Page 68 of Falling Together

Blair groaned and started to roll around in the bed, then began to cough uncontrollably. Once the coughing stopped, she sat up and threw a hand over her forehead. “Shit. I feel like I got hit by a fucking bus. There’s no way I can go to work today.”

Erin felt awful that she had passed her sickness on to Blair, but a very small, selfish part of her was the slightest bit excited. For once, it was finallyherturn to take care ofBlair.

Chapter 23

Blair

Fuck my fucking immune system,Blair thought to herself as she broke into another coughing fit.Shit. No wonder Erin and Nolan were in such rough shape all weekend. This is no joke.

“Could you hand me my phone?” Blair asked Erin, pointing in the general direction of where it might be.

A few seconds later, the phone was in her hand. Blair could barely look at it since her head hurt so bad, but she had to call her boss to let her know she couldn’t come in. She was actually disappointed about missing work. In the past, she always thought she’d love any excuse to miss work, but Blair really enjoyed this job. The kids were great and they constantly kept her entertained, even when they were being completely feral.

It only took two rings for Blair’s boss to pick up the phone. “Hey, Joyce. I’m really sorry to do this, but I came down with something and I’m not going to be able to come in today. Honestly, I’m not too sure about tomorrow either. I’m so sorry for letting you know at the last minute. I was fine when I went to bed, but now…” She couldn’t finish her sentence because she started to coughagain.“Well, yeah. As you can hear, I’m not doing too great. If I could come without risking getting the kids sick I would, but—”

“Blair,” Joyce interrupted her rambling. “I completely understand. This happens a lot because of all of the germs that spread throughout the building. Just take good care of yourself and let me know once you are feeling well enough to come back. I’ll plan on you being out until I hear otherwise.”

Even though she didn’t have much work experience, Blair still understood how lucky she was to have such an understanding boss. She couldn’t say Joyce was thebestboss she had ever had, seeing as how she knew for a fact the other person she had worked for lookedvery goodnaked.

Erin also looked amazing when she wasn’t naked, and the way she was looking at Blair with wide, caring eyes made Blair want to beg her to stay in bed with her all day. She didn’t want to encourage Erin to be irresponsible, especially since she was trying to prove to her how responsible she could be, so she forced herself out of bed. “It looks like I’ll be spending the next day or two at home, but I’ll let you know as soon as I’m feeling better and maybe we can do another movie night…?”

Much to Blair’s surprise, Erin shook her head. “Absolutely not. I’m the one who got you sick. I’m going to call my boss and tell him I need to work from home today and tomorrow.”

“You can do that?” Blair was actually amazed that Erin waswillingto do that. For her. She was also pretty sure her heart was currently as warm as her head.

Erin shrugged. “I should probably tell him it’s for Nolan, not for a very sexy woman, but yes. It shouldn’t be any problem at all.”

“Wow.” For once Blair was at a loss for words. “Thank you. That’s amazing. I promise I won’t bother you. I’ll most likely lay around all day.”

“Do me a favor?” Erin stood from the bed and rested her hands on Blair’s hips. “Pleasebother me today.”

Blair swallowed hard. She was pretty sure Erin didn’t mean for her words to sound as sexual as they did, but that’s exactly where Blair’s mind went. If she didn’t feel like such a big steaming pile of shit, she probably would’ve taken a chance and asked Erin to get back in bed with her for a little bit of fun.Maybe once I’m better… if she’s ready.

Erin’s eyes went wide as she stared at Blair, waiting for a response that Blair couldn’t form because her mind was on other things. “Shoot. That sounded really bad, didn’t it?”

Blair squeezed Erin’s sides and smirked. “I don’t know. If you ask me, it sounded pretty damn good.”

Erin shook her head at Blair and gently poked her in the chest. “Youneed to relax today, so you can feel better.”

“And what’s going to happen when I feel better?” Blair lifted an eyebrow. She knew she was giving Erin a hard time, but it was impossible not to tease her.

Erin’s face turned red, and her smile dropped. Blair’s plan to be flirty had definitely failed. “I…. I don’t know. I didn’t mean it like that. I’m not saying it will never happen. I just—”

Blair squeezed Erin’s sides again. As cute as Erin looked when she was flustered, Blair also didn’t want to upset her. “It’s okay. Breathe. No pressure, all right? Whatever you want to take, I’m willing to give.”

Erin put her head on Blair’s shoulder. “I don’t deserve you. You know that, right?”

That wasn’t true, and Blair would do anything she possibly could to prove it to her. “You deserve the world.”

Erin laughed. “That’s evenmoreproof that I don’t. You’re such an amazing person, and I’m just me, and for whatever reason, you have me up on a high pedestal.”

How does she not realize how amazing she is?“You’re notjust you.You’re the greatest mom in the entire world, but you’re also ridiculously funny. And even though you try to act like you’re not, you’re a huge flirt, and I love that. On top of all of that, you’re also extremely sexy.”

“How sexy?” Erin smirked and leaned in close, her eyes shutting right before her lips grazed Blair’s.

Or, at least, they would’ve grazed Blair’s if a little voice hadn’t chosen that exact moment to scream out to them.

“Mommy! Bear! I awake!”