Page 104 of A Reluctant Boy Toy
“Sadie,” Serena called. “Come here so I can get some pictures of you with Aunt Ari, Uncle Tag, and Artemis.”
I hoped she’d get a picture with Stone too.
“Just a second.” Sadie turned to me with a kind of desperation. “I’ll be back, okay? Don’t leave without saying goodbye.”
“I’ll be here.”
She was clearly torn, but her mother called her again and she ran off.
“Another Wilder conquest has apparently been made.”
“Wine.” I moaned. “Why can’t I have wine.”
“Because you're on pain pills,” Stone spoke from behind me. Morrigan walked at his side. “Speaking of which…” He pulled the bottle out of his pocket and gave me one.
“Thank you.” I gratefully popped the pill and took a swig of water.
“Your lips are so chapped they’re cracking.” He eyed my mouth. “Do they hurt?”
I nodded. “It’s awfully dry here. I'm not used to it.”
“Here, I have something.” Stone dug in his jacket pocket and brought out a container of what looked like lip gloss. He got a dab on his finger and came at me with it.
“What’s that?” I tilted my head back.
“Pure shea butter. It’s all natural.” He caught my neck with one hand and dabbed the stuff on my chapped lips the other. After he finished, I rubbed my lips together. His smile weakened my knees. “Good?”
“Nice.” I smiled back helplessly. “Thank you.”
“You want some soup?” he asked. “Or how about a salad.”
“I have nibbles.” I held up the plate Molly gave me to show him.
“That’s not enough,” he scoffed. “Let’s get you a real meal.”
He took my good hand and towed me to the buffet table. Molly and Morrigan came with.
If, as I suspected, people were watching us and wondering what sort of Modern Family type shenanigans were happening in their midst, Stone took absolutely no notice of it. He got a bowl of barley vegetable soup and spooned some broccoli salad onto a plate.
“How about over here.” He sat at one of the tables and patted the seat next to him. I sat. When I opened my mouth to talk, he filled it with soup. “You were going to say something like, 'hey, did you notice all those people staring at us?'“
I nodded. Swallowed. “I—”
“And I’m preempting you because this whole day has been completely surreal and it's not over yet.”
“I—” That time he shoveled a bite of salad into my mouth.
“The only thing that feels natural and familiar to me at this moment is making sure you have what you need. Please don’t fight me. Whether you know it or not, taking care of you grounds me.”
“I won’t fight you. But there are definitely people watching us.”
“Imagine what they’ll say when I no longer have your broken arms as an excuse and I’m still feeding you like this because…Ilikefeeding you.”
I swallowed hard. “Really?”
“Yes, goddamnit. I served my country. I've got a right to feed you if I want to.” He closed his eyes. “I must be losing my mind. Serena’s probably wondering if she can trust me with the kids. Ariel and Tag are going to tease me about this for the rest of my life. They're also probably congratulating themselves on their evil plan to force me and Serena and the kids together.”
“I think it’s sweet,” I said after looking in our hosts’ direction. “And Tag and Ariel don’t seem to be paying us any mind.”
