Page 32 of She Loves Me Not

“No!” she pulls me by the arm until we are facing again.

I gulp down and force myself to look into her beautiful eyes. "I… I am so sorry, Lynn. I swear to you, I… I would have never done anything if I had thought… I mean, yes, you were a little tipsy last night. So was I... but I never thought you were that far gone. And today I—"

She shakes her head and reaches for me, shushing me with a finger on my lips. "You don't need to swear anything to me, and don't you dare apologize for this morning. I might have thought you several kinds of bastards all in one neat package all these years, but that particular kind of bastard is not in you. It is perfectly obvious that I was more than willing last night, and today I could have stopped you, but I didn't. I did not want to."

"And why is that?" I ask in a whisper. Part of me is fucking terrified to hear her answer.

She wipes her tears and gives me a little smile. “I have no idea, Devon. You’re still a fucker to me today as you were yesterday, but there’s no other place I’d wish to be right now and not another person on the planet I would wish to be with.”

I sit farther up in bed, leaning against the plush headboard and clutching her to my side. “Then why are you crying, love?”

She sniffs. "I don't know. Fuck, yesterday morning I was a know-it-all, and today it feels like I know nothing, Dev. My head is killing me. I'm hungry and nauseous at the same time. I feel like I'm going mental trying to puzzle out whatever happened between us. I'm so confused, so lost… I don't even know why the fuck I am crying! I amnotthe crying type. You know me."

I smile at her. “I do. You’re the strongest, bravest woman I know, but that doesn’t mean you have no right to cry when you feel all kinds of shitty all at once.” I look down at her upturned face and cup it in my hands.

Okay, okay, this is not so bad. This kind of thing I can fix —mostly.

“Don’t worry, baby. I’ll take care of you. We’ll start with the easy things first, okay? Just give me a sec.”

I get out of bed, throw a pair of dark gray sweatpants on, and head for my stainless steel fridge in the kitchen. I open it, grab some stuff, and then I reach for a tray from a cabinet. A couple of minutes later, I'm walking back into my bedroom carrying some provisions to get my love back in tip-top shape.

There’s some tonic water with a slice of lemon for her nausea, icy cold mineral water, hot herbal tea, some orange juice, plain crackers that I hope will help with her upset stomach —some coffee, but that is mainly for me actually, Lynn hates it— and finally the magic combo of Aspirin and Dramamine for the both of us.

Lynn is sitting in the middle of the bed, wrapped in my sheets, her knees under her chin. She is a bit pale, and her eyes are slightly glassy, but she's still the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life.

I put the tray down on the side table, and she smiles up at me.

“You do know how to make a girl adore you, you fucker…” she grouses out at me, making me laugh.

Good. If she is being sarcastic, then she is going to be okay soon.

I kiss the top of her head and sit next to her. "Meds first, then some liquids, and then if you manage to keep everything down, you can try some light foods, okay?"

She huffs as I hand her a glass of water and the tablets. “Why do you always have to be so damn bossy, Dev? And while we are on it, why the hell do you have to look so fucking hot when you do it?”

"It's a gift." I shrug, winking at her, and then I swallow my own dose of bye-bye-hangover and down a glass of orange juice.

She throws a pillow at me but then obediently takes her pills and a huge gulp of water. The corners of her lips lift slightly as I kiss her temple. “Good girl.”

For some reason, she flushes a lovely shade of pink and looks away from me, all shy.

I chuckle. I can't help it. I’ve never seen her like this. It's a good thing that I'm not the only one who is constantly discomposed by the presence and the nearness of the other.

And speaking of discomposure, of course, seeing her blush like this gives me a full-on hot flashback from last night, and before I know it, my cock is standing at attention, throbbing with need.

Don’t go there… don’t go there…

I chant in my head, and then I start to think of baseball, of hockey, of the dull, lifeless faces of my curmudgeon shareholders, anything to keep the beast down.

We need to talk and see where we stand, not to mention that she is not feeling too well.

Good, it’s working… I’m calming down.

She puts the glass back on the tray and scoots closer to me, the sheets wrapped around her petite shape, slipping lower to reveal a hint of her magnificent breasts.

I look away and take a breath.

I feel her gentle, cool fingers on my cheek. "Where did you go right now?" she asks, her voice a sweet whisper on my heated skin.

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