Page 98 of Unexpected Heroine

Confused.

And then that smell.

His cologne.

My stomach sours, and my field of vision narrows. Need to get some fresh air.

Now.

Blinking rapidly, I look over my shoulder for Kri, reaching out for her since she’s only a few feet away. “Help me up, pretty please.”

She reaches for me with one hand, then switches to the other. Odd.

“Is this like the shell game? Which hand should I grab?” I joke, hoping to banish the horrid thoughts of that night from my mind before they fester.

“Sorry. It’s a force of habit to lead with my right hand. But I don’t trust that side too much yet.” She pulls me to my feet with her left hand.

Before I can ask Kri to elaborate, Freya whines from behind me. “Where are you going, Lettie? We aren’t finished playing.”

“Y’all can keep on. I’m done for a bit. Stella cheats anyhow.”

Before picking up the cards to resume dealing, the cheater sticks her tongue out at me, complete with mature farting noise. No extra charge for that.

As I mosey to the other side of the room to stretch my stiff joints, no one seems to notice my extra pain. I’d hate for them to pity me more than they already do.

Kri waves me over, and I join her in the kitchen.

“You okay?” she asks.

“Yep.”

She screws her face to one side. “Aww, it’s adorable how you think you can lie to me. Just precious.”

“Fine. I’m hurting. Too much laughing.”

“Bruised ribs?” she asks in a whisper.

“Yeah.”

“Wanna rest in bed? On the couch? Heating pad? Ice pack?”

I grip her forearm and meet her kind eyes. “No, please. Don’t make a big deal out of it.”

“Lettie, don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Minimize your pain to avoid inconveniencing other people. If you’re hurting, it’s okay to say so. Don’t pretend to be superhuman. Trust me. That doesn’t end well.” She tips her chin toward the girls in the living room. “They care about you and won’t think less of you for being human.”

I take a shaky breath, keeping it shallow to avoid further aggravating my ribs. They’d been hurting less until tonight with all the laughing and sitting on the floor. Probably not the best idea.

But it was nice to feel normal while it lasted.

“Okay. I’ll rest on the couch. Can you grab me an extra pillow from the bedroom?”

“Sure. Go get comfy. I’ll be right back.”

As I settle onto the couch, my squirrel brain runs through things that could go wrong while Tomer is out doing hot guy shit. He was vague with his plans, which suited me fine.

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