outside. The snow was light, and the roads were clear enough.
A moment later, Kyle walked out with Alexei steadying him. He was still pasty, and maybe it was knowing he was going to be okay, but Pike thought he was looking better even since he’d left him to get the car going. Kyle nodded to the back. “Feels a little better when I lay down.”
Pike opened the door and his dad slid in, stretching his long legs wide. Triss dove in the other side and buckled up, and Kyle moved and leaned into her.
As Pike went to climb in the driver’s seat, Charlie came running out, swinging her purse over her shoulder, her coat tucked over her arm. Without a word, she waved a thanks at Alexei and climbed in the front passenger seat.
Pike flipped into gear and started the trek to the nearest hospital.
Charlie asked, “Is there a hospital here in town?”
He shook his head and looked back in the rearview.
Triss spoke up, “There’s an urgent care, but they close at ten. Pike, you know the way to Summit Memorial?”
“Sadly, yes,” he said with a light laugh, knowing too well where it was, having been there a few times over the years, especially before the urgent care opened in town. He nodded to Charlie, “It’s about forty-five minutes out. That okay?”
Charlie glanced in the back. “How are you doing, Kyle?”
He sighed and said, “It’s not as bad as it was. It was probably that snack. Indigestion.”
“You’re not getting out of going,” Pike said, keeping his focus on the winding road.
“I know, I know.”
Charlie smiled back at Kyle. “What fun would that be, to get us all excited, only to turn around now?”
Kyle forced a weak laugh.
Hands gripped tight on the wheel, Pike glanced back at his mom. Triss looked much calmer now, rubbing his dad’s shoulder. She met his look in the mirror, the inquisitor waiting patiently behind the worried wife. Yup. This was turning out to be one of his weirder Christmases. He wished he could say weirdest, but there had been some doozies.
As the road widened and they merged onto the highway, he slid his hand across and laced his fingers with Charlie’s.
She squeezed his hand tight at first in a silent affirmation, then relaxed into a quiet support. “I worked in a busy ER my first two years out of nursing school, before I followed my parents out here, and I saw a lot,” she said, glancing back and smiling at Triss and Kyle. “They’ll do labs and scans, and at least be able to rule out the scary stuff.”
Despite the endless drive, they finally reached the exit and made it to the hospital in good time. Pike turned into the ER entrance and stopped in the patient drop-off zone. He jumped out and helped his dad.
Kyle shook his head and braced his side, but said, “Really, it’s improving. I don’t know that all this is necessary.”
Pike huffed a weak laugh. “Remember when I was eight, and you were convinced I had appendicitis, but turns out I was constipated?”
Triss rolled her eyes as she reached them, a lightness peeking through the worry that tightened her brow. “That doctor scared you into eating your vegetables.”
An attendant came out with a wheelchair, and Kyle settled in.
Triss followed close and nodded back to Pike, “You go park and we can let you know how long of a wait they think it might be, so you know if you have time to drive back and get some sleep.”
“I’m coming in,” he said, his brow contorting at the thought of waiting in the car. While his parents checked in, he hopped back in the car and drove around until they found a spot. Not terrible, considering the time of year. When he’d broken his arm on Christmas Eve as a kid, before the urgent care, they’d waited for four hours before they even saw the doctor.
Parked and fucking done, he tipped his head back and pulled in a slow, deep breath.
Charlie climbed out from her side, appeared at his door a moment later and opened it. “Come on,” she said, reaching for his hand.
He tipped his head to look at her and turned to climb out. She was something else. Quietly smiling at him, not the goofy wide grin where she bit her lip, nor the sweet way when she caught him sneaking a look across the dinner table, but that soft, reassuring smile that erased any hesitation. In the middle of the frozen parking lot, salt crunching underfoot, he hooked his arm around her waist and reeled her in, holding his arms around her middle and touching his forehead to hers. “Thank you,” he whispered.
She didn’t say a word, but leaned in.
When the wind picked up, the trees creaking against the still of the night, she slipped her hand into his and tipped a nod toward the ER entrance.
Inside, the waiting room was pretty empty, and his parents weren’t there. Charlie walked confidently to the front and said with a friendly politeness, “Hello. We’re here with Kyle Emory. Are we able to head back?”
The receptionist looked down at his computer and said, “Let me check.”
He typed a few things in, waited, typed again, and gave them a quick glance before back to his screen. “Yes, they’re expecting you. You can head on back.”
Pike gripped tight to Charlie’s hand as they wove into the bowels of the emergency department. Most of the rooms were full, except one of the branching hallways was dark and unoccupied. Staff in matching scrubs seemed to have no time to twiddle their thumbs, but the energy was calm.
