Page 12 of Thicker than Blood
Which explains why she isn’t in the guest house.
“I’m fine.”
Yeah right. Even if she wasn’t, Maple isn’t the kind of woman to make others worry about her.
“I’ve got her now. Maria. You can tell Judy she can go ahead and sleep. You too. I’ll wake her from here on.”
“I bet you will.” Maria gives me a narrow-eyed look before finally looking over at Maple. “You all call me if you need anything.”
I take a second to check her eyes and her response time before I stand and start taking my clothes off.
“Wait! What the hell are you doing?”
“I’m going to stay with you and make sure you are okay all through what’s left of the night.”
“No.” She shakes her head and then groans again. “No. I don’t want you here. I don’t… I can’t spare with you now, Caspian. I’m too tired, in too much pain, and hurt too much.”
“Did the doctor leave you any pain meds?”
She goes to shake her head but catches herself before she can do the full movement. “No. She said she wanted me to stay conscious as much as I could.”
“But over-the-counter meds are okay?”
“Sure, I guess so. She didn't say otherwise.”
“I’ll be back in a second, Sweets. You wait right here.”
Chapter Twelve
Maple
Like I would go anywhere. Where the hell would I go? I’m exhausted. I can’t move my head without it hurting and the rest of my body is no better. Why is he back and how did he know I wasn’t in the guest house?
He’s back before I can argue with myself over whether or not I even give a fuck to find out right now. He hands me two pills and I look up at him.
“They’re just over-the-counter pain meds, sweetheart. They may help take some of the pain away without leaving you spacey or drowsy.”
“You mean drowsier than I already am?” I huff the words out even as I reach for the glass of water on the nightstand.
Once I hand the glass back to him, I lay myself back on the mattress and try to close my eyes… until I feel the bed dip and warmth hit me along one side. When I open my eyes, it’s to find Caspian wrapped around me.
“What do you think you are doing?”
“I told you, sweetheart. I’m going to stay with you tonight.”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you can crawl in bed with me half-naked.”
“Why don’t you tell me what happened before you kick me out of your bed and make me sit on the World's most uncomfortable chair for the rest of the night?”
It’s not really what I want to do but… what do I have to lose telling him? I recap the story leaving parts out about me being slightly upset he left without so much as a goodbye and all because he found out I wasn’t after his grandfather. But he’s smart. He picks up on things.
“Why haven’t you been sleeping, sweets?”
“I don’t know, it might be that late-night visit where you barged in and out without so much as a second thought all because you found out…”
“I found out what, sweets?”
“That I wouldn’t make a good sugar baby. That I wasn’t who you wanted. That someone was clearly more preferable than me.”