Page 148 of The Wayward Son

He lowered his arm and looked at her, though she wasn’t sure how clearly he was seeing her. He looked worse than he did after the fight. Minus the bruises, of course.

“I’m…not okay.”

“Ember made you something to drink.”

“Thank God.” He sat up slowly and rubbed his temples. “Will you pour me some?”

“Of course.”

“I just need to…” He nodded in the direction of the bathroom.

“I’ll get your drink ready and start a pot of coffee.”

She watched Sawyer as he stood, swayed for a moment, then trudged across the room toward the bathroom. He was wearing a green plaid shirt with one sleeve rolled up to the elbow and the other one down. Several of the buttons were unbuttoned, with just a couple in the middle holding the shirt closed. The tail of it hung down over his dark blue boxers. And he had one sock on. He was a sorry sight. But she couldn’t help thinking he looked pretty adorable.

She went to the kitchen and filled a glass with Ember’s concoction, then started the coffeemaker. When Sawyer came out of the bathroom, it looked as though he’d splashed water on his face and ran his wet hands through his hair. His shirt was also buttoned, with both sleeves rolled to the elbow.

He sat on the couch and started digging through the blankets. “My damn sock.” After a moment, he found it and put it on. He then leaned against the back of the couch, put his feet on the coffee table, and pulled the blanket over his bare legs.

Jade handed him the drink. “What’s in it?”

Sawyer shrugged. “I don’t know. But it’s magical. Electrolytes, vitamins. Shit like that.”

“Yum.”

He looked at her over the rim of the glass while he drank from it. He drained the glass, then held it out to her. “Why are you here?”

She took the glass from him. “I told you. I wanted to see if you were okay.”

“Anyone could’ve come to check on me. Why did you come?”

She took the glass to the kitchen, waited a minute for the coffee to finish, then poured two cups. She brought one to him, then sat in the chair with the other.

“I’m not here to talk about what happened.”

“Okay.”

“I was just worried about you.”

“I’m fine.”

She cocked her head and smiled. “I’m not so sure about that. How much did you have to drink?”

He shook his head. “I lost count somewhere after the fifth shot of tequila.”

“Oh my. Why? Why’d you go out and get drunk last night?”

He took a sip of coffee. “If I answer that question, then we’d be talking about what happened.”

“Right. Are you hungry?”

He looked a little green at the suggestion. “No.”

“Do you want me to leave you alone?”

He looked at her for a long moment. “No.”

She drank some coffee, then set the cup down and took a breath. “I wish you would’ve let me explain myself.”

---