Page 34 of Rock Bottom

He took the tea, frowning at it for a few moments, before begrudgingly taking a sip. His eyes went wide.

I folded my arms. “Problem with the tea now, Princess?”

“No, not at all! It’s perfect.” He looked over at me, slightly slack-jawed. “Where did you learn how to make tea like this?”

“My mother.” I folded my hands and sank into the armchair next to the window. “She um…” I smiled and laughed, rubbing the back of my neck. “Well, she was the only girl in the house with five wild boys, you know? Between that, waitressing, cleaning houses, and her singing gigs, she didn’t get a lot of time to herself. But no matter how busy she got, she always made time for tea. It was the one thing she kept for herself.”

“Your mother was a singer, too?” Church brought the teacup back to his lips. It was almost comical how small it looked in his giant fingers, but he handled it so delicately.

I shrugged. “She was no Madonna, but she did a mean Stevie Nicks impression.” I gave him a few bars from “Edge of Seventeen”.

He laughed, but the laugh morphed into a cough, and I had to take the tea from him so he didn’t spill it on himself.

“Anyway,” I said, “She gave up on her dream to raise us boys, but I wouldn’t be here without her in more ways than one. We didn’t have much growing up, but we always had music.”

“She must be very proud of you.”

The words felt like a dagger twisting in my chest. “To tell you the truth, I don’t know. I haven’t seen her in over a year. We talk on the phone sometimes, but…” I looked down at my hands and shook my head. “She worked so hard her whole life. She deserves to get to retire and not be hounded by the press because of me, so I stay away.”

“That must be difficult.” He took a bite of one of the cookies.

I forced a smile. “Hey, that’s show business, right?”

His hand closed around my wrist and I looked up. “It shouldn’t be like that. You know you deserve to be happy, too.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “That’s easier said than done when you’re me.”

“I think that’s the case with everyone.”

He must’ve realized he was still holding my hand because he suddenly let me go. I wanted to reach for his hand and put it back where it was because it’d felt right, but I also didn’t want to make him any more uncomfortable than he already was. It was one thing to tease him when he was well, but not cool when he was sick.

I patted my hands on my thighs and stood. “Well, I’d better go figure out what I’m cooking you for dinner. You stay here and rest.”

He shook his head and started to get up, but I put a hand on his chest to hold him in place. Church froze, muscles bunching tight. For a moment, his eyes went out of focus, but he came back quickly and gripped my hand, shaking his head. “I have to check the perimeter, Dante. I can’t lie in bed all day, no matter how sick I am.”

I stared at my palm resting against his bare chest. His heart drummed out a steady disco beat beneath my fingers. All I wanted to do was curl my fingers, dig them into that deliciously dark patch of hair and mark him where only I would see.

Instead, I pulled my hand away. “What if I make you a deal?”

He frowned. “What kind of deal?”

“If I stay with you, then you stay in bed. The only reason you have to do all this patrolling is to keep me safe, right? So, if I’m with you, I’m safe.”

“Dante…”

“This isn’t up for negotiation.” I reached to tie my hair into a loose knot on top of my head. “You’re going to lie there like a good boy and let me take care of you until you get better, and if you don’t, I’ll spike your next tea with something that’ll ensure you will.”

“You wouldn’t.”

I rolled my eyes and sighed. “Fine, I would never roofie you. But I would give you a very stern talking to and tell you how disappointed I am, and that is way worse.”

He pressed his lips together in a perfect pout. “Fine, but no mucking about. And no complaining that you’re bored.”

I pressed my fingers to my chest. “I’ll be a perfect angel just for you, kitten.” I winked at him and held out my hand. “Now, I’m going to need a phone.”

He stared at my hand and then back up at me. “Why?”

“The list of emergency contacts on the fridge has a doctor Wilson or Waverson or…something, on it.”

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