Why Lie? (Love Riddles #2) by Carey Heywood Page B

the assumption that just because he’s mostly a nice guy and done so much for me recently, that I am now under some sort of obligation to him.
    How did I end up being the bad guy for simply wanting to protect my heart? Pressing my lips together, I do not answer her question. She’s used to me doing this.
    She pulls a travel DVD player from her gigantic grandma bag and plugs it in. Pushing my over-the-bed table down closer to my feet, she sets up the screen so we’ll both see it. No matter what we watch, it will put me to sleep.

    “Are you ready to go home, Miss Sydney?”
    Since my case is unique, my doctors had to meeting to decide if it was too soon for me to be discharged or not. My hip is healing well and I am able to sit and, using my good leg, stand.
    I can, with my good arm, wheel myself to the bathroom and go on my own. Thank God for that. With strict orders to not overdo it, they agreed I was recovered enough to leave.
    I’ll still need outpatient physical therapy to make sure that it continues to heal as it should, but I can do that in Ferncliff. My other broken bones just need time to heal and I don’t need to stay here for that to happen.
    I’m not going home though, not that my likeable nurse needs to know that. I can’t do stairs for the time being and my place is too small and inconvenient for someone to take care of me there. Gigi is dead set on it being her and Pops. Cecil offered but she turned him down flat since his job is in San Francisco.
    It’s pointless to argue with them. Am I ready to go home? Yes, home, yes. Too bad I’m not going there. I’m going to be on their pull-out sofa in their den.
    At least they have a full bath on the first floor with a tub. I need help but I’ve gotten showering down as long as I have a shower chair and a detachable nozzle.
    Still, it isn’t home.
    I nod anyway and give her a small smile since there’s no reason to lay my troubles on a stranger I’ll never see again. Gigi walks next to us, wheeling the small carry-on bag that holds my things.
    Pops is parked and waiting for us by the time we reach the sliding doors. He has the front passenger seat pushed all the way back to accommodate my cast. With him on one side and Gigi on the other, I stand, pivot on my good leg and sit. It’s been weeks since the mudslide and this is the most I can accomplish, with help.
    “I was worried I’d miss you.”
    My head turns at the sound of a now familiar voice.
    Trip is standing behind Gigi and Pops.
    My smile is not forced when I reply, “Hi, Trip.”
    “Good to see you, Brendan,” Gigi says, leaning forward to kiss his cheek while Pops walks around to climb in on the driver’s side.
    At her use of his actual name, I ask the question I’ve been wondering since I met him, “Why do you go by, Trip?”
    While Gigi moves to get into the backseat, he replies, “I’m the third. My dad is Junior and they called me Trip, short for triple.”
    I giggle, the wires keeping my jaw shut also keeps me from laughing outright. “Syd isn’t as cool of a nickname.”
    He has to lean down to hear me. “What do you prefer, Syd or Sydney?”
    I give a subtle lift of my good shoulder. “Either really.”
    He nods. “Would it be all right if I came to visit you this weekend?”
    That soon? If my jaw could drop, it would have.
    Instead, I nod. “I’d like that.”
    His mouth spreads in a generous smile, making his dimples appear. He has absurdly attractive teeth, which only makes me more self-conscious of mine. I don’t know how to respond to an attractive man while I’m like this. Before Heath, I could flirt with anyone. Now, it’s like I’ve forgotten how.
    Also, it’s not like there weren’t mirrors in my room. Sure, my face no longer is the disaster it was right after I was hurt. I have a long way to go though.
    He’s just a good guy and feels some sort of connection with me. He’s been so thoughtful though and since I don’t get the flirty vibe from him, maybe