I nodded. “I can’t imagine doing anything else. I’ve loved animals practically since I was born.” With a sly smile, I added, “I guess I found them to be much nicer than my family.”

Rev laughed. “I can see how you might believe that.”

I absently flicked away a piece of fuzz on my blanket. “I was in my first semester of veterinarian school. I’ve missed so much that I guess I’ll just start over in the fall.”

“I think you’ll be an amazing veterinarian,” Rev said encouragingly.

“And how can you tell?”

Cocking his head, he stared at me for a moment. “There’s something about you that says you have a caring nature.”

“Except when it comes to my parents.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself about them. Lots of people have complicated relationships with their families.”

“Do you?”

Rev smiled. “How quickly you forget—my father killed my rapist, gave up his church, and divorced my mother. I would say that makes for complications, doesn’t it?”

I shook my head. “But you still got along with your father, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, I did. He was a good man despite his faults.”

“You seem to get along well with Bishop.”

Rev grinned. “Ah, yes, my dear, sweet baby brother who should have been here half an hour ago with dinner.” After he laughed, he added, “Yeah, he’s my best friend. Along with our older brother.”

“What about your mother?”

The amusement in Rev’s face was replaced with such a look of admiration and tenderness that it caused an ache in my chest. “She’s my hero. Everything good and decent that I am is because of my mother.”

His endearing words, along with the conviction with which he spoke, momentarily left me speechless. I couldn’t help wondering just for a moment what it might be like to have such a woman as my mother. “She sounds like an amazing person.”

“She is.” The corners of his lips turned up in a smile. “She’s probably one of the reasons I’m still single. She’s spoiled me too much.”

“So there’s no girlfriend or wife back home?”

“No. There isn’t.”

Although I couldn’t explain why, his answer gave me a sense of relief. Hitting him with his question from earlier, I asked, “How is it that a man as handsome as you is still single?”

He grinned. “Stop it. You’ll make me blush.”

I couldn’t help laughing at his teasing remark. He was such a paradox—a tender, gentle soul wrapped up in a handsome, yet hard and gruff exterior. “Seriously, though. I might’ve only known you for a few days, but I can tell what a good, decent, and caring man you are. Not to mention the easy-on-the-eyes bit.”

Rev ducked his head shyly. “I don’t know why other than I got my heart broken a couple of years ago.”

My fists clenched at my sides, and for the first time in my life, I wanted to scratch the eyes out of a girl I’d never met—the girl who had dared to break Rev’s heart. “That’s a shame, because you deserve someone who makes you happy, not someone who hurts you.”

Rev’s head shot up at my comment. His intense stare made me regret what I said. He opened his mouth to say something, but the hospital room door burst open and silenced him. Bishop blew in laden with food bags.

“Finally. What took you so long?” Rev asked. He stood up and started to reach for some of the bags, but Bishop jerked them away.

“Oh hell no! Don’t you even begin riding my ass about how long it took. Do you know how fucking far we had to go to find a car?” He paused dramatically. “An hour.”

“I’m sorry—” Rev began, but Bishop shook his shaggy blond head wildly back and forth.

“Did I mention how during that hour I had to ride bitch with Ghost so that I could drive the car back?”

The corners of Rev’s lips twitched like he was fighting not to smile. “That sucks, man. I’m sorry. I really am.”

“You better fucking be,” Bishop muttered. He then sidestepped Rev to come over to the bed. He plopped a McDonald’s bag down in front of me. “The only good thing about driving an hour away was fucking civilization.” His blue eyes narrowed on mine. “I hope you like McDonald’s.”

I could tell he was just waiting for me to complain. “I love McDonald’s, and I haven’t gotten to have it in forever. Thank you, Bishop,” I said sweetly as I reached for the bag.

His shocked expression was somewhat comical. “Yeah, well, you’re welcome.”

As I unwrapped a cheeseburger, my stomach growled noisily. The moment I bit into it, I moaned in delight. “This tastes amazing.”

Bishop grinned. “Glad you like it.”

Rev came over to the bed. “You got anything for me?”

“There’s at least five cheeseburgers in there,” Bishop replied before he went over and plopped down in the chair Rev had been sitting in.

With a wink, Rev asked, “Mind if I have a cheeseburger, or do you think you’ll devour them all?”

I laughed. “You can have three. I think two will be my limit.” I glanced over at Bishop. “Unless you want one.”

He shook his head as he rubbed his stomach. “I ate on the drive back.”

With Bishop taking the only chair, Rev surveyed the room to figure out where to sit. “You can sit on the bed if you want,” I suggested.