Page 77 of Tactically Acquired

“I’m guessing your head is pounding and your body is sore.”

I groaned and snuggled further into the bed.

“And I’m guessing you don’t want to tell me that for some unknown reason.”

“Is there a point to you being in here?” I asked, still refusing to look at him.

Something rattled above me and I peeked one eye open to see what it was. There was a pill bottle dangling from his fingers and the label had some weird name that I couldn’t pronounce.

“What’s that?”

“Your pain meds. I gave them to you early this morning, which was why you felt so good for most of the day. And since you’re stubborn and didn’t say anything, I didn’t realize you were in pain until you sat down and wouldn’t eat a thing. And then you got all grumpy and left the room.”

“You really didn’t know anything?” I accused.

He chuckled. “Nope. Spencer told me.”

I sighed, rolling over to sit up. “I don’t remember you giving me any pain meds.”

“Well, it was at zero dark thirty. I rolled over, gave you meds after you kicked me, and then fell back asleep.”

“Is that when you wrapped yourself around me?” I asked, holding back a grin.

He cleared his throat, opening the water bottle for me. “Don’t remember that. Here.”

He shoved the water at me, then shook out two pills for me. I took them, swallowing them down greedily. If they made this headache go away, I’d gladly take anything. The water sloshed in my stomach, making me wish I had been able to keep something down.

“Thank you,” I mumbled.

He grinned, then plucked a banana out of his pocket and thrust it at me. “All of it.”

“Excuse me?”

“Eat it. Otherwise, you’ll get sick.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “And who’s going to make me?”

His eyes darkened as he watched me, but his fingers got to work stripping the banana one peel at a time. Then he thrust it at me and quirked his eyebrow. I stood my ground for all of thirty seconds before I relented. I needed to eat something, or I would get sick.

Except, the moment I put the banana in my mouth, Baldy’s eyes dropped to my mouth and his tongue flicked out to lick his lips. I couldn’t help myself as I took my time and made a show out of putting the banana in my mouth and sucking on it, devouring it, and driving him insane.

Finally, I bit off a chunk and batted my eyelashes at him. “Everything okay?”

He glowered at me and stood, storming out of the room. I chuckled, finishing off the banana and tossing the peel on the nightstand. I was still in pain, but at least now I knew I wasn’t alone.

21

SLIDER

“I changed my mind. We should leave first thing in the morning,” I said, charging into the kitchen.

Thumper grinned at me. “She got to you, didn’t she?”

“No.”

Rae was shaking her head at the table, pretending to ignore me, but I knew she was always listening.

“If she didn’t get to you, then why are you so flustered?” IRIS asked.

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