Page 32 of High Side
“Oh, man. I never even noticed her when I got home.”
“She’d locked herself in the guest room.” Brittany laughed. “I heard her whining and, to begin with, I thought you had a ghost. Then I remembered you had a dog.”
“Oh, man.” She looked around. “Where is she?”
“Sleeping out on the patio by the hot tub. Pouting.”
“I’ll get her a cookie.” She started to lever up, then groaned.
“I’ll get you one to give her.”
“I need to pee.” Kylie hated to admit it, but it was true.
“Well, then, Brittany to the rescue.” Brittany helped her to her feet. “Crutches. I’ll get dog cookies so you can make nice. And holler if you need help getting up.”
“I should be okay.” The sink in the powder room was just right for hauling herself to her feet. Now, what she was going to do when she needed a shower, she had no idea. That was upstairs…
“Well, you know I’m not shy.” Brit winked and headed to the kitchen.
Ky crutched to the bathroom, sighing happily when she was done. Lord have mercy she wasn’t looking forward to—
“Food delivery!” Her door burst open, and Jilly and Joe spilled into the house. Sadie raced through to greet them, barking and waving that tail like a flag.
“Hey, guys.” She teetered, and her crutch slipped. Just about the time she was sure she was going down, Brittany caught her, propping her back up.
“Whoa, there. No falling.”
“Oh my God, are you okay?” Jilly set bags of food on the kitchen counter before coming to help Brit get her to the couch.
“I screwed it up pretty good,” Kylie said wryly. “I’m out for a good bit of the season.”
“Aw shit.” Joe came to hand her a Sprite in a big cup. “That means I’m stuck with these hooligans and that Liz will be all over my ass cracking the whip.”
“Yeah.” She shrugged. How could she feel so guilty for hurting herself?
“Hey, we’ll all throw in and help, right Jilly?” Brittany patted her leg after plopping down beside her. “Did you bring enough for me to eat too or should I scoot? I fell asleep before I remembered to go get food.”
“Liz told us you took her home.” Joe waggled his eyebrows, and Brittany laughed.
“Asshole,” Ky complained mildly. “What did you bring me?”
“Sadie, leave the food alone,” Jilly said, going to grab bags. Sadie managed to look sorry, but they all knew she wasn’t. Silly mutt. “We didn’t know what you might want, so we got burgers, but we also got you the number five burrito.”
Brit blinked. “What’s the number five burrito?”
Kylie smacked her lips. “Toasted tortilla with eggs, potatoes, bacon, and a touch of green chile. Not enough to cause burning, or anything. It’s perfect. Gimme.”
Laughing, Joe dug out the burrito. “Brit? Burger or burrito? Or we got tons of tacos.”
“I would totally try a burrito if there’s enough.”
“You got it.”
They all sat with food around the coffee table, and Kylie was grateful for good friends, and also for the fact that they were just accepting that she and Brit were together. She knew this was all new, but it felt good to have Brittany taking care of her a little. Caring about her.
Like she’d heard those thoughts, Brittany fed her a French fry from the pile Joe had made on one of the bags from the food, smiling as she pressed it to Kylie’s lips.
“Yum. They did good today.”
