Page 67 of Bad for Business

All she does is nod in response before her eyelids flutter shut. For a few seconds, I stand there and watch her. I’ll let her drift off to sleep while I get medicine and food ready.

She brings her hand under her cheek and nestles against it, her eyes never once opening. It doesn’t take long for her breathing to get slower and her lips to part.

She’s asleep.

I allow myself a few more seconds of looking at her before I leave the room. There’s a weird tightness that fills my chest as I watch her sleep. I rub at the spot above my heart, wondering what this feeling is and what to do about it.

THIRTY-FOUR

CAMILLE

I wakeup to the feeling of fingers running through my hair. It feels incredible.

I smile, nuzzling into the warm body next to mine.

The last day comes back to me as I’m pulled out of my deep sleep and into consciousness.

Waking up yesterday—at least, I think it was yesterday—feeling like death.

The pain and energy it took just to go pee.

Sleeping the entire day.

Ryker.

The worry in his eyes when he found me.

The way he took care of me. Last night, he brought me medicine and food, making sure I drank plenty of water in between bites of soup that he insisted on spoon-feeding me.

The way he effortlessly took off his clothes, until he was in nothing but a pair of boxer briefs, and climbed into bed next to me for the night, like it was something we’ve done countless times before.

Sleeping in his arms all night.

I open my eyes, grateful that I finally don’t have the same pounding headache that I’ve been dealing with. It doesn’t hurtwhen the light from the sun shining through the windows meets my eyes.

The first thing I see is Ryker. His lips turn up slightly in a sleepy smile.

It makes my entire body feel warm, and it has nothing to do with the fever I just had.

“If you’re about to tell me to get out of your bed, I’m not going to listen.” His voice is raspy, and I can’t help but think how much I love his morning voice and how I wish I heard it more often.

I open my mouth to respond to him, but before I can say anything, he keeps going.

“I’ve been up for an hour, dreading the moment you wake up because I’m so scared you’re going to tell me to leave, and we’re going to go back to pretending to hate each other, and I’m just so fucking sick of preten?—”

Before I can overthink it, I cut him off by pressing my lips against his. It’s a soft kiss, barely a brush of our lips against one another, but it feels like the right thing to do.

When I pull away, I try to keep my heart in check as I watch his lips turn up into the biggest smile.

“I don’t want you to leave,” I whisper, my heart hammering in my chest. I’m not someone who enjoys being vulnerable. Acceptance by those I care about is extremely important to me, so letting people in is hard. Sometimes impossible. So, admitting to him that I want him here with me today could backfire and do a lot of damage, but I’m just as tired of pretending.

At least for today, I want to stop the fighting. I want the comfort he’s bringing me, no matter what might happen after.

“You don’t?” There’s a hopefulness in his tone, and I don’t know how to feel.

I shake my head. “I appreciate you taking care of me last night. It means a lot to me that you were there for me, Ryker. That you stayed.”

“Of course I stayed,” he responds, his voice thick with emotion.