bathed in pink, full of music, or anything in between.
“Let me grab something to drink,” he says walking into the kitchen. I hear him open and close the fridge before grabbing something that rustles loudly before coming back into the living room. He sits in the armchair and passes me the opened bag of popcorn.
I grab a handful. “Thanks.” He picks up the remote and offers it to me, but I shake my head. “You pick. We’ve tortured you enough with our choices.”
I almost miss the way the corners of his lips curve upward. Almost.
When he chooses a comedy, I settle in and nibble on the popcorn. Ainsley stirs but never wakes, cuddling into my warmth and snoring softly.
“Will she be okay?”
I snap my gaze over to him. He watches Ainsley with drawn brows, concern lingering. “It isn’t a big deal, just a little cold. Between the weather and school starting back up, it was bound to happen.”
He scrubs a palm down his jaw and nods, leaning back in the chair to make himself comfortable. He seems content with the answer, going back to the popcorn and movie. We finish the first one and start another despite it being after two. I should be tired but I’m not.
Shortly after it begins Ainsley makes a small moaning noise and wiggles under the blanket until her feet kick it off her. I frown as she swipes at her eyes and face. “Ains? You okay, Nugget?”
Another noise comes out of her throat.
The chair next to me creaks. “Piper…”
“She’s okay,” I whisper. “Can you get her a glass of water and some of the children’s Tylenol from upstairs? It’s in the cabinet by—”
“I know.” My lips part as I watch him go grab it without a question, leaving me speechless.
Ainsley climbs onto my lap, latching onto me like a little koala. I hold her tight, resting my chin on the top of her head. It doesn’t take long for Easton to come back down, a glass of water in one hand, and a bottle of pills and thermometer in the other.
Swallowing, I thank him and take her temperature, wincing when I see the 102.3 on the screen. I tell Ainsley to take the medicine despite the face she makes. I praise her with a kiss on the forehead when she obeys.
East shifts. “Is she…?”
“We’ll see if the medicine helps.”
He wets his lips.
Ainsley wiggles in my lap again, so I stroke her hair with my fingers. She eases into me, resting her warm face in the crevice of my neck. I shush her and settle back onto the couch, swinging my legs onto the cushions.
“Sleeping down here still?” he guesses.
I nod, giving him a small smile. With Ainsley draped across my body like a weighted blanket, I brush her hair and wait to say goodnight to East.
But he sits back down in the chair.
“What are you doing?”
He shrugs, picking up the remote and turning the television volume down. “Just go to sleep. I’m not tired anyway.”
I blink.
He continues watching the movie like I’m not staring at him with a sick kid laying on me. A kid that’s not his, but he has a soft spot for anyway. It makes my heart feel funny, but I don’t analyze it. I refuse to.
It’s long after Ainsley’s asleep again that I decide to speak up. “I saw Mable last week. You know, Danny’s grandma that I was telling you about? Anyway, I guess I needed to hear from her that I was being stupid.”
There’s humor in his tone. “And did she tell you how stupid you’re being?”
My smile grows. I refrain from laughing because I don’t want to disturb Ainsley. “No. But she said what I needed to hear.”
His silence makes me feel the need to explain even though I know he doesn’t expect anything from me. “I don’t want to be angry over something I can’t change. That seems…”
“Pointless,” he murmurs.
“Pointless,” I agree, realizing he says it out of personal experience. I wonder what makes him get it, but I don’t ask. Not now at least.
Neither one of us says anything else.
Chapter Eight
A week later Ainsley is back to herself just in time for her birthday. Though I think she was afraid she wouldn’t get her ice cream cake otherwise.
The morning after we’d fallen asleep on the couch, I woke to see the chair beside us empty. I’m glad Easton hadn’t stayed. There was no point in both of us being sleep deprived and worried when it