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Twenty-Six

Quinn

M y body was mind-numbingly sore when I woke up, but I wasn’t about to complain when I had one of the most life-altering orgasms of my life last night. I knew that being with Roman would be amazing, but I had no idea it would be that incredible.

We got back to his apartment shortly after nine, and I knew that Mike was suspicious when he was there waiting for us at my mom’s house.

We both lied so quickly that neither of us could get our stories straight as to why we were late.

My mom was more concerned about why I had been crying, which helped pull Mike’s attention away from the fact that Roman had a small hickey on his neck where I had let my desire get the best of me before he took me from behind on the weight bench.

Rosie stayed asleep the entire time as Mike carried her to Roman’s apartment, refusing to let him help.

We got her settled in, and I spent most of the night watching over her to make sure her fever didn’t spike again.

I cuddled her close to me and let her soft snores help me drift off to sleep around two in the morning.

Roman had offered to sleep on the floor again, but Mike quickly squashed that idea—as if there was any real threat to having him in the same room with me if Rosie was there.

I might have been head over heels obsessed with Roman right now, but I wasn’t about to throw my panties at him with my daughter in the same room.

Instead, they both slept in the living room and compromised on who would sleep on the floor in the sleeping bag that Mike had brought from my mom’s house.

I stretched and rolled out of bed, making sure I didn’t disturb Rosie.

She had gotten up around five this morning, throwing up again, so I gave her some more Tylenol for her fever and got her back to bed.

I snuck down the hall, closing the door behind me, and stopped when I realized that I couldn’t go to the living room to call the school without waking Mike and Roman up.

Instead, I snuck into the bathroom and quietly closed the door behind me.

I called the school and left a voicemail to let them know that Rosie was sick and wouldn’t be in today.

Then I sent my mom a quick text message with an update on how she was feeling.

I didn’t want to miss work, but I was so exhausted and worn down that I decided it was better to be home to take care of Rosie.

Once I had taken care of calling in, I opened the bathroom door and jumped back in surprise when I found Roman on the other side. I held my phone to my chest and tried to get my heart to stop racing.

“Sorry,” he said quietly. “Someday, I’m going to get a bigger place with two bathrooms.” He grinned, showing me his beautiful dimples.

“I promise we won’t be here that much longer.”

It was an odd feeling to promise something that I didn’t know if it was true.

“You can stay as long as you’d like.”

His voice was smooth like honey, and the way he was looking at me had the heat between my thighs starting again.

“Thank you,” I said quietly, looking down as my face blushed. “I’m sure you’d like to have your space back and have some privacy again.”

“I don’t need privacy.”

“Oh?” My voice hitched in my throat, the words getting lodged there.

He shook his head and licked his lips.

Before I could say anything more, I heard footsteps right as a hand reached out and clamped down on Roman’s shoulder.

“What’s going on?” he asked, looking between us.

“I was asking Quinn how Rosie was feeling,” Roman answered without missing a beat, his eyes still locked on mine.

I looked away, not trusting myself to look at him while my brother was standing there, looking ready to murder him.

“She’s still sick and had a restless night. Her fever wasn’t as high this morning, but she’s still running one. I called the school and told them that she wouldn’t be there today.”

“I can miss work to stay with her,” Mike offered.

“That’s okay, I already called in. I have some PTO that I can use.”

“I can stay with her too,” Roman said simultaneously, causing Mike to look between us.

“What’s going on between you two?” he asked, pointing a finger.

“Nothing,” I lied.

I didn’t want to lie, but the last thing I needed right now was to deal with my brother and risk a falling out between him and Roman.

Roman rubbed a hand across the back of his neck and looked away.

“Bullshit.”

I swallowed hard. This was not how I wanted him to find out.

“Are you two fucki—”

“Mommy, I don’t feel well,” Rosie said, standing in the doorway rubbing her eyes.

