Page 50 of Make Me Crazy (Loco, Texas 2)

He heard the front door slam and footsteps coming down the hallway. He looked over to see Rand peak around the corner and smile. “Well, look at you two making friends.”

He snorted. “I’m just too weak to shove her off.”

Rand climbed onto the bed and ran her hand over her cat, her hand brushing his. “She has a way of getting round all your protests and making you just want to snuggle her.”

“The only thing I want to snuggle is you.”

He caught her eyes shifting toward him, before kicking off her boots and crawling under the covers to cuddle against his side. She laid her head on his shoulder and rested her hand around his waist. “Is this better?”

If he had been at full strength he would have turned over and shown her how much he liked the feel of her snuggling next to him. Instead, he just stopped petting the cat and slipped his hand under the blanket to tangle his fingers with hers. He curled his arm around her back and kissed her hair. “Much better.”

They laid there for a few minutes in silence, the only sound in the room their breathing and the soft purrs emitting from Scout’s chest. Finally his stomach rumbled under their hands and she sat up with a smile. “That’s my cue to go make you something. Want more soup or do you feel up to trying some white rice?”

His hunger protested his choices, but his brain understood the reasoning behind it. His mother had always starved him for twenty four hours after throwing up and then it was always broth, rice, and bananas. The last thing he needed was to eat something too rich and start retching again. “Rice please.”

She let go of his hand and crawled off the bed. “I’ll be back then.”

He watched her leave the room and cursed his weakened state. Since this whole thing started he’d been in a fight twice, and sicker than a dog. What else could go wrong?

Scout suddenly shifted on his chest and a deep, terrible sound started to make the small body convulse. Before he could throw the cat off, the evil little vermin retched a hairball inches from his nose.

He cursed and threw the blanket to the floor, the cat hitching a ride. When the little shit landed on it’s feet and gave him a smug twitch of her tail, he started to sit up to go after her. He felt the room spin with the fast movement and growled, “You’re going to be coyote bait, cat.”

The fluffy short tail jerked back and forth at him before she trotted out the door, whining down the hall. He heard Rand’s voice as she scolded, “Your dish is full, you crazy cat!”

He smiled at her tone and heard her pad into the room behind him. “Alright, got your rice with a little butter.” She sat next to him and handed him the lap tray with a Gatorade and a bowl of rice. “Eat up.”

“Your cat hacked a hairball on me.” He stirred the rice and took a small bite, sighing at the warm, buttery taste.

She looked down at the blanket and grimaced. “I’ll go wash it. She’s done that to me before. It’s a paralyzing sound.”

He laughed and took another bite. “Pretty much.”

She patted his knee before getting up and bending over to pick up the discarded blanket.

And the sight of Rand’s beautiful rear end pointed at him let his body know two things.

One, he was on the mend.

Two, he couldn’t wait to get her naked again.

Rand tiptoed into her room, trying not to make a sound as she changed into her pajamas. Jake had been sleeping soundly for several hours while she had cleaned up and done her chores. It was so strange how comfortable she felt having him there, in her bed. Maybe it was just because he had been her best friend for so long, but she didn’t think so.

She brushed her teeth and made her way to the other side of the bed. In the dim light, she could see Jake was sprawled out on his back, taking up a lot of room and she almost laughed. When they’d been kids and she would crawl in through his window, she would often find him sleeping like that. Funny how some things never changed.

Lifting the quilt, she crawled beneath, pushing his limbs over gently. He grumbled and rolled, giving her plenty of room to curl up on her side with her back to him.

She closed her eyes, trying to count sheep but it was nearly impossible to think of anything but Jake. As if he sensed her restlessness, his warmth was suddenly surrounding her, his hard arm wrapped around her waist.

“Hey, you okay,” he murmured against her hair sleepily.

At once, her body relaxed into him. “Yeah, I was just thinking.”

“Bout what,” he asked.

“Stuff.”

His hand drifted over her stomach, caressing it lightly. “Like wedding stuff?”

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