Page 56 of Still Burning

I opened for him, only to taste his minty, fresh breath and push him back to cover my mouth.

“I haven’t brushed my teeth.” My words were muffled, but heheard me.

He grinned. “I don’t care. Move your hand.”

I shook my head and then scrambled to get off the bed, but his fingers wrapped around my ankle and stopped me.

“Rome!” I whined. “Let me go brush my teeth. Fourteen-hour morning breath has to be awful.”

“I want your sexy ass in my bed,” he replied, pulling me back.

“Please,” I begged and attempted to wiggle free.

It was then that it hit me—the familiar wave of nausea—and I stopped. It was worse than before. I’d slept fourteen hours. I was home. Not in a dark pit of depression in Ireland.

“You okay, Angel Face?” Rome asked. “Did I hurt you?”

He let go of my ankle and ran his fingertips across the bottom of my feet. Normally, that would make me giggle, but right now, I was positive I was going to throw up. I moved quickly, covering my mouth as the cold sweat broke out over my body.

Please let me make it to the toilet.

“Angel Face,” Rome’s concerned voice called out, but there was no time to explain.

Shoving open the bathroom door, I rushed to the toilet just as my stomach lurched. I grabbed as much of my hair as I could and bent over with the first heave. I was on my second one when I felt Rome come up behind me and take my hair from my hand, then collect the rest of it. Two more, and then it began to fade. Reaching for the handle, I flushed it, then straightened.

Rome let go of my hair, and I heard the water running. I glanced over to see him wetting a washcloth, then wringing it out before turning back to me. Gently, he cleaned my face. The cold felt good, and I closed my eyes and sighed. The nausea wasn’t completely gone, but the worst had eased.

“I’ll get you some water,” he told me, then reached over and closed the toilet seat lid. “Sit.”

I didn’t argue and sank down while he left to go get a waterfrom his fridge. Staring at the wall, I tried to think of a reason for this, but only one came to mind. But that shouldn’t be possible. I’d had my birth control injection on time. I kept a reminder on my phone so I never missed it. Not having a period didn’t mean anything to me because I often missed periods with the shot. When I did have them, they were light.

But…I didn’t have my phone. Alarm began to crawl up my spine. What if I’d had the timing wrong? I couldn’t remember exactly when I’d taken my last one. I relied on my alert to remind me, but there was no alert without a phone.

Oh God.

Rome walked back into the bathroom with an open bottle of water and handed it to me. “Here, have some of this, and I’ll get the shower going. I’ve missed washing your hair,” he told me as his lips quirked.

Taking the water, I remained silent. I didn’t drink. Just continued to stare. Thoughts shooting off one right after another in my head. Panic, fear, worry, all rolling together.

“You gonna be sick again?” Rome asked, sinking down in front of me. His expression wasn’t concern but more…tender.

I shook my head.

He reached out and brushed my cheek with his hand. “The water will get that taste out of your mouth, and you need to rehydrate.”

A steady pounding began in my temples.

“Drink for me, please,” he said, taking the water and holding it to my lips.

I took a drink, and he gave me a moment before placing it to my lips again. My eyes met his.

“Rome,” I whispered.

“Yeah, baby?”

I swallowed. “I don’t have my phone.”

He frowned, but it held a touch of amusement. “I know. I wasgoing to get you a new one before that bastard took you from me. We will go do that once I let you leave this room.”

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