eyes blinking a couple of times as my stomach rolls. “Migraine,” I breathe.
He hums, standing and walking away from me. He isn’t gone long, only a few moments when he appears again. He’s got a small kitchen towel with something wrapped up inside of it, and a glass of water.
“Landry?” I whisper.
“Ice, put it where it hurts, but only for a few minutes at a time. All you had was some Tylenol, so here’s three. Drink all of the water. I’m going to bring you some food in a minute.”
“No food,” I moan.
I feel his hand move, his fingers tuck my hair behind my ear. “Yes, food, Tennessee. It will help, trust me.”
Pressing my lips together, I try to shake my head, but end up whimpering at the first shift. He hums, then stands from the bed. Just a few moments later he’s back, he sinks down next to me and the smell of sweet pancakes fills my nose.
“I didn’t know what you’d like, so I ordered a little bit of everything. I don’t think the cream-filled crepes will settle well. This is just a pancake, plain, no syrup,” he explains in a hushed tone.
“Thank you,” I breathe as I take the pancake from his hand. He doesn’t move right away, watching me eat something, then swallow the pills.
Immediately, guilt washes over me. I don’t know how he ended up here. I don’t know why he showed up, but I know it wasn’t to take care of me and Holden. I try to lift my arm, to grab hold of him, but my body just won’t do what I want.
Landry stands, he’s so neat and put together even in his jeans and polo. His beard is tidy, his hair combed. His amber eyes look over me, concern clearly marked on his face.
“Sleep,” he rasps. “I’ll take care of Holden, we’ll be right in the living room.” He turns and walks away, leaving me alone in the dark room. I have a pancake in one hand, and a towel-wrapped bag of ice in the other.
I open my mouth to tell him that it’s fine, that I can do this alone, but the words won’t come. My head feels like it might explode, like my brain may actually escape my skull. Moments later, my eyelids droop, they slowly close and I fall asleep.
Chapter Sixteen
TENNESSEE
I don’t know how long I sleep. An hour? Five? I’m honestly not sure. When I do wake up, I feel a million times better. I can’t jump up, sing and dance, but my head doesn’t feel like it’s going to explode anymore.
Slowly, I sit up with a sigh. The bag of ice that was once on my head is gone, so is the few bites of pancake that I couldn’t manage to finish that I had placed on the nightstand. My face heats at the realization that Landry came in and checked on me.
Even though I feel better, I know without a doubt that I would feel on top of the world after I took a shower. Doing just that, I slip into the bathroom quietly and as quickly as possible, I wash the sleep and headache away from my body.
When I’m finished, I slip back into the bedroom and change into something comfortable that isn’t panties and a white tank top with no bra. My blood heats again, and I touch my cheeks, feeling my warm skin, at the thought of Landry seeing me the way he did this morning.
I was a mess. A hot fucking mess. Clearing my throat, I open my bedroom door and attempt to save face as I make my way into the living room. It doesn’t take me very long, considering it’s only three steps from my bedroom door.
I’m not sure what I expected to see, but it wasn’t what I’m actually taking in. There, in the middle of my living room floor, in his nice dark washed jeans and polo shirt, sits Landry Astor, his legs crisscross, an oversized LEGO block in his hand.
Holden is sitting across from him, on his knees, placing his oversized block on top of their tower. Landry Astor is building block towers with my son. He took care of me when I was unable to take care of myself and he took care of Holden at the same time.
Tears well in my eyes at the sight, at the sensation of what this could mean. I didn’t want this, I never wanted this and that is mostly