Page 26 of Johnathan

He froze. “What?”

“You stayed over. You got me groceries that would be okay to eat after a migraine. Because I’m always needing your help.”

“I stayed, I did this, because that’s what you do when someone you care about isn’t feeling well.”

“I’m someone you care about?”

“I thought that was obvious by now.” John’s demeanor changed. It was only slight, but she noticed immediately.

“What’s wrong?”

“We need to talk about yesterday.”

Shit. Of course. She’d passed out in front of Katy and he was probably thinking of pulling her out of class for subjecting her to such a scary event.

“You don’t think Katy is going to be scared of me now, do you? I’ll make sure she talks to the counselor at school if you think she’s going to have a hard time processing what happened yesterday. You know I adore her but if you want to switch her to another class, I completely?—”

“I’m sure Katy is going to be just fine.” He stepped back to lean against her sink, hands resting on the counter behind him. Abby took the sight of him in. Rumpled jeans from a night spent sleeping on her couch and a white shirt that was still molded to his body even after a day of wearing it.

Whatever brand that was, they needed to contact John about being a model because holy hell, the way the white fabric showed every muscle on his chest and stomach had her almost drooling. “This isn’t about her.”

Oh god, she needed to stop. She was ogling the poor man in her kitchen who was trying to have a serious conversation with her! “Okay…”

“If I hadn’t been there, what would you have done?”

“What do you mean?”

“What normally happens when you have your migraines? You call your mom or Sam to help.”

“Uh, sure.”

“No. You don’t. Do you?”

“I haven’t wanted to burden them more. Sam is killing himself trying to keep the ranch afloat and my mom has always been whimsical. You know, never really good with the tough stuff. That was always my dad. My mom wants to focus on being positive and crystal healing. I’d rather just take my prescription and sleep it off.”

“But you passed out yesterday. It was so bad that you literally collapsed to the ground.” John flinched, and the memory of her struggling to get to her car made her stomach sour. It had probably been so upsetting to see that happen to her. “Give me your phone.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I’m going to put my number in there and you’re going to use it the next time you aren’t feeling well.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Yes. Don’t be stubborn. Everyone needs someone to call when they need help. I want to be that person for you.”

Her jaw went slack.

“Why?”

“Because we’re friends. I care about you.”Friends.God, she wanted so much more. “And we’re going to start those self defense lessons. I’ll need your number to coordinate that.”

“Okay,” she whispered as she handed over her phone. He typed away for a few seconds before handing it back.

“Good. I’m in there now.”

She quickly looked at the contact information and laughed.

“Deputy Handsome?”

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