(Once) Again
horrible images on to anyone else.
    “Ready?” Liz bounced back into the room with what looked like an oversized black trash bag draped over her arm.
    Zach stood and gave me one last look. A silent message telling me to take him up on his offer. Any time. No expiration date.
    “Thanks,” I said as he passed me and wrapped his arm around Liz’s shoulder.
    My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it out. Liz turned back. “You okay? Do you want us to stay a little longer? We can.” Did I have to beat her over the head to get her to stop asking?
    Three new voicemails. I put the phone on speaker.
    “You have three new messages. First new message. Hi Josh, it’s Erica. I was wondering when you’d be back on campus. I had a really good time with you and was hoping we could do it again.
    “Next new message. Hey lover. I miss your sexy face. Call me.”
That sounded like Lily or was it Jessica?
    “Third new message.”
I winked at Liz and smiled as Sara went into detail about all the things she wanted to do to me.
    “Told you. I’m fine.”
    “You’re a pig.”
    “A sexy pig,” I said.
    “I get it. You’re fine. We’re leaving.” Liz slid her hand into Zach’s. “Oh!” Liz said then stopped and glanced back to me. “I made an extra batch of cookies for Kat. Make sure she takes them.”
    Kat. My sister was already on a nickname basis with my . . . What the hell was she?
    ***
    “Mmm.”
    Kat savored the bite she took, the sensual noise she made reminding me of all our nights together. All I had to do was kiss right below her ear and the noise spilled out of her. My eyes landed on the spot, all creamy white skin, begging to be touched.
    “Your sister is a cookie goddess.”
    “Don’t encourage her.”
    “Jealous?” She plopped the rest of the cookie in her perfect mouth, and I couldn’t help the smile that tugged when she licked her bottom lip.
    “What?” she asked, wiping at her lip as if she had an entire chicken wing hanging from it.
    “Nothing.” I grabbed her hand, pulling it away from her face. Blue eyes widened, and I smiled again. “It’s just every time you eat something you love, you lick your bottom lip.” I reached out, dragging a finger along it. “As if you don’t want to leave a single crumb behind.”
    Her breath hitched. “I do?” she whispered, even though I don’t think she meant to.
    “You always did it during our French fry, chicken finger lunches. Especially when we splurged on dessert.”
    Her cheeks flushed, creeping down her neck. “I never realized I did that.” She curled her lip, sucking it into her mouth.
    “Don’t go and get all self-conscious on me now. It’s adorable.” She was adorable. Hair pulled back in a rubber band thing, nothing blocking her face except for a single strand that fell free from the rest. Normally I’d find her Hello Kitty scrubs ridiculous, but for some reason I couldn’t keep from smiling every time those stupid cartoons caught my attention.
    “I . . . uh . . . did you want to try walking?”
    I ignored her sudden change in topic. When it came to Kat, it was baby steps. Except when I lost my patience and stormed out of the restaurant on her. Though that worked out pretty damn well, and I considered myself lucky.
    Walking was the last thing I felt like trying though. “I don’t think so.”
    “Why not?” she asked then tilted her head to look into my eyes. “Your sister said your physical therapist isn’t pleased with your progress.”
    “My sister has a big mouth.”
    “She’s worried about you.”
    “So I’ve been told.” If my sister would just get off my back, stop hovering like I was some kind of incompetent fool and let me go at my own pace, I’d get there. So what if it was taking me longer than my physical therapist thought it would? He wasn’t the one who got shot.
    Kat touched my arm and my gaze darted to her hand. “You need to stop being so reliant on your crutches.”
    “You need to stop jumping

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