At the door to Kyle’s room, Charlie knocked and slid the glass slider open. “It’s us. Can we come in?”
“Come on in,” Kyle said, his voice crackling but steady. He was already in a gown and sitting up in a hospital bed.
Before they made it all the way in, a nurse knocked as he came in. “Kyle? Coming back for your blood.”
Triss stood at the other side of the bed while the nurse asked a dozen questions.
When the nurse pulled out a needle, Kyle’s expression paled.
“Come on, Dad. You aren’t afraid of needles, are you?”
“No,” Kyle huffed, quickly correcting with a laugh, “Only when someone’s about to stab me with one.”
On his stool, the nurse rotated and grinned up at Pike. “You’d be amazed how many people pass out just seeing this thing.” He went through his process, while Kyle made bad jokes and squeezed Triss’s hand tight.
Charlie leaned closer against Pike to see better.
The nurse seemed to reject one vein, then searched for another.
Charlie laughed. “Way easier on pregnant women.”
While he worked, the nurse didn’t look away from his target, but asked, “L and D nurse?”
“You got it.”
A few vials later, and the nurse switched from drawing blood to filling Kyle up with IV fluids and pain meds. Kyle started to fade, getting a little loopy.
Charlie asked, “Did we miss the doctor?”
The nurse nodded as he packed up his gear. “Yeah, she was in and out. EKG was done right away and that looked great, vitals are all normal. Once we get these blood tests back, imaging’s on the agenda.”
“Does she think gallbladder? Or gastric?”
“I have not heard her thoughts.” He turned back to Kyle and patted his arm, then put a corded thing with lots of buttons in his hand. “You need anything at all, just push the button.” He tipped a nod to Charlie on the way out. “I’ll make sure you guys get results as soon as they come in.”
“Thanks,” Charlie said, then strolled to the foot of the bed after the nurse left.
Pike pushed his hair back and hovered in the middle of the room.
“Well, Kyle. Sounds like you’re in good hands.”
His eyes hazed as the drugs kicked in, and he nodded.
“We’ll wake you up if anything fun happens,” Charlie said, patting his foot and then turned and scanned the room. As comfortable as she was at the cabin, maybe more so, in her element, she grabbed a chair from the corner and set it at the side of the bed next to Triss, patting the seat for Pike to sit, then plopped down on the wheely stool.
It didn’t take long for Kyle to drift off to sleep, the machines beeping in a steady rhythm. Triss squeezed his hand, then released him to curl back in her seat. She bit her lips together, but didn’t say a word. Minutes ticked by. Then more minutes. Half an hour. Kyle woke up when someone came in and took him to imaging, then back again and he drifted off shortly after.
“Get some sleep, Mom,” Pike said, knowing damn well she wouldn’t, and knowing she was trying to not use this time to pounce. “Charlie? How long does it take to get results back?”
She leaned her elbows on the footboard and shrugged. “It really depends. He’s comfortable and stable, so unless there’s a stat finding, it may be a while.”
He nodded and leaned back in the plastic chair. His mother Triss got the cushioned one, and could and should doze off, but she was determined. Her jaw was set firm, and she wouldn’t look at him for more than the absolute minimum glance.
“Mom,” he said, raising an eyebrow and folding his arms over his chest. “You know you want to. We’ve got nothing else to do.”
“It’s just—” She swallowed hard and shifted in her chair, checking again that Kyle was asleep. “I don’t understand.”
“What’s not to understand? You all think I’m so awful at dating, that you manipulated me into asking someone out.”
“That wasn’t it at all…” She drew in a long inhale, then angled slightly toward him. “We love you. You’re very loveable. But you don’t seem to realize it.”
Charlie eased her elbows off the footboard and rolled back a few inches. “I’ll go find the visitor bathroom,” she whispered.
Pike turned back toward his mom. “You didn’t think about what could happen if the plan backfired? I mean…” Fuck. This was weird enough. He didn’t need to play the blame game, knowing their hearts were in the right place, however misplaced. “No. You know what? I’m glad it backfired. Devon’s a friend, and an even better friend now. I’d hoped we’d click, but we didn’t.”
“Wait, what?”
“Grampa figured it out, Cassie too. The mistletoe setup? Worked on the wrong guy?”
“Oh my.” She drew in her feet and curled into the big chair. “I thought your Grampa and Cassie were trying to be contrary.” She released a long sigh and said, “The… wrong guy? So… and that’s why you and Charlie were…”
Fuck. Exactly what he was afraid of. “Not exactly.”
