Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 86102 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86102 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Damn it. He was smart. Couldn’t argue with that. “I might fall asleep fast. Don’t want to bore you.”
“I’ve got a great new fantasy series to read on the app on my phone after I finish looking up some of that research on beta-blockers. And you have a TV. I’m fine.” He squeezed my bicep as we entered the house. Of course, my genius nerd was going to research more about my condition. Him taking so much of an interest should not have felt good. “Besides, my place smells like paint, even with the low-odor formula we got. Consider this me taking you up on the offer to escape my bedroom.”
“I can think of a dozen sexier reasons to get you in my bedroom.” I grimaced as another wave of pain swamped me as I stumbled toward the bathroom where my medication was.
Quinn was there with water before I could even get the bottle open, and he had me settled in my bed before I could protest more. After tucking me in with a tenderness that made my lungs burn, he left me alone in the dark with another ice pack and more water. Drifting on the pain, along with the haze of the medication, I was vaguely aware of him forcing some soup on me and checking on me a couple of times before the med finally took the edge off enough that I could muster more than one-word replies to his questions.
“How is it now?” he asked, sitting next to me on the bed, using the flashlight feature of his fancy phone to examine my face before extinguishing the light. He stroked my hair, touch so gentle that I was dangerously close to weeping, and not from the pain.
“Not quite so much like I’m gonna die.” My voice came out thick, emotions too close to the surface. I’d probably feel like a donkey kicked me all the next day, but at least I wasn’t facing an ER visit. Quinn’s care was a big reason why. “Thank you.”
“Not dying is excellent.” Leaning in, he brushed a kiss on my temple the way I often did to him. The role reversal was both sweet and made my chest hurt with wanting to get back to taking care of him. “Try to sleep now.”
“Wait. You don’t have to go.” I grabbed his wrist when he would have moved away.
“Don’t worry about me. Your couch is plenty comfortable. I’ll run you back to your truck tomorrow if you can drive.”
“Lay with me a bit?” I asked, hating how damn needy I sounded. If I couldn’t be the one doing the caretaking, at least I could wallow in his nearness, let myself soak up his concern and tenderness for the next time I had to go through this on my own.
“Sure.” Thankfully, he didn’t make me ask twice, stretching out next to me. I scooted over to give him more room, then wrapped an arm and leg around him.
“I’m not gonna escape.” He laughed softly but tugged me closer anyway. He was here and staying. And for the moment, that was everything.
Sixteen
Quinn
“Morning.” Adam snuffling along the back of my neck woke me up. As far as alarms went, the brush of his beard was a pretty awesome one. Surprisingly, yet again, I’d slept way more consecutive hours in Adam’s bed than I would have in my own.
“You sound more human.” I rolled slightly so I could see his face. My vision was blurry, but his usual coloring was back. His eyes were bright, not glassy with pain as they’d been all last night.
“I am. Little bit of the headache hangover that I always get, but I’ll take that over a three-day headache. And I’m awake.” He bumped his hips into my ass. Sometime in the night, we’d both lost our pants and shirts and were now in boxer briefs. The thin fabric was doing nothing to conceal Adam’s obvious arousal.
“Parts of you seem more awake than others.” I reached down to the floor to rescue my glasses from where I’d stashed them under my side of the bed. If this was going to get good, I wanted to be able to see better.
“Mmm. You noticed.” He kissed my neck.
I snorted at how pleased with himself he sounded. “Kind of hard not to. Do you have time to fool around? I’m off, but I don’t want to make you late.”
Now that he was feeling better, I liked the novelty of morning sex, but I didn’t want to distract him from getting to work if that was what he needed more. Him feeling better was what mattered most.
“I messaged Mason last night. He knows about my headaches. Told him I’d try to make it in by lunch. We’re fine, and right now, I don’t wanna think about work.”