Page 34 of Hidden By His Side

The faucet turned on, or maybe instead of water that was just a rushing in her ears. Her face felt too hot, but the rest of her was so very cold. She slumped to the side as the sounds around her dimmed, the cool tiles against her too warm cheeks welcome. She closed her eyes, needing to stop the spinning.

Ramiro’s worried voice hummed in her ears. She let out a cry of protest as the coolness of the tiles went away, but a cool cloth replaced it, wiping over her face softly, another wonderful chill resting on her neck. How had he known her neck felt hot?

“I don’t give a shit about that prick Seb dropped off. Get over here instead.” Ramiro’s voice came through a tunnel, his tone angry. He’d been angry the night before, too.

He shouldn’t have been. Derek had only been telling the truth, no matter how hard it was to hear.

Summer opened her eyes, the overhead light making her squint. Everything felt dull and far away.

“I’m not moving her. You said that likely made things worse last time. No, this isn’t a head injury. I thought it was just morning sickness, but she passed out!”

“… ’m okay,” she tried to say, her lips numb.

“Summer?” He cradled her head in his lap. “Don’t move. Just rest.” A brief touch of lips pressed against her forehead. “No, you come here. Leave him at the clinic. What? Yes, she’s pregnant. That’s why I wasn’t worried about the vomiting, but I don’t like this. She’s still—”

Summer reached up, curling her fingers around his wrist below his phone. “I’m fine,” she tried again. “Happened before.” She’d woken up alone that time, something gross between her face and the tiles, though the coolness had felt good and made all the difference.

“It happened before? Dammit, Summer, you should have—” Ramiro’s words paused as he listened to whoever was on the phone. “Low blood pressure?” he repeated.

“It’ll be okay,” she murmured. The dizziness was passing but left her exhausted like last time. It had taken so much effort to crawl back into her bed on her own that time, but Ramiro was here, his arm secure around her.

She’d take a quick rest in his arms and everything would be back to normal. Ramiro’s voice drifted in, the words no longer registering but calming her even more as she closed her eyes.

The second time Summer woke up was so much better. She was in her bed cuddled up against Ramiro, his hand moving through her hair.

There was no return of the nausea. They called it morning sickness, but her worst episodes happened while it was still dark. Sleep had always been hard for her, so she should have expected that.

Her hand moved up over Ramiro’s naked chest. His chest hair tickled her cheek and fingers, but also felt so soft against her skin. She petted it a little before settling her hand over his heart, liking the slow thrum beneath her fingers.

Ramiro was here with her. It was exactly what she wanted. Actually, she wanted to be wrapped up in him even tighter.

“How’re you feeling?” he asked, a huskiness in his voice, as if he’d gone back to sleep, too. His hand continued to play with her hair.

“Perfect,” she said, her lips brushing over his chest. She wanted to do it again, this time on purpose, but she shouldn’t push herself on him.

The way he pulled her into his body felt so right, though, even if he still wore pants. Their legs wove together, and she wished she could feel his hair there too.

A soft rumble in his chest filled her ear. “Don’t lie to me. There’s no way everything is perfect.”

“You’re here,” she said, her hand slipping around to his side, wanting to touch more of him. She wished she could grab on and never let go.

“I’m here,” he agreed. “I’ll always be here for you when you need me. No matter what happens.”

She hummed in her throat, knowing he didn’t mean it the way she wanted. Ramiro had taken care of her ever since the first time he’d held her on that bridge, but it wasn’t romantic.

She pressed closer anyway, wishing things could be different. Having sex with her once had been more than enough for him. Or less than enough. He hadn’t even come.

Sex had just been another way for him to take care of her.

Summer wondered what he’d say if she admitted it was the best sex she’d ever had. If she told him she daydreamed about him when she was with other men, what expression would he make?

His hand shifted from her hair, sliding along her back almost to her ass before reversing direction and drifting back up. The motion soothed and stimulated at the same time. Summer wanted to close her eyes and breathe him in, but she also wanted him even closer.

Close enough to be part of each other.

“I want you to move in with me,” Ramiro murmured.

Summer lifted her head to meet his eyes. They were steady and certain.

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