at her all night long, she couldn’t help but wonder what she’d been missing.
“What’s wrong, Pookie?” Chase asked as he wheeled himself over to the couch where she was currently curled up, staring at the television and feeling sorry for herself.
“Nothing,” Sloane said with a heartfelt sigh since that’s all she could manage at the moment.
“Is this because you woke up cranky this morning?” Chase asked, sounding thoughtful as he set the locks on his chair and moved the armrest out of the way.
“Yes,” she said, pulling her legs out of the way so that Chase could transition himself to the couch and
Manhandle her, Sloane thought with a sigh as she found herself pulled onto his lap where she decided that this was just as good a place as any to feel sorry for herself. With that in mind, she wrapped her arms around him as she laid her head against his shoulder and just because it felt like the right thing to do, she released another sigh, wishing the Gatorade and Advil that she had for breakfast would kick in sooner.
“This is kind of pathetic, Pookie,” Chase said as he wrapped his arms around her.
“I know,” Sloane mumbled sadly, making him chuckle.
“Would it help if I offered to take you out to dinner for your birthday?” he asked, taking her by surprise since it was normally like pulling teeth to get him to leave the house.
“I mean, it wouldn’t hurt,” Sloane mumbled, biting back a sigh of relief that he probably wouldn’t appreciate. When she felt his hands gently rub her back, she found herself closing her eyes and relaxing in his arms, that is, until he spoke again.
“I just need you to admit that I’m your favorite patient first,” he drawled lazily as he continued rubbing her back, making her lips twitch.
“Well, I don’t know if I could do that,” she teased, sitting back as she made a show of thinking it over.
“Really? Because I think you can,” Chase said, running his hands down her back.
“It just feels wrong to lie,” Sloane said with a pitying shake of her head and a heartfelt sigh that had him narrowing his eyes on her and
“You bastard!” she gasped when he ran his fingertips down her side, tickling her in the process.
“What was that, Pookie?” the cruel man asked as he continued his tickling assault while Sloane tried to push his hands away only to realize that the bastard wouldn’t stop.
So, she did what she had to do.
“What exactly are you doing, Pookie?” Chase asked, pausing in his tickling assault to throw her a questioning look as she tried her best to tickle him only to realize too late that the bastard wasn’t ticklish.
“Rethinking my plan,” she said, nodding solemnly.
“You’re not very good at this,” he said, his lips twitching with amusement.
“I know,” Sloane admitted, biting back a smile as she reached back and grabbed his hands, bringing them forward as she entwined her fingers with his and pinned his hands against the couch, effectively ending his tickling assault.
With a sigh and a sad shake of his head, Chase looked from his hands pressed against the couch cushion to her and said, “Really, Pookie? This is really the best that you can do?”
“You’re kind of cocky for a guy who just lost,” Sloane pointed out with a smug smile as she shifted to get more comfortable on his lap.
“I know I won,” Sloane said with a satisfied sigh.
“Is that really what you think?”
“It’s what I know,” she said, knowing that she’d effectively turned the tables on him.
“Ah, Pookie,” Chase said, tightening his hold around her hands and making her frown, that is, until he used his hold to move her hands behind her back where he managed to grab hold of both of her wrists in one hand and–
“You bastard!” Sloane gasped, trying to get away, but it was already too late.
*-*-*-*
She couldn’t keep doing this, Melissa thought as she sat there, trying to figure out what she was going to do now. She hated this, hated having to do this to him, hated everything about this and…and…
God, she missed him.
Chase was her little brother and her best friend. He was the one that she always went to when something was wrong, she needed someone to talk to, needed a smile, or just wanted to see him. She didn’t want to do this to him, didn’t want to give him another reason to hate