I pushed past Mike and went to her, pulling her into me as I laid my hand on her forehead to check her temperature.

“You’re burning up again,” I confirmed, tilting my head to see her face. “Let’s get you a cold washcloth and some water.”

“Did the Tylenol not help?” Roman asked as he and Mike followed us into the living room. Mike hurried in to move the blankets off of the couch so she could sit down.

“It doesn’t seem like it. I gave it to her an hour ago.”

“What do you need?” Mike asked as we all headed into the kitchen while Rosie sat on the couch and curled into a ball.

I closed my eyes and tried to force myself to focus.

I was exhausted. But I knew that we would need the basics—at minimum—and I didn’t have a way to go out to get them.

On top of that, we were running low on clean clothes after she got sick again last night.

My mom had a pile of clothes at her house that she was planning to wash for me today, but there wasn’t a way for me to run over there to get them.

“Um,” I said, pinching the bridge of my nose while I thought about it. “I need stuff for Rosie—more children’s Tylenol, Gatorade, crackers, and maybe some soup. Unfortunately, I can’t think straight, so I have no idea what I’m missing.”

I looked between them, feeling loved and supported by how they were watching me.

“I’ll go to the store and grab some groceries plus the stuff you listed. Is there anything you want for yourself?” Roman asked.

“I’m fine but thank you.”

He furrowed his brow but didn’t fight me on it.

“I have some clothes at Mom’s that she was washing for me,” I said, turning to Mike. “I don’t know if you can grab them on your way home tonight or if it’s out of the—”

“I’ll get them, don’t worry about it.”

“Thank you. Both of you are tremendously helpful.”

Rosie started coughing, which pulled my attention away from the guys while I went to check on her. I grabbed a cold bottle of water from the fridge and offered it to her, hoping to get some fluid into her.

She took slow sips of water and then handed the bottle back to me.

“How are you feeling?” I asked, pressing the back of my hand to her forehead. She still felt warm but not as hot as she was a few minutes ago.

“I’m sleepy.”

“Why don’t you lay down and get some rest? I’ll be right here if you need anything.”

“Okay, mommy.”

She scooted down on the couch and curled into the pillow, her head barely touching it before her eyes fluttered closed. I snuck to the bathroom and grabbed the thermometer, then carefully scanned her head to get her temperature. 99.2.

I sighed a breath of relief that it had come down some and was no longer sitting in the 100-101 range that it had been most of the night. I prayed that the Tylenol was working and that the rest would give her body what she needed to fight whatever this was.

When I went back to the kitchen, the guys were talking quietly while Roman wrote down whatever Mike was telling him.

“Be sure to get the ones in the red bag,” Mike said, pointing to something on the paper.

“What are you doing?” I asked, standing on my tiptoes to look over Roman’s shoulder.

“Just making a list,” he replied, turning away from me to keep me from seeing it.

“Anything else?” he asked Mike, completely ignoring me.

“I think that’s it. I’ll grab the other stuff on my way back.”

“Your way back?” My eyebrows raised off my forehead.

“Yeah, I’m working a half-day today.”

“Why?”

“So I can help take care of you and Rosie.”

“I don’t need help, Mike. I’m fine. Really.”

“You’re exhausted, Quinn,” Roman said gently.

“So?”

“How are you supposed to take care of a sick child when you’re so worn down? It would be good for you to rest too.” Mike added.

“I do it all the time and have since she was a baby.” I folded my arms and narrowed my eyes defensively at him.

“That’s not what I meant,” he blew out, running a hand through his hair. “I know that you’ve been doing it since she was born—and you do an amazing job. I just meant that this time it’s different because... well, you know....”

“Because someone is trying to kidnap my daughter, and I might be too tired to fight them off if they try?”

“Exactly.” Roman’s voice was hard but not harsh. “We can’t take any chances right now, Quinn. So please, just let us help you.”

