hair in hopes of getting a better glimpse of her. “Why the hell are you sorry?”
She keeps her face buried as she answers, “Because I feel like I conned you into helping me or something. If I hadn’t given you that stupid pin, you wouldn’t feel obligated to be here.” I hear the sniffle before I see any evidence that she’s crying, but I know her well enough to put two and two together.
“Baaabe,” I drag out the word then pull her back into my chest. “Why are you crying?”
“I don’t know,” she cries with another sniffle.
Chuckling, I admit, “Want to know something funny?”
She nods against me, but I can still feel the moisture from her tears sinking into my T-shirt.
“I always hated criers.” I laugh a little harder. “I thought they were doing it just to get attention and shit.”
“I’m not––”
“I know. And that’s why it’s so funny.” Rubbing my hand against her threadbare T-shirt that swallows her whole, I continue. “You’re one of the most genuine people I’ve ever met, and I kind of love that about you.”
She freezes when she recognizes the four-letter word, but what’s really weird is that I don’t rush to correct myself. Besides, I didn’t say I loved her. I said I loved something about her. There’s a difference. But even as I justify my comment, a tiny voice in the back of my head still argues, Yeah, but you’ve never said it in that context to a girl you barely know, either.
And I don’t regret it in the slightest.
“Well…,” she mutters, her voice trailing off. “I’m, uh…I’m glad that you can still find me appealing after seeing me like this.”
“Like what? Vulnerable? Sick? A hobo?”
Smacking me against my chest, she scowls up at me. “Hey! That’s not very nice!”
“I’m kidding. And I definitely still find you appealing. So much so, that if I weren’t afraid that you might be contagious, I might even prove it to you.”
“I’m sure you’d love that,” she teases. “Always a sucker for brownie batter, right, Gage?”
I know she’s joking, but it doesn’t take away the sting of truth.
“Who doesn’t love brownie batter,” I mutter sarcastically.
Sensing my deflated attitude, she adds, “Exactly. I know what the deal is. I know what I agreed to, so don’t worry about me catching feelings or anything.”
That’s the problem, though, isn’t it? I think I’m starting to.
I shift on the mattress to get a little more comfortable but don’t respond.
“I don’t think it’s the flu,” she mentions as the silence grows more uncomfortable around us. “I’m feeling a lot better after finally getting some sleep, and I think I got all the bad brownie out of me last night. I’ll probably be right as rain after a shower.”
“A shower is a good idea. Do you feel good enough to try to eat something too? See if you can keep it down?”
Stomach rumbling, she smiles. “Yeah. Food actually sounds really good now.”
The banana is still resting on the nightstand, so I grab it and offer it to her. “Here you go.”
“Thanks.”
When she catches me staring at her mouth as she wraps her lips around it, I tear my gaze away.
“So uh…brownies, eh?”
She groans. “Don’t remind me.”
“When did you get brownies, anyway?”
“I, uh…after the public therapy session, I hunted down Gem, and we had a little chat. There was a dessert buffet, so I grabbed some on my way out. Who knew they would’ve been so lethal, right?”
“One little brownie knocked you on your ass?”
She takes another giant bite of banana while shifting her gaze from me to the rest of the room, then back at me like she can’t decide where to look.
“Technically, it was like”––she does the math in her head––“four.”
I chuckle. “Four. Good to know. Do you mind if I ask what you and Gem talked about?”
With a one-shouldered shrug, an uncomfortable Nora swallows the lump of fruit. “Just that she owes me for making us go through that mess.”
“I’m actually kind of glad we got conned into that,” I admit, surprising both of us.
Her eyes widen before she sets the banana peel on the nightstand. “Really?”
“Yeah.” I replay a few of the highlights in my head before her warm touch on my forearm brings me back to the present. “Although I’m a little offended you felt the need to run in the opposite direction as soon as it was over.”
“I’m sorry. My emotions were pretty much overflowing, and I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea or anything. Like