Page 39 of Pucking With My Head

Jensen glanced at me. The suffering look on his face was somewhat ruined by the grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. He was a caregiver through and through. Even with an unwillingpatient, such as Bethany, he was gaining immense satisfaction from the verbal battle and his ultimate victory.

“If you’re fine, should I open the blinds and turn the overhead lights on?” Jensen asked, his voice hardly containing his chuckle.

“Fuck off!” came her scathing hiss from under the pile of bedding.

Jensen bit his lip, trying to restrain himself from laughing. I, on the other hand, was lacking patience. I wanted to tear that comforter away from Bethany and force her to take the medication for her own good. The idea that she was being cavalier with her health made me irrationally angry. Even though, as the father of a seven-year-old, I was well aware that a sick woman was not a rational creature.

So I let Jensen take the lead.

“In that case, take the medication, and then I’ll leave you to rest until we make some food for you. If you don’t eat or drink, then you’re getting an IV for some hydration.”

Bethany’s head popped up from the covers to glare at Jensen. “First, this one refuses to let me leave and manhandles me into this room, and now you’re threatening to stab me with a needle?” she asked incredulously.

Her eyes were hazy, hair mussed from rest. Rumpled and sleepy, she looked lovely. I wanted to pull her into my arms and keep her close.

I was accepting that I had strong feelings for Bethany—I was never going to act on those feelings, though.

Unlike Cullen, I had self-restraint.

Jensen nodded. “That sounds about right.”

Bewildered, Bethany looked between the two of us. “I give up,” she growled, burrowing back under the covers and ignoring us.

“So being sick makes you bratty,” I muttered.

That made her head pop up.

“Bratty?” she asked, her expression disbelieving. “You wouldn’t have to deal with this if you’d let me go home!”

“Medications!” Jensen said firmly, holding out the two pills and a glass of water with a pointed smile.

If looks could kill, Jensen would be six feet under. Glowering at him, Bethany snatched the pills and water out of his hand, quickly swallowing them and thrusting the glass back into his hand.

“Good girl.” Jensen beamed.

Bethany’s glare was impressive.

Chapter 15

Beth

Iwasn’t an idiot—I understood that the headaches weren’t good. Although I’d been wanting to get them checked out since they started happening, any recommended neurological tests would be too expensive. And I couldn’t deal with the chaos that would ensue if I went to my family doctor back home. To say my dads didn’t do well with health scares was a vast understatement.

Joey had already been in bed, so I’d decided to curl up on the sofa and watch some TV. Since the guys wouldn’t be home for a while, I’d decided to make myself comfortable. I’d only gotten a few minutes into the TV show when the scalp-splitting pain started.

Closing my eyes, I had lain back and prayed to the gods above that the pain would subside before I had to go home. Even though I had the car now, the guys still insisted on driving me home, especially when they got home late. It usually felt like overkill, but I was secretly thankful now, since my head was pounding. Usually Cullen drove my car home if one of the others was taking me back. It was a lot, but fighting them seemed futile.

I couldn’t lose two days to another headache. I had work and classes, and I was only a few weeks away from my midterm exams. Plus, I was supposed to be babysitting Joey tomorrow. I’d only just started working for Pack Noble, and there was no way I could mess it up so soon. Sometimes I could get through the headaches if I took some over-the-counter pain medication and just endured.

Working for them had been rather pleasant. Cullen was keeping his distance, but he kept feeding me all the same. The meals he left in the fridge from his restaurant were excellent, and I was pleasantly surprised when I found the creamy pesto gnocchi that I had ordered on my abysmal date that was cut short and never got to try.

It was just as good as I had imagined.

Working for Pack Noble was so shockingly easy, sometimes I felt bad for taking their money when I enjoyed being around Joey, anyway. They grossly overpaid me… but at the same time, I was more financially secure than I had been in years, and I intended to roll with that.

When Gideon had come home, I had wanted to fight him, but I had been too weak. Before I knew it, I was curled up in bed, being hooked up to an IV that Jensen insisted on, even though I did as he asked and ate, then passing out for the night.

The pack house smelled of pure comfort, and usually when I had a migraine, getting restful sleep was difficult. Surrounded by the warm scents, though, I drifted into a quick, easy sleep, filled with dreams of alpha snuggles.

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