“Fine,” I sighed. It wasn’t the worst idea in the world; I just hated that Mike would have to miss work because of me. “I guess missing half a day at work isn’t too terrible.” I smiled at my brother and then added, “thank you.”

“Good, well, I’m glad that we got that settled.

Roman is going to run to the store to grab some groceries, and then when he gets back, I’ll head to the office.

After that, I’ll run by Mom’s and grab the laundry, but she said to let her know if you need it before then, and she can run by here and drop it off. ”

“Wait,” I said, holding my hand up. “What do you mean when Roman gets back?”

“I called in today too.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Quinn....” My name was a warning on his lips, and I knew better than to fight it.

“Fine. But make sure to pick up some more coffee while you’re out. I have a feeling I’m going to need it.”

I yawned and headed over to the other end of the couch and curled up next to Rosie, lifting her legs to rest on my lap so she had enough room. It was warm in the apartment, but suddenly, I felt chilly, so I grabbed a blanket from the floor beside me and covered up.

Roman gave a quick nod before slipping out the door and closing it behind him. Mike poured himself another cup of coffee before getting a phone call that he rushed to the bathroom to answer. Alone in the peace and quiet, I closed my eyes and laid my head against the cushion.

I had no idea how long I had been asleep before Mike gently shook my shoulder and woke me up.

“Hey, sorry to wake you, but I need to head to the office, and Roman isn’t back yet. Will you be okay for a little bit on your own?”

“Yeah, of course. We’ll be fine.” I looked over at Rosie, sound asleep and gently snoring again.

“Okay. If you need anything, call me on my cell and keep calling until I answer. I mean it, Quinn—anything at all.”

“I’ll be okay, and I’m sure Roman won’t be gone much longer.”

He glanced down at his watch and then checked his phone.

“I thought he would be back already, but apparently, it’s taking longer than we thought. I sent him a text message, but he hasn’t gotten back to me.”

“I’ll have him reach out as soon as he gets back.”

“Okay.” He looked at Rosie and me again, seeming to struggle with his decision to leave.

“Go,” I coaxed, shooing him away.

Finally, he grabbed his keys from the table and left.

I closed my eyes and willed myself to stay awake, but they felt so heavy. I couldn’t remember the last time that I had slept so well, and my body desperately craved it.

I felt numb, like I was floating through the clouds, weightless and without any worries. A long, flowy white dress covered my body, twirling freely as I spun in circles, dancing to a song that only I could hear. Everything felt right as I kept spinning, laughing the faster I went.

Then suddenly, I hit something hard, and it jolted me out of my bliss. I looked around, trying to find what I had crashed into. There was bright light blinding me as I lifted my hand to try to shield it. Suddenly it went away and standing before me was Justin.

There was a cut on his forehead with blood dripping from it.

Instinctively I reached up to wipe it away but pulled my hand back when it went right through him.

He wasn’t really there. I reached for him again, disappointed when the same thing happened.

Slowly he started to fade away, being pulled into a darkness that I couldn’t see.

“Justin!” I called out, picking up the bottom of my dress to run after him.

My feet hurt from stepping on the shards of broken glass. There were thick trees around me, casting the shadows that hid him.

“Justin!” I cried out again. My heart raced as I tried to run faster, desperate to find him. He needed help. He needed me.

I kept running, tripping over pieces of debris but not realizing what it was until I got to a single tree in the middle of nowhere. I looked around and gasped, covering my mouth as the tears dripped down my face.

A horn blared off in the distance, but I couldn’t see it. Instead, my eyes were fixated on the image of Justin hanging from one of the tree branches with a seat belt wrapped around his neck.

I jolted upright, nearly launching myself off the couch as I tried to shake the image out of my head. My palms were sweaty, and my heart was racing so loud that I could hear the blood pulsing through my ears.

I leaned forward, trying to catch my breath when I heard the doorknob turn. Relieved that Roman was home, I got up and started walking to the door, then stopped when I realized that it wasn’t Roman.