Page 59 of Rejected By My Stepbrother Alpha
“Asher, I—“
“Hi, Asher! My mom told us you were awake.”
I looked over, and Adrian was standing in the doorway, clutching a folded piece of paper.
As soon as Ivy heard her son’s voice, her mouth snapped shut, and her face closed off.
Mason walked up behind Adrian. “Hi, sorry. He was getting antsy in the waiting room and wanted to visit. Is this a good time?” He looked between Ivy and me, probably sensing the leftover tension in the room.
“Of course,” I said and waved them inside. “Come on in.”
Even though their arrival had interrupted a moment between us, I wasn’t upset by it. On the contrary, seeing Adrian’s shy grin with those adorable missing teeth made my heart warm.
Adrian ran into the room, but instead of taking the empty chair beside his mom, he hopped up on my bed and plopped down on the end of it.
“Oh, Adrian, honey, don’t,” Ivy said, rising from her chair. “Asher’s still sore from…”
I raised my hand to stop her protests.
“He’s fine,” I assured her and smiled at Adrian, who grinned back.
His body weight was comforting. Having Adrian there was reassuring in a way I couldn’t explain.
“I’m glad you’re all right, Asher,” Mason called from the doorway. “I’m going to get a cup of coffee.” Then he turned around and left.
I noticed Ivy glare after Mason’s retreating form. She mumbled something that sounded like “subtle”. But I could have heard her wrong.
I shifted uneasily. Had Ivy told Mason she didn’t want to be left alone with me?
“How are you feeling?” Adrian asked, his bright green eyes—that were so like Damian’s—on mine.
“I’m a little sore, but overall I’m doing good,” I answered. “You know, this is a good reminder for you to always wear your seatbelt. If I hadn’t been wearing mine, I could have been hurt far worse.”
That was strange.
What had made me go on a safety tangent? Maybe I just wasn't used totalking to kids.
“I made you a get-well card,” Adrian said shyly and handed me the folded piece of paper I'd seen him holding.
My mouth dropped open slightly, and my hand trembled slightly when I took the card from the boy's hands. In crayon, Adrian had written “Get Well Soon, Asher!” on the front, and when I opened the card, a wide smile crossed my face.
Adrian had drawn a picture of a slice of key lime pie on a plate and written “Hope we get to eat a slice together soon!” with an arrow pointing to the pie.
“Wow, this is incredible, Adrian,” I said as my eyes took in every aspect of the card. “This is the first homemade card I've ever received. Thank you so much. It really means a lot to me.” I set the card down on my bedside table where it would be on display.
As I stared at the card, my whole body seemed light with happiness. Why did this card mean so much to me? Of course, it was a nice thing to receive, but I'd only met Adrian today. Why did the fact that he had made me a card cause the backs of my eyes to prickle?
“Where did you find the time to do that, sweetheart?” Ivy asked Adrian. Her eyes were shining with an emotion I couldn't decipher. She was probably happy that her son had been so thoughtful to a stranger.
“There were crayons and paper in the waiting room,” Adrian answered.
I sat back and got into a comfortable position against my pillow. “You're really good at drawing,” I told Adrian. “If I tried to draw a piece of pie, it would look like an old boot.”
That made Adrian throw his head back and giggle. His laughter made me emotional in a way I couldn't explain.
“So, you like to draw. What else do you like to do?” I asked and picked up my water cup to take a sip.
Adrian's face brightened at my question. “My favorite thing is to race cars,” he said excitedly. “I want to be a race car driver when I grow up so that I get to see what the real thing is like, but I think that makes my mom nervous because whenever I mention it, she changes the…what do you call it when grown-ups talk about something else because they want to distract you?” Adrian's head tilted to the side, making his brown hair flop.
