Page 71 of Relief Pitcher

Cooper must’ve dozed off while I was in the kitchen because he slowly opened his eyes when I came back into the living room.

“Caleb made the soup and Seth helped with the meds?”

I nodded as I dropped onto the couch. “It was a group effort.”

“You’ve got great friends.”

A smile tugged at my lips. “I do.”

“Thanks for taking care of me, Ty.” His eyes fell closed.

He would sleep much better in his bed. I walked to the recliner and pulled him to his feet. “That’s it. We’re going to lie down.” I stacked two pillows to help with his breathing and tucked him in before refilling his water and getting a cool rag.

I settled next to him on top of the covers, leaning back against the headboard. My cheeks burned at the memory of him in the same spot and what we’d done. How hard I’d come on his dick. Now I was wiping sweat from his forehead and snot from his nose.

He sighed happily. “Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?”

“Of course.” I let him use my lap as a pillow.

After creepily staring at him for a few minutes, I started fucking around on my phone. Somehow, I ended up googling articles about dating for the first time in your thirties. I read an essay by someone who said he was never interested in dating and had just messed around through his twenties and half his thirties. But then he’d met someone and settled down. It’d worked for him. Could it for me? It made me feel better to know someone else had been successful. The last thing I wanted to do was risk hurting Cooper with my inexperience, but even knowing that some people had managed it didn’t fill me with confidence. I’d needed to call in a team to help him while he was sick. How could I manage a relationship twenty-four seven?

He coughed, and I smoothed his hair back. He snuggled closer and relaxed into his sleep.I would do anything not to hurt this man.

CHAPTER32

TYLER

Team Tap That Group Text

Dom: Did you kill Cooper yet?

Ty: He’s very much alive. Thank you very much.

Austin: The real question is whether you helped or made him feel worse.

Ty: Rude!

Austin: Do I need to remind you of the “hazardous containment unit” sign?

Ty: Ha! I was just thinking about that. I thought the toxic barrel clipart added a great touch.

Ethan: It was pretty funny. The RA was so concerned. [laugh-cry emoji]

* * *

I pickedup the empty Dutch oven from the passenger seat and yawned as I trudged into the house. Between Cooper’s consistent coughing, nose blowing, and my worrying about him, I’d barely slept. I needed to shower and change before heading to the brewery. Spending the night hadn’t been part of my plan, but I couldn’t leave him.

I passed the TV room on my way to drop the pot in the kitchen and spotted Seth lying on the couch and smiling at his phone. He looked relaxed in sweats and a T-shirt instead of his usual vests and bow ties.

“How’d it go? Manage not to kill him?” Seth raised an eyebrow at my baseball pants.

I opened my mouth to make a joke but stopped. Seth studied me, then sat up.

“Everything okay?”

He wasn’t making a joke about me having a neurological event, so I must’ve looked as serious as I felt. I dropped the stuff onto the coffee table and plopped on the couch, knocking his feet out of the way.

“I’m confused.”

---