Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 27466 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 137(@200wpm)___ 110(@250wpm)___ 92(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27466 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 137(@200wpm)___ 110(@250wpm)___ 92(@300wpm)
My eyes fall closed, and I get lost in feeling his hands stroke across my body as he washes me. He even shampoos my hair. When he’s done, he carries me out and dries me off before handing me a toothbrush with toothpaste already on it. I brush my teeth.
Drix slips out of the bathroom, coming back a few minutes later in a pair of sweatpants. “Hands up,” he orders again so he can slip a shirt on me. It’s his, so it's ginormous and falls to my knees. My breath catches when he bends down and slips my wet panties off. “The doctor is on her way up.”
He snags my hand and guides me out of the bathroom. It’s then I realize I’m in his room. I should have put that together in the bathroom but clearly I’m not operating with a clear head. He pats the bed for me to sit down. I do it and Drix starts to brush my hair.
A rush of emotion slams into me, and I’m unable to control the tears that slip free. “Shit, Lila. What? Are you going to throw up again?”
“No, sorry.” I swipe at my cheek as I hear a knock at the bedroom door.
“Give us a minute,” Drix says loud enough for the doctor to hear. “What’s wrong?” He drops the brush, putting his hand under my chin to make me look up at him.
“It’s nothing. I’m just not used to someone taking care of me.”
“I take care of you.” His brows pull together as confusion shows in his eyes.
“Not like this. This is different.” He sweeps at a tear that escapes with this thumb.
“I’m sorry,” he says.
“Don’t be sorry. Ignore me. You’ve done so much for me. I’m thankful.”
“No, I think that’s part of the problem. You think I’ve been ignoring you.” He shakes his head. “You have no fucking idea how far from the truth that is.” Now I’m the one that’s confused, but it’s probably the alcohol.
“Is everything okay?” a woman asks through the door. She must be the doctor because I don’t recognize her voice.
“Can I let her in? I want her to check you over and draw some blood. She can make sure you don’t get sicker and help lessen the hangover.” It sounds like a bit of overkill, but I know it will make him happy.
I’m sure I’m going to be in so much trouble come tomorrow. What if he kicks me out? Tells me I’m too irresponsible to be around Beau anymore? I don’t think he would do that, but maybe I am being a brat. He has done so much for us, but still I want more from him.
“Will you put a shirt on first?” I ask. He glances down at his bare chest. His lips twitch, and I almost get a smile out of him.
“Then you’ll do whatever the doc asks?” I nod.
“Deal,” he agrees, walking over to his closet and grabbing a shirt, slipping it on before he lets the doctor into the room.
She’s nice, but like Drix said, she draws blood before hooking me up to an IV for fluids and some other things she says will make sure that I don’t have a hangover come the morning, as long as I get some sleep too.
My eyes grow heavy as she does her thing. I try to fight sleep, wanting to hear what she and Drix are whispering about, but it’s all too much. I barely feel her take the IV out at some point. What I do feel, though, is Drix slipping into bed and wrapping his arms around me. He holds me close through the night… or maybe that was a dream after all.
17
HENDRIX
“When’s Lila getting up?” Beau whines. He plunges his fork into his pancakes and swirls it around, decimating the cake and making a hole in the middle of the stack. I watch in fascination as he fills the hole with syrup before moving over about two inches to repeat the process.
“When her head doesn’t hurt anymore.”
He wrinkles his nose in distaste. “I want to show her the Lego I put together last night.”
“She’ll be happy to see it.”
“I want to make another toy today.”
“Which one?”
“The Porsche.” He sets down his fork and syrup bottle. “Can I have a Porsche when I get older?”
“Beau, don’t ask that. It’s rude.” Lila strides in and pulls out a chair as I jump to my feet. She gestures for me to sit.
“Why is it rude? Drix is my wallet. He said so himself.”
“I did,” I affirm. Beau and I high-five.
Lila shakes her head, and I don’t know who she finds more irksome in this moment: Beau for asking for outrageous things or me so readily agreeing to them. “You don’t need a Porsche. Drix is your guardian, not your wallet. You should get a bike. It’s better for the environment.” She forks a strawberry between her pretty lips as if this is the end of the discussion.