Page 53 of No Holds Barred

Reaching forward, Angelica snagged Hope’s fingers again. She was struggling with not touching her, with not being in Hope’s presence constantly. That brief kiss they’d shared in Maine had flared up desire in her again, and she wanted nothing but to have a taste again.

But that would be heartache.

“Hope…” Angelica started, not sure what to say next. She was never at a loss for words, but right now, she couldn’t find themno matter how hard she tried. “Hope, how do I make this better, between us?”

Hope jerked her head back slightly, as if taken by surprise. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“What happened the other day?” Angelica curled their fingers together, flicking her gaze down to their joined hands. Anyone could walk in and see them like this. Anyone could think things that they shouldn’t, that Angelica really didn’t want them to. But she couldn’t bring herself to break the physical contact.

“Ah, the two lovebirds are at it again.”

Angelica instantly broke the physical contact, her cheeks burning. She glanced over her shoulder to find Leanne standing in the doorway to the dining room. Why the hell did Leanne have to ruin everything? Angelica squared her shoulders and turned to face Leanne fully.

“I see we’re all gathering for our trial run of room service.” Angelica turned back to Hope, seeing the sadness sweeping through Hope’s gaze before she managed to hide it. “Where are we setting up?”

“In the kitchen,” Hope answered, her voice thick with emotion.

Angelica wheeled herself into the kitchen, leaving Leanne and Hope behind her. The two of them could duel out whatever they wanted without Angelica in the room. But when Hope entered, she stood right next to Angelica, closer than she had in the last two days. The side of Angelica’s back pressed into Hope’s arm, and just that touch was enough to tell Angelica that perhaps she wasn’t the only one struggling with this.

“Are we ready?” Ashlee squeaked out.

“Yes, we are.” Angelica nodded at her.

Cadence called the shot, and everything was going smoothly, from the call down for room service, to cooking and preparing the meal. The server took the food up, and then nothing.Angelica checked her phone several times to keep an eye on the time, but longer and longer passed from when the server left to them not coming back.

“Hope?” Angelica asked, keeping her voice quiet so Ashlee couldn’t hear. “How long was this supposed to take?”

“Ten minutes from the time Cheyenne left the kitchen until she returned.”

“It’s been twenty,” Angelica whispered.

“Yeah.” Hope brushed her fingers along Angelica’s back.

Five more minutes passed before Cheyenne finally showed up with an empty cart like nothing had happened. Ashlee had a grin on her face like they’d done everything right. Angelica held her breath, waiting for the realization to dawn on Ashlee, but it didn’t. Instead, she grimaced and rolled her neck. Glancing to Hope, Angelica pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows.

“Yours or mine?” Angelica asked.

“Yours,” Hope answered. “I could use the break tonight.”

“All right.” Angelica turned toward Ashlee and leaned on the prep counter that they were all waiting by. “Ashlee, that took Cheyenne twice as long as it should have.”

“Oh, did it?” Ashlee’s glee fell from her cheeks. “I didn’t realize.”

Angelica hummed. “You need to correct her on that. First ask her how she thinks that service went. Then ask her what she thinks she could improve on.”

“Okay.”

“Think you can handle that?”

“Yeah.” Ashlee drew in a deep breath and then walked over to Cheyenne.

Sy and Cadence followed Ashlee and put the focus on her and Cheyenne instead of Angelica, Leanne, and Hope. Angelica gripped onto the counter, pushing most of her weight into herhands as she tried her best to keep upright, but as the day wore on, it was getting harder and harder.

“Do you need to sit down?” Hope asked, her hand pressing firmly into Angelica’s back.

“I don’t want to.” Angelica clenched her jaw and focused as much of her energy as possible on staying upright, but the knee that was holding her entire body weight trembled, and her skin was clammy.

“Ange, I think you need to sit. Leanne, go get a chair.” Hope snagged Angelica’s arms and held her close while Leanne stared at them. “Leanne. Chair. Now.”