Three Months and You're Mine (In Too Deep) by Casey McMillin Page A

Caleb asked.
    "He was in a motorcycle accident that night after we left Gretchen's."
    "You're kidding. Is he okay?"
    Bailey shook her head as if to say she didn’t know much. "I know he's gonna make it, but I don’t really know any details. I think he had surgery. Gretchen went up there yesterday, but I didn't talk to her when she got back."
    "I saw him yesterday too," I said. They both looked at me. "His knee is pretty messed up. It's got a lot of pins and it's up in this brace thing. He had to have surgery on his leg and his face. There's a bandage covering the side of his face, and you can't see what's under it yet."
    Bailey sucked air in through her teeth. Caleb winced too, probably because he owned more than one motorcycle.
    "What if he's missing an eye or something?" she asked.
    I pushed at her. "He's not missing an eye , stupid. His eye wasn't even under the bandage."
    "Both eyes were showing?"
    "Yeah," I said. I sounded more sure than I was. I tried to remember if I'd seen both eyes. Surely I would have remembered if his eye were covered, right? Was Zack missing an eye? Holy hell, I couldn't say for sure if I'd seen both eyes or not.
    "Tell Meredith to steer clear of Chelsea," Bailey said, snapping me out of my daydream. She was talking to Caleb, trying to get him to back her up.
    "I'm not gonna tell her that," Caleb said. "Me and Chelsea are cool."
    " Sure you are," Bailey said. "I forgot all the guys just loooove her."
    "Don't listen to her," Caleb said, putting an arm around my shoulders. "She's just jealous."
    "I am not," Bailey defended.
    I looked at my watch. "I'd love to hang out, but I'm under strict orders to be back at two thirty, and I have to go all the way back to the café."
    "Who are you working with?"
    "Kermit."
    "Kermit let you out of his sight?" Caleb asked.
    "I know, right?" Bailey added. I hugged them both and took off in the direction of the café. The last thing I wanted to do was disappoint Kermit since he was apparently being uncharacteristically easy going with me. If this were easy going, I'd hate to see his idea of strict.
    I thought about Zack during the entire walk from the mansion to the café. I'd been doing a good job of concentr ating on other things all day—it was actually pretty easy since I was at a brand new job. But, Bailey's mention of his accident made thoughts of Zack start falling into my mind.
    I felt the urge to go see him after I got off work. I told myself it was because I wanted to see if his eye was covered or not, but the truth of it was I just wanted to see him.
    There was one little problem. Yesterday morning when I'd been at the hospital, I told everyone in the room (Zach, Colin, Zack's parents, everyone ) that I was glad Zack was doing so well, and I'd see him once he got out of the hospital. I wasn't sure why I said it, but now I couldn't go back on my word without seeming to overzealous. I was thinking about him on the drive home after work, so I decided I'd send him a text to check on him sometime that evening.
    Four hours later , I typed out a text.
    Me: " I was thinking about you on my way home from work earlier. Wondering how you're doing. My first day at work went well. I met some new friends, and what's better is that I think I'm going to love working there… eventually. Once I find the right position. ;)"
    I waited for ten minutes for him to text me back before giving up and deciding to take a shower. It was one of my favorite time-wasters. When I got out, I sho' nuff had a text from Zack.
    Zack: "I thought I was supposed to be the one to show you the right positions. Just kidding. I'm glad you enjoyed your first day at work."
    I read the text three times, smiling at the screen. The mention of teaching me positions made a flood of warmth wash over me. I was glad he couldn't see me because I was definitely blushing.
    Me: "You didn't answer about how you're doing."
    Zack: "I'm as good as you can be for someone whose leg is in pieces."
    Me: "Damn it, Zack.