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I ignore mom’s remark about Cullen being my boyfriend. There’s no way I can convince her otherwise anyway and I’m too worried about Cullen to nitpick over such details.
“Do you want to lie down?” I ask him.
Cullen shakes his head. “It hurts more to lie all the way down.”
“Let me fluff these pillows.” I reach over his shoulders and adjust the pillows so they become one big nest.
“I’m supposed to be taking care ofyou,” Cullen says through gritted teeth. “This isn’t what I wanted, Nardi.”
“You did take care of me. In the bathroom, remember?”
He smirks indulgently. “Maybe keep talk like that for when it’s just the two of us.”
Heat flares in my chest and I freeze, a pillow scrunched in my hand. “That’s not what I meant.” Cullen laughs, but the sound is cut short when he flinches in pain. He takes a few, shallow breaths, as if even deep breaths are painful for him.
“Mom, can you hand me the pills?” I extend a hand to her.
She peers at the bottle labels. “Nardi, should he be taking these on an empty stomach?”
“You’re right.” I watch the giant pills with distrust. “It says right here on the label. ‘To be taken with a meal’.”
“It’s okay,” Cullen assures us both. “I’ll be fine.”
I swipe the meds away from him. “How bad is the pain? Can you wait while I warm up some soup?”
“There’s no need for that. I’ll call Sara?—”
“Sara’s not your errand girl,” I scold him.
“Running errands for me is in her job description,” Cullen points out. “That’s the definition of a personal assistant.”
“She’s also human,” I remind him.
“Humans have jobs.”
I scrunch my nose. Even when he’s in pain, he has to argue with me. “Wouldyouwant me running up and down four flights of stairs?”
“Of course not,” he says immediately.
“Then—”
“But Sara isn’tyou,” he says, smiling weakly.
My mouth slackens.
We say nothing more but then, words are unnecessary. Not with the way he’s looking at me.
There’s something intimidating about how openly Cullen is offering his heart to me. I felt it when he kissed me, when he touched me. And right now…
His eyes soften as he gazes at my face, tracing every inch of it as if he’s scared closing his eyes means I’ll disappear. The longing in his expression is different from the hunger I saw when I challenged his inexperience. There’s something… sad in his eyes this time. Something that makes my chest ache and my ribs throb.
Deep down, I sense that Cullen didn’t stop by my apartment today just because he missed me. He’s here to say goodbye.
“Ahem.” Mom clears her throat. “It feels like I’m intruding, so I’ll warm the soup.”
Both Cullen and I break eye contact and glance over at her.
“No need. How about you two go out for lunch? My treat.”