Page 153 of Mayhem and Minnie

The pain is manageable at this point thanks to the pills, but my body is still sore. Minnie, on the other hand, is as spry as ever.

“Are you all right?” she asks worriedly as we make it inside the house. “Do you need anything?”

She’s taken her mask off and is now regaling me with her full-on blinding beauty.

I smile like a fool.

“Marlowe? Did you hear me?”

“Agh, it hurts so much,” I whine when I note this might be my chance to fulfill that one fantasy I got inside the CAT machine.

“It does? Where? We should get you to bed,” Minnie hurries to say.

I slouch and limp up the stairs, gaining more sympathy points from her.

I’m not that bad. But she doesn’t need to know that.

She takes me to my room and settles me on the bed before rushing to get me a glass of water.

I pretend to be unable to swallow—my throat hurts, but not as bad as before.

Her features tense and she panics.

“What can I do to help?” she asks in a small voice.

My lips flatten, and I pull my features into a pained grimace.

“Maybe… No, it’s nothing…” I trail off.

“What is it? Tell me and I’ll do it!”

“You’re injured too. It wouldn’t feel right.” I sigh and turn my head to the other side.

“You heard the doctor. I’m perfectly fine. Tell me what you need, Marlowe,” she hurries to say. “I feel great. My head doesn’t even hurt. I can do anything.”

She speaks with such conviction, I feel slightly guilty for my pretense—only just slightly.

I clear my throat, letting out a rough groan of pain.

She’s once more by my side, assessing me with a frantic expression.

“I’m cold,” I say and let out a visible shiver. The goal is to get her to warm me up with her body—though I don’t know how amenable she would be to that considering her no touching rule before marriage, whatever that may mean. I’m still a little confused about her reasoning about that.

She kissed my cheek! That counts as touching, no?

Minnie is an enigma.

One moment she seems into me, the next she takes a step back and puts up boundaries.

I can never tell what really goes through her mind, or if she’s been staying with me just because she has nowhere else to go—and the chocolate cookies, of course. Even if that were the case, I’m happy to give her chocolate cookies for the rest of her life as long as she remains by my side.

It’s an odd realization for someone who’s always preferred solitude. But since she’s come into my life, I’ve seen myself change. And the biggest change is the fact that I’m experiencing happiness for the first time ever.

She quickly gets a couple of blankets and places them atop me.

“Better?”

I shake my head.

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