He hung his head, and murmured, “You’re right, and I’m sorry, but I can’t stand the thought of you being involved with this dick - ”
I put my hand up to stop him. “If you value our friendship at all you’ll stop right there. I appreciate that you think you need to look out for me, but I’m a big girl and I can make my own choices. Now, I’m going home, but I will be back here tomorrow to see Grady.”
Without waiting for Chase to argue with me, I looked up into Dane’s concerned eyes. “Take me home, please?”
He nodded, and followed me out of the waiting room. I leaned against him when we waited outside the elevator, and when I yawned he didn’t hesitate to pick me up, and cradle me into his chest. I didn’t fight it. I was too tired, and for once it actually felt nice to have someone to comfort me. I hadn’t felt that in a long time, and the fact that it was Dane didn’t bother me at all.
** ** **
TWO DAYS LATER, and the doctors were finally ready to remove Grady’s breathing tube. They’d told Chase and his family that they were happy with his progress, and they would be able to see if there was any permanent damage to Grady’s brain. I couldn’t imagine having to deal with all the emotional stress so close to Thanksgiving, but I had to believe Grady would make it.
Unfortunately I couldn’t be there to support Chase, and I had to get updates via text from Jade because I was stuck in bed. I’d woken up with the worst throbbing at the base of my neck, and when I tried to open my eyes, I could barely see. My body was sore, and it felt like someone had taken a hammer to my ovaries. That only meant one thing.
Aunt Flo was in town, and it was Shark Week.
Great.
I needed to get up and eat something so that I could take some ibuprofen but I didn’t have the energy, so I snuggled deeper into my covers.
There was a light knock at my bedroom door, and then I heard it open. It couldn’t be Jade, she was at the hospital with Chase, and it wasn’t Ashley, she’d already gone home early for Thanksgiving break. So who –
My heart stuttered when his familiar scent filled my room. I hadn’t seen or spoken to him since he dropped me off at home two nights ago. I wasn’t sure why, but I guessed he was just busy and didn’t allow his absence to get to me. I was preoccupied with Grady anyway, and had to deal with a very emotional Jade as soon as I’d told her about his attack. It hit us both hard, but I was glad Reid could be there for her the way Dane had been for me.
“Kennedy?”
Dane spoke softly, and heard him come closer. I turned around, clutching my stomach, and managed to crack an eye open just enough to see him. Even with blurred vision he looked edible, and if I were sure it wouldn’t have killed me, my stomach – more like my girly bits - would have clenched.
“Hi,” I croaked, wondering what he was doing here.
“Hey.” He gave me a crooked smile. The bed creaked when he sat down next to me. “I was looking for you on campus, and when I called Jade she said you were here. Is everything okay?”
The concern on his face was genuine, and the fact that he cared only added to the feelings neither of us wanted to address. I contemplated telling him it was just the flu, but I decided to be vague instead. I didn’t want to make it awkward.
“No,” I groaned. “My head feels like it’s going to explode, and…” I stopped, before I said something that would embarrass me. The only other person I’d ever discussed ‘this stuff’ with was Charlie, and that was because I had no one else. It’s not every day that a sixteen-year-old boy has to be the one to educate his little sister about periods, but that was my reality. I wasn’t sure if I was comfortable crossing that line with Dane, considering we’d been nothing more than ‘bed buddies’. If he was my boyfriend –
I squeezed my eyes shut, and pushed that thought out of my head. That was an alarm bell. I couldn’t think that way.
“And?”
“I just feel sick, Dane.”
His eyes flicked across my face like he knew I was lying. This boy was far too intuitive for his own good.
“I’m going to make you something to eat,” he said. “And then I’ll take a quick drive to the pharmacy. Will you be okay here on your own?”
I started to argue with him, but he put his hand up and I snapped my mouth closed.
“Does scrambled egg on toast sound good?”
I nodded, and winced when the slight movement caused a burst of pain to travel up the back of my skull.
“I’ll be right back.”
He leaned down as if he was going to kiss my head, but then seemed to have thought better of it. Aside from the caring, he was acting a little strange, and I didn’t know what to make of it. He seemed hesitant with me, whereas before he wasn’t. If he wanted to kiss me, then he just did it, but now he seemed…passive.
He walked in a little later with a tray in his hands, and the smells had me salivating. He placed it on the bed, and then lifted my pillows so that I could sit up.
“It smells delicious,” I said. “Thank you.”
There was that crooked smile again.
And the butterflies it caused.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes. I expect this to be finished by the time I’m back.”
“Okay, Doctor.”
He winked, and I watched his retreating form until my bedroom door clicked shut. He was such a conundrum to me, and I couldn’t deny my baser need to figure him out. It’s what women did, right? We found someone who we thought needed figuring out, and tried to fix them. The only problem was, I wasn’t sure I wanted to fix Dane. I’d come to like Dane the way he was, or at least the version of himself he’d shown me in the last two weeks.
I moaned when I took a bite of the scrumptious eggs and toast, and managed to finish most of it by the time Dane came back. He strolled in to my room, shuffling through a brown paper bag, and I decided to ogle him. I might have been in pain, but he was still pleasant to look at. His light blue jeans hung low on his hips, but it was the way it tightened around his thighs that caught my attention.
I knew what those thighs looked like naked. What they looked like mid-thrust…
“Okay,” he muttered, making me snap my head up. Luckily he was still busy looking through the contents of the bag, and hadn’t noticed me staring. “Let’s see…”
He sat down beside me again, and started taking out some ibuprofen and a small heating pad. He took out a bottle of water, and handed it to me.
“Take two ibuprofen,” he instructed, placing two pills in my hand. I swallowed them down, sighing when the cool water hit my parched throat.
“And then…” he took the heating pad out of the box, and faced me. “Lift your shirt.”
I nearly choked on my mouthful of water. “What?”
He couldn’t be serious? I felt like death warmed up, and he was thinking about sex? Granted, I would be too if my ovaries weren’t being karate chopped.
“Just lift your shirt, Kennedy.” Dane smirked as if he could read my thoughts. “Just enough to expose your stomach. Please.”
I did as he asked, and watched with rapt attention how he placed the heating pad just below my belly button. He set the temperature, and when the warmth started to settle into my skin I wanted to cry from the sheer relief. But how had he –