The afghan I kept draped over the back of the couch was wrapped around her, partly covering her face.
“Hey,” I whispered, carefully shutting the door behind me. “How is she?”
Devin wobbled his hand in the air. “It’s been a rough night.”
“I bet.”
Dallas looked up at me, her face puffy and her eyes barely open. “Jase?”
“Hey.” I unbuttoned my suit jacked and smiled as I crouched beside her. “Feeling any better?”
“Eh.” She moistened her lips. “Did you win?”
I laughed softly and nodded. “Yeah. We won.”
That made her smile weakly. “Did you score?”
“No, but I got two assists.”
“Good.” Her eyes fluttered closed again.
Devin stroked her hair. “You okay here for a minute while Jase and I go in the kitchen?”
She nodded.
He carefully got up, letting her rest under the afghan and against a stack of throw pillows. Once she was as comfortable as she could probably get, we moved into the kitchen. There, he wrapped his arms around my waist. We shared a brief kiss, and then he rested his head against my shoulder, and we just stood there for a long moment, arms around each other in the middle of the kitchen. I was wrung out after tonight’s game, but I suspected it was a small miracle that he was still upright at all.
Stroking his hair, I murmured, “How are you holding up?”
He groaned into my shoulder, then straightened and met my gaze. “I’ll be okay once she is.”
“Is she at least getting better?”
“I think it’s plateaued, so it’s hopefully not going to get worse.” He sighed. “She just has to ride it out from here.” Grimacing, he added, “It could be a few more hours at least.”
“Okay. Well.” I motioned toward the living room. “She can sleep wherever she’s comfortable. The bedroom will stay dark in the morning, but the living room gets a lot of light, so she might better off—”
“Wait, you’re okay with her staying here? All night? Don’t you have to fly out tomorrow morning?”
“Well, yeah.” I stared at him. “But I’m not going to kick you guys out while she’s still feeling bad.”
“But we’re—”
“Devin.” I touched his face and looked right in his eyes. “Your daughter’s in pain. You’re obviously exhausted. I’d be a serious asshole if I booted the two of you out.”
He bit his lip, obviously still unconvinced.
I barreled on, “I have to leave fairly early, but you have a key so you can lock up on your way out, and you know the code for the parking garage. You’re good.”
Slowly, the tension melted out of his features, and he leaned in again to rest his head on my shoulder. “Thank you. You’re the best.”
Stroking his hair, I kissed his temple. “Whatever you need.” After a moment, I asked, “How do you want to do this? Sleeping arrangements for us with her in the house?”
Devin lifted his head again. “Well, I don’t have it in me to do anything, so…”
“No, no, of course not. I meant would you rather I took the couch so she can have my bedroom and you can take the guest room?”
“What? No.” He shook his head and ran his hands up my back. “I’m not kicking you out of your own bed. Just stay in the guest room with me.”
“But won’t that be weird for you? Or for her? If we’re sharing a room?”
Devin shook his head. “Nah. She knows we’re dating, and I’ve had boyfriends and girlfriends stay over sometimes. It’ll be fine.”
“Oh. Okay. And her mom is good with her staying?”
“Definitely.” He checked his phone. “I should run back to my place and get something for her to wear tomorrow, though. And for me.”
“Okay. I can stay here with her.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. I’m in for the night anyway, and I’m not going to leave her alone while she’s feeling like this.” I gestured down at myself. “Do you mind if I change out of this first?”
A little grin played at his lips. “But I like how you look in a suit.”
I chuckled and kissed him. “Yeah, but it’s not that comfortable to lounge around in.”
“Fair enough. Go change.”
I went into the bedroom and quickly traded my suit for some sweats and an old T-shirt. When I came back out, Devin was pulling on his jacket.
“You sure you don’t mind me taking off for a bit?” he asked. “It could be like one o’clock before I get back.”
“It’s fine.” I slid my hand under his jacket and rested it on his waist. “Don’t sweat it.”