Free War Torn by Andria Large

looking over at her in awe. “That’s incredible.”
    She nods. “I know. It’s so crazy.”
    Another kick has us both laughing. It’s just the two of us in the room at the moment. Beau went to grab a coffee and Tucker just hasn’t gotten here yet.
    “Are you and Tucker okay?” Lizette asks gently after our laughter dies down.
    I give her belly a rub. “Yeah, I think so. We both apologized and now I don’t really have a choice in the matter, so he’s getting what he wants.”
    “But he only wants what’s best for you, you know that.”
    “I know,” I say quietly.
    “He doesn’t like to see you hurting, and neither do I. I can’t believe you didn’t come to me sooner,” she huffs.
    “It’s a lot of money,” I tell her.
    “So? I have plenty to spare. Especially for you,” she coos and pinches my cheek.
    I roll my eyes and swat at her hand. “Well, I do appreciate it.”
    “I know you do, Denny.”
    The door to my room opens and in walks Beau followed by Tucker and Duke. “Look who I found wandering the halls,” Beau jokes.
    Tucker smiles when he sees that I’m awake and alert. Lizette slides off the bed to give Tucker room to lean in to give me a kiss.
    “Hi,” he murmurs.
    “Hey, babe.”
    Duke gives me a fist bump. “Hey, man.”
    “Hey.”
    Tucker pulls out a piece of paper from his back pocket. “I…uh…I looked up a prosthetist for you and made you an appointment for next week. I hope you don’t mind,” Tucker says and I can hear the hesitancy and worry in his tone.
    I hold my hand out for the paper and he hands it to me. “Thank you, Tuck,” I say gratefully, meeting his eyes.
    He gives me a small smile. I can tell that he’s still not sure if everything is okay between us.
    “Can you all give Tucker and me a moment alone?” I ask everyone.
    They quickly agree and leave the room. Tucker remains standing next to the bed, his hands shoved into the pockets of his black sweat pants. His long-sleeved, royal blue T-shirt fits snuggly to his chest and biceps. His dark wavy hair is a mess, as usual, and his face is covered in a couple of days’ worth of stubble. He looks delicious, and if I weren’t in this hospital bed right now with a catheter shoved up my dick, I’d be all over him.
    “Come here, love,” I murmur softly and pat the bed next to me.
    Tucked pulls in a deep breath then comes to sit down on the bed next to me. We sit shoulder to shoulder. I take his hand and lace my fingers in his.
    “You okay?” I ask quietly.
    Tucker nods. “Yeah, I just keep thinking about how differently this could have turned out. You could have died and our last moments together would have been of us fighting.” He sighs and rubs the side of his face.
    “You can’t think like that, Tuck. We’re going to argue and fight. We’re not going to agree on everything. And it’s always possible that something could happen to one of us. It’s like you said, just because we’re fighting, doesn’t mean that we don’t love each other,” I say.
    “Are we okay, though? You’re not still mad at me for going behind your back to Lizette?”
    I shake my head. “No, I understand why you did it. I’m sure if the situation was reversed, I would have done the same thing.”
    He smiles slightly, his eyes staring down at our hands. “Yeah, I can see that.”
    “Look at me,” I whisper.
    His gorgeous blue eyes lift to meet mine.
    “I’m so fucking in love with you. Don’t ever doubt that for one second, you understand me?” I tell him firmly.
    He nods. “I love you, too, Denny,” he breathes then leans in to brush his lips against mine.
    The kiss is soft yet passionate. It’s more an exchange of love than anything sexual.
    Tucker slowly pulls back. “I’ll go tell everyone to come back in.”
    I agree and check out his ass as he walks toward the door. 
     
     
     

 
    ~ Chapter Nine ~
     
    ~ Duke ~
     
    After a few days in the hospital, Dennis is able to return home. Right now, he’s