Page 56 of Playing Flirty

He cracked his eyes open, his frown deep. He offered me the slightest nod, and I put the cloth on his forehead. He flinched, but I continued tracing my fingers down his chin, cupping his face before placing a soft kiss on his cheek.

“This is…” he said.

When I pulled away to look at him, his eyes had fallen closed again.

“… nice.” He swallowed.

“I’m doing the bare minimum here to keep you alive for my own selfish reasons.”

He chuckled and stilled. He didn’t open his eyes when he spoke again. “I’ve never had anyone do any of this for me… not since my gran.”

My heart cracked open. That couldn’t be true. What of his father? Who, it occurred to me in that moment, was a doctor. I stared at him, wanting to ask questions, to do more. But there wasn’t much more to do, and I didn’t think my intrusive questions were appropriate.

William tilted his head in my direction and opened his eyes. “What did you think of the latest Haunted Thrones? I assume you’ve read it by now.”

I lifted the book and shook my head. “I haven’t had a chance. Have you?”

He nodded and then cringed.

“Oh, don’t do that,” I said.

“What?”

“Don’t do that with your face. Now I know someone is going to die. Who is it? No. Don’t tell me. Never mind.” I put the book back on his shelf and enjoyed his soft laughter behind me.

“My brain feels noisy,” he whispered.

“I get noisy brain too.” In fact, having not had an inch of sleep all night and a busy start to the day, I was currently fighting it. “I drown it out by watching something familiar I don’t really need to focus on.” I grabbed his laptop and brought it to the bed. “Wanna try?”

He nodded, and I scooched near him, resting my head on his shoulder. He dropped his head on top of mine while I navigated through the movies he’d marked as favorites.

“I know.” He took the mouse and scrolled to a movie I’d have chosen if given the chance.

Half-awake, he locked our hands, our fingers fitting perfectly.

I closed my eyes and gave in to the feeling of peace, knowing William was okay and he was close enough for me to hear every breath.

A few minutes intoThe Lord of the Rings, sleep came for me. Finally.

Round 19

Neema stayed over at Shaun’s place, so the next morning, I was knocking on his door because they needed to fill me in on the wedding arrangements I’d missed.

And I wanted to check on William.

The previous day, I’d snuck out of his room the second I’d heard Shaun and Neema enter, and before either of them could ask me anything, I made excuses to leave.

But here I was.

Shaun opened the door, and I peeked inside. William was on the couch, fast asleep. I lowered my voice when I greeted them but Neema turned on the loud kettle.

“He’s asleep!” I said.

“Yeah, like a log. You can kick him, and he won’t wake up. But he’s okay. Your mom’s concoction worked,” Shaun replied, his voice at regular volume.

I hovered over William, but he barely fluttered an eyelid at Shaun’s loudness. He looked so peaceful in sleep—no smirks, no disdain, no frowning. I resisted the urge to place soft kisses all over him and his long eyelashes.

Instead, I pinched his chin.

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