“But, oh my gosh, I’ve been wondering how to deal with… finding you and… I thought our plan was working, but when… oh my gosh. I just…” She bit her lips together and grinned with red cheeks. “Wait a minute. I’ve been hanging my hat on Devon and like her a lot, but if you and Charlie…” She looked from him to the door that Charlie had gone out of and beamed as glowy as Hank.
“No,” he said sharply, quickly looking back to make sure they were still alone. “This isn’t a thing. We’re not a thing. It’s… you know. You guys thought I was so bad at dating that you set me up. Charlie and I are… we’re…”
There was no way to explain it without sounding like a complete ass. Lip firmly between his teeth, he gritted his jaw and tried to find the right words.
Charlie slipped back in and stood by the door, answering for him. “Practice dating,” she said. “I know, it sounds like a bad idea. But we both have relationship issues, so we’re, um… wow, this does sound bad. The bathroom is down the blue hall, on the right, by the way. It’s occupied.”
Triss blinked again, her beaming blush fading fast. “Wait a minute. Practice dating? Not actually dating? What does that even mean?”
A mumbly, sleepy Kyle said, “Give them a break.” Heavy lids lifting, he twitched a dopey smile. “Whatever they’re up to, it’s their business. We set this up, it backfired, and their dates hooked up with each other.”
Triss sat up and took Kyle’s hand with hers, entwining her fingers with his and brushed his hair back with her free hand. “I suppose you’re right. I never understood the fling or one-night thing. But, that’s a Jenner thing. We tend to dive in for the long haul, without stopping to think about it.”
Yeah. Perfect. Exactly why he didn’t want his family to know.
Charlie stood by the door, looking out at the ER. Pike rose and crossed to her. He palmed her low back and stood with her.
She whispered, “Apparently, that trait didn’t extend to the next generation.”
“It did,” he said, a frog blocking his throat as he tried to keep his voice low. “I was jaded after everything that went down with my ex-fiancée. Because that’s exactly what I did. However messed up I was back then, I really thought she was it for me.”
“That makes sense. I guess that would leave me a little scared to trust myself again, too.”
“Not you, though. You keep trying.” He nuzzled close, inhaling her scent, words escaping before he could stop them, or even question them. “Don’t stop.”
The doctor came out from a room across the way and waved. Her quick clip was efficient without being rushed. She followed them back into the room.
“I have news,” she said, stepping up to the foot of the bed and folding her arms over her chest. “Your gallbladder is obstructed, as we suspected. It’s pretty common, made worse by fatty foods, so I see a lot of it around the holidays.” She laughed lightly, quickly switching back to serious in the humorless room. “Pretty textbook case after the snack. Often it will calm down and you can have a cholecystectomy electively, but because of the obstruction, it isn’t letting up and has affected your liver function. That typically returns to normal after we remove the gallbladder.”
Triss squeezed Kyle’s hand tighter and scooted toward him protectively. “How serious of a surgery is that? When should that happen?”
“I’ve contacted the surgeon, and she’ll be in around six. We’ll keep you comfortable until then.” She went on to describe the surgery and anticipated observation, discharge same day if all went well.
They thanked her for going over the plan so thoroughly. Pike stood in the middle of the room and stuffed his hands in his pockets.
Kyle nodded and smiled, albeit more sappy than usual, probably thanks to the drugs that were keeping him very comfortable. “You guys head home and come pick us up tomorrow? Maybe your mom will take a nap.”
Triss nodded in agreement, the lack of sleep starting to show and she leaned back into the chair. “Go get some sleep. If you want to set up at a hotel nearby, we’ll foot the bill.”
Pike shook his head. “Nah, we’ll head to the cabin and come back in the morning.”
He slipped his hand into Charlie’s, and they walked out of the ER. The temperature had dropped further, and he wished he’d brought his coat in.
In the car, he cranked up the heat and tipped his head back against the headrest. “Thanks so much for being here. That was…”
“Of course. Not much I could do, but—”
“No. You were amazing. Steady and calm, knowledgeable without making any promises that everything would be fine. That’s exactly what he needed. What I needed.”
“It’s what I do for a living, and I adore your family, so I was glad to be here.” As he pulled out of the parking lot, she took out her phone. “Service is nonexistent in there. Alexei texted me hours ago. I’ll let him know the plan.”
“K. Thanks.”
The rest of the drive was quiet, both exhausted. He wanted to stop for caffeine, but needed the sleep so he could drive back down again tomorrow.