“He’s going to be okay. Gavin, are you listening to me?” She added a shake. “The GSW was a through and through. He’s probably already been released from the hospital by now. He bitched all the way there in the ambulance, saying he didn’t need to go. And I imagine he bitched all the way through getting patched up too. The only reason we got him to go at all was because it was his shoulder and he’d lost a lot of blood.”

Gavin closed his eyes and reminded himself that he did in fact know how to breathe.

“Gavin? You okay?”

Sure. His biggest nightmare was coming true, but other than that . . . “Yes. Let go of me.”

She slowly backed up and gave him some space. He met her gaze and was reminded that she was dead on her feet. “Go to bed, Piper.”

“But—”

“I promise not to do anything stupid.”

She stared at him for a long moment, and then gave him a hard hug. “If you need me—”

“I know. I’ll come get you if I do.” He waited until she went upstairs. Then he waited some more to make sure she was asleep.

He called CJ first and was sent to voice mail. He texted. No response.

If CJ had been in danger of dying, Piper would’ve told him. He knew that. The sun would come up tomorrow. The sun would also go down tomorrow. And Piper would never lie to him. These things he knew for sure. His sister did the right thing, always. Never the easy thing.

So . . . why wouldn’t CJ answer?

Maybe Gavin had gotten too close too fast for comfort, and he’d spooked the guy. That he could deal with. What he couldn’t deal with was losing him.

Shit. He had to make sure he was going to be okay. He had to see it for himself. He simply couldn’t breathe until he knew. Which meant, as it turned out, there really were several layers of stupid. Sending a silent apology to Piper, he grabbed Winnie’s keys and headed out. He was banking on the knowledge that CJ hated hospitals and would never stay one minute longer than he had to. And honestly, unless he’d been shot in the mouth, he’d have demanded to be let go, AMA or not.

He found himself in CJ’s driveway without remembering the trip. Because everything he feared—the helplessness, the not knowing, the gut-wrenching certainty that life was too fucking short, knowing he could lose someone he loved in the blink of an eye—it was all back with a vengeance.