Chapter 25
-Brooke-
Why was my arm soggy?
And what large, warm thing was in bed with me?
My mind fought to pull up the memories of what had happened the day before.
The cows, the snake, hitting the ground, William…
William?
My eyes flew open. Had he…had we…
A soft snore filled the air, followed by a huff that I knew wasn’t William. I turned my head and found Frank curled up next to me. He was the reason my arm was soggy. He’d drooled on the bandage around my wrist.
“Gross,” I said.
Frank’s ears perked up, and he opened his eyes to look at me.
“How did you get here?” I asked.
He lifted his head and yawned.
Then it came back to me. Patrick had taken William, left Frank, and had ordered me to get some sleep. At some point, William had texted me to warn me that Christopher had called my doctor, and I had an appointment this morning. At the time I’d been mad, but now that my head and wrist were beginning to pound again, I was grateful.
What was it about William that kept me from getting angry with his interference in my life? He’s the guy I should still be furious with, but instead I was head-over-heels for William Harris.
The mere thought of our kissing during the storm heated my skin and turned my insides gooey. The memory of his arms around me and the way his lips trailed down my neck made me go weak in the knees, and I wasn’t even standing up.
The man had figured me out, and for once, I was okay with it, because I knew that he liked me. He respected me. Forget the fact that he was smoking hot, the fact that he always showed me respect made him the most attractive man on the planet.
Okay, fine, his physical attributes certainly didn’t hurt.
Frank got up and the bed rocked. He turned around a few times, and I thought he was going to lay back down, but instead, he stretched and yawned.
“Good boy,” I said as I reached out with my good arm and scratched his head.
He panted happily, then jumped down off the bed and whined at the door.
“Outside?” I asked.
Frank grinned a doggie grin.
“Okay. I’m coming.” It wasn’t so much the act of sitting up, but the fact that everything started to ache that made me want to stay in bed.
But Frank was asking nicely, and if I was being honest, I also needed to use the toilet. So I stumbled to the door, let Frank out, and made my way to the bathroom.
I checked my phone and found a message from William.
William:Are you awake? Can I come see you?
I was still wearing the hoodie from the night before, and I figured I wouldn’t wash it ever again because it smelled like William. Should I leave it on and see if I could gather more of his scent? That sounded like a brilliant plan, except that I’d sweated in it. And I should probably put on a bra.
Brooke:I just got up. Give me twenty minutes?
William sent a thumbs up, followed by a kissing emoji.