Page 35 of Comeback
“Hey,” she says, looking up from her laptop screen. Her dark hair is pulled up into a messy bun on top of her head and she quirks one eyebrow at me. I’m sure I look as rough as I feel.
“Morning.” My voice is tight and gruff.
“You mean, afternoon.” She laughs softly. “Late night?”
“Kind of,” I say, knowing she probably thinks I stayed out partying after the bar closed or something. “I had an asthma attack when I got home from work.”
“Oh my gosh.” Her eyes widen and she sits taller in her chair “Are you alright?”
“Yeah. I’m okay now. It didn’t last too long, and I only had to take one puff from my inhaler.”
“I don’t even know what that means, but it sounds scary.”
“It was. It is.” That part never changes. No matter how prepared I am for it, not being able to breathe is terrifying.
“You should have woken us up. I don’t know how we would have helped, but you shouldn’t go through that alone.”
“I didn’t.” I take a seat across from her after I’ve filled a mug with coffee and grabbed a banana from the bowl on the island. “Archer woke up and he stayed with me.”
Surprise registers on her face and then slowly morphs into a smile.
“That’s so…” she trails off like she can’t quite find the right word to describe the situation.
“Surprising?”
“I was going to say nice.”
“It was that too.” Nice. Fun. And sexy—though I already knew that.
I can feel my face heating the longer she stares at me. I glance down into my coffee and take a small sip. “Did you see him this morning? We were up until nearly sunrise. I hope he’s not feeling it as much as I am.”
“He was already gone when Brogan and I woke up, but he’ll be okay. During the season their schedule is so nuts, I think they thrive on adrenaline alone some days.”
Her words reassure me only slightly.
“Speaking of the game, you’re still coming with me tonight, right?” The eagerness in her expression flashes and then dims. “Or do you need to rest?”
“I wouldn’t miss it,” I say, reassuring her. “I’m okay. Just tired.”
“The energy of the stadium will cure that,” she promises.
I hope so. “What time do we need to leave?”
I slept through half the day and I still need a shower and to figure out what to wear tonight. I should probably call mydoctor too and let him know about the attack. He’ll tell me what I already know. I should avoid the studio until it is cleaned out, but that isn’t really an option. Eleanor is renting me the space even cheaper than it was listed because I agreed to do the cleanup myself.
I can wait a day or two, but eventually I am going to have to go back. I’ll get a respirator, something I should have done initially, and take it slow. It might take me a little longer than planned to get the studio ready, but that’ll have to be okay.
After a very long shower, followed by several hours of overthinking my wardrobe, hairstyle, and makeup, London and I head to the game.
I’ve liked my brother’s fiancée since the moment I met her, but we haven’t spent much time alone. Within a few minutes sitting together at the game, though, I decide we’re going to get along just fine. She orders popcorn and a hotdog, plus nachos. And she talks to me like we’re long-lost friends. I thought she was quiet, but it turns out that is only true if you’re comparing her to Brogan.
“Are you a football fan?” she asks over the noise as the guys take the field.
Brogan and Archer run out together. Brogan holds his helmet in one hand and lifts it to the crowd, pure elation splashed across his face. Archer wears his helmet, masking his expression, but it’s clear his focus is completely on the field as opposed to the eighty-thousand people watching him. Their difference in personality is as evident here as it is at the apartment.
“Yeah. My dad watched the Mavericks growing up and we even came to a few games over the years. We all cried when they won the Super Bowl in 2019.”
She lets out a small laugh. “You would fit right in with my family. I’m the only one that never got into it.”
