Page 14 of Don't Leave Me Behind
I nod, hoping that’s enough to appease her. I’ve worked my fucking hardest to bury the rest of that trip. To box it up and keep it tucked far,faraway.
“So?” Miya raises a brow. “Where’s he staying then?”
“Here.” I bury my face in my palms. “As in my cabin, here.”
“Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God!” Pepper is screaming as Miya says, “I’m sorry, what?”
“I literally showed up in the middle of the night and scared the crap out of him. He had a panic attack. Like, a bad one. His lips were turning blue, Mimi. I thought he was going to pass out.”
“What did you do?” Pepper’s eyes widen, her hand flailing off to the side, pulling a bag of pretzels into her lap. Never once taking her eyes off the screen.Oh, yeah, she’s fully invested in wherever this is going.
“Well, I don’t know how to stop a panic attack?—”
“Generally, you’d want to stay calm and distract them. Most people can be talked through them.” That’s Doctor Park coming out to play as Miya lists the ways you can help someone with a panic attack.
“Right, well, I distracted him.”
“Oh my God.” Pepper grins like the devil. “Did you flash him?”
“What? No! I didn’t flash him! I…kind of...maