Page 35 of Hollywood King
He chuckled. “We went on one date. Well…” He threw me a sleepy grin I wanted to knock off his face. “For now.”
Then he started laughing in earnest. “You’re face man.” More laughter. “We went on one date, and we both decided very quickly it would be the last one. We are better off friends.”
Something loosened in my chest. She hadn’t been with him. Then who did she spend her time with for the last ten years? A question which bugged the shit out of me.
I didn’t have any more time to think about it as she stirred and jerked to sitting. Then she caught sight of the ice pack and Edgar and lay back down with a groan. “What happened?”
Edgar knelt beside her and readjusted the bags. “Heath woke to find you burning up. He called me.”
She locked eyes with me as he fretted over her. “You called Eddy? You hate him.”
“Well, it turns out you two aren’t dating, so I don’t hate him as much as I did an hour ago.”
That statement earned me a glare and a mumbled, “Bastard.”
Eddy checked her temperature a few more times, and when he was satisfied, he made her take some medications. I raced back and forth to the kitchen and bathroom, fetching towels and water.
He sat on the bed next to her now. She lay propped up against the pillows, frowning at him. “You need to go to the hospital.”
“I’m fine. I just caught a bug the other day. It seems it hasn’t run its course yet.”
Instead of arguing with her, he collected his things and stopped by me on his way out the door. “You should get her to the hospital.”
“Like she is going to listen to me anymore than she did you.”
He shook his head and handed me his card. “Call me again if something happens. At the very least, I live down the road. I can get here quickly.”
When he left, the tension went with him. I took his place, sitting near her thigh on the bed. “What the fuck is going on, Cat? Tell me.”
She shook her head and faced away, shifting the ice as she moved. I gathered the bags up and put them on the floor before climbing up next to her on the damp sheets. “Cathy, talk to me.”
“It’s nothing. I’ve been working too much. I caught something at the hospital. Just let me sleep it off, and I’ll get out of your hair.”
I hated the muffling of her voice as she buried her cheek into the pillow. Trying to not fall of the bed, I crowded her toward the center, tossing more ice onto the floor. “You aren’t bothering me. I’m here. Let me take care of you.”
She jolted in my arms and then climbed out of my embrace across my side of the bed to the other side. I stared after her while she ransacked my closet and came out wearing too big boxer briefs cinched tight to one hip. “If you won’t let me sleep, I’m headed home. I don’t need coddled, Heath. I’m not a child anymore. I’m not in need of a nurse.”
I hopped over to the other side of the bed to face off with her standing. “I’m not saying you need coddled. You’re sick, so let me make you soup, bring you water, help you take a shower.”
The look on her face said she just swallowed a lemon and there would be no lemonade from that fruit. “No. I can take care of myself like I have for the last ten years.”
I reached out to her. “Cat…”
Her retreat gutted me more than her words. She grabbed her dress and phone and stumbled down to the office for the rest of her things.”
“Cat…please. You can barely stay upright. Just stay. I’ll leave you alone.”
She continued gathering items and walked slowly toward the door. “Let me at least send you home in my car. I don’t want you driving back with a stranger.”
Her nod of ascent pushed me back to my own phone. I texted the driver and came out to tell her he’d arrive in a couple minutes. Some deep animalistic part of me wanted to throw her over my shoulder and drag her back to my bed. Force her to see reason. But I had to play this gently. If I ever wanted to us to be together again, I needed to show her I knew when to be there and when to back down.
The car pulled up, and I helped her inside. She stopped with her hand on the door. “Look, I’m sorry. I’m not trying to hurt you.”
I crouched down by the door so I could meet her eyes again. “Go home, rest. Call me when you are feeling better. But text me in the meantime, so I know you made it home and are alright.”
She nodded, and I closed the door. If I kept her here, I knew she wouldn’t forgive me. When I tried to care for her as kids, she’d fight me every step of the way. For some reason resenting every move I made. Her loathing to be cared for seemed worse now. I wondered if I’d made the wrong moves then too.
I went back inside to dress. If I wasn’t spending the day in bed with her, I’d go to the office and work. Try to keep my mind focused and off the thought of her body molded against me.
First, I cleaned up the ice, and then I took a hot shower. Letting the heat sink deep wake me up. I allowed myself a minute to think about her round lush ass against my cock. And in seconds, I grew hard in my hand. It took mere minutes to blow my load into the spray while I thought about sliding between her legs. Imagining the sounds she’d make as I made her come.
I shuddered and braced my hands on the wall, washing away the flash of shame swamping me. When the water started to get cold, I turned it off, climbed out, and headed toward the closet.
Time to leave the fantasy and get back to reality.
