Page 17 of Composed at Randy's
When the food arrives, we're chatting away like old friends. I know this sounds crazy, but it feels like I've known him forever.
That's probably why after we finish eating, I allow him to shuffle me back into his room to take a shower before I go back to sleep.
“I don't think you should be alone in there in case you pass out again,” Bael says. His face goes bright red and he hurries to add. “I'm not trying to creep on you, I swear.”
I don't tell him that I'd be okay with it if he wants to creep on me a little bit. Instead, I say, “I promise I'll be fine. I feel much better after eating.”
“At least leave the door open so I'll hear you if something's wrong. I may be new at this caretaking thing, but I’m pretty sure letting you drown in the shower is a huge no-no.”
So that's what we do. And if you think I was horny before, let me tell you that it’s nothing compared to being naked in Bael’s bathroom knowing he’s listening to me with nothing between us but some mist.
By the time I finish and I'm wrapped in the massive, fluffy robe Bael has in his bathroom, I'm shaky again, and I realize he was right when he suggested I stay and sleep some more.
When I leave the bathroom, Bael is right there with hover hands, looking like he wants to snatch me up off the ground and carry me to the bed.
That might be my imagination, though.
He does, however, stick me in his bed with at least a dozen cat stuffies. He's got me tucked in so tight I can barely move. He hovers a bit more before finally saying, “Okay, I’ll let you get some rest now,” and then he moves away from the bed.
Now, you’d think that after such a wild night, I wouldn’t be able to sleep, but with a full belly and the weight of half a toystore’s worth of stuffies on me, I was out like a light. The last thing I saw was Bael stretching out on the couch closest to the bed.
Chapter 6
Bael
“Dude, you gotta get up. Don’t make me get Harvey in here.”
My eyes fly open at the nameHarvey. One of my hands lashes out and covers Travis’s mouth while the other grabs him by the shoulder to pull him close.
“Don’t you dare send Harvey in here. He might scare Wren,” I hiss.
I scramble off the couch and drag Travis with me out of my room. I take a quick peek at Wren to make sure he wasn’t disturbed by Travis’s invasion and heave a sigh of relief when I see nothing but a tuft of blond hair poking up from the blanket cocoon on my bed.
When I turn back to Travis, he looks breathless and ruffled, and I realize I’d just scooped him up and carried him away.
Again.
I have a bad habit of doing that. I tend to act first and think later, and when I see that something needs to happen, I just make it happen and deal with the fallout afterward.
But carrying people without their permission is on thedon’t fucking do itlist, and I signed the list just like everyone else in the band did.
“Sorry,” I tell Travis, trying my best to actually look sorry.
I’m not, though. I really didn’t want Travis to wake Wren up, and negotiating his departure would probably have done it. The next time I get a chance, I’ll sneak an ‘except in case of emergencies’ onto the list. It won’t be hard. It’s hanging in the kitchen, so unless Elvis our fake ghost rats me out, no one will ever know.
“What does Harvey want?” I ask, keeping my voice down. I motion Travis away from my door and head toward the common area. Travis is excitable, and I need to get him away from my room.
See? I’m doing a great job at being a caretaker, yes? I just know I’m going to get even better as time goes on. Maybe I should get a book to read on the subject. I’ll google it later.
I like to google things, in case you hadn’t noticed. Learning is important. And I’m pretty sure there’s an old saying that goes something like, ’Education is not the Preparation H of life, but it will teach you how to apply it.’
Yeah. I don’t understand that one at all. Do you? I’m sure it means something incredibly profound, though.
Travis bites his lips anxiously and says, “We’ve got an interview in less than two hours, Bael. Harvey is freaking out because we all forgot.” He starts pulling on my arm like he thinks that if I start hurrying now, it’ll spare us all from Harvey’s wrath. It won’t. Once Harvey decides to be miffed about something, he stays that way until he thinks we’ve all learned our lesson.
Instead of letting Travis drag me, I keep going at my own pace. “Did Harvey put it in the group chat? We wouldn’t have forgotten if he’d done that.”
“God, don’t tell him that. Then he’ll start spamming us, and we’ll have to make a secret chat to get away from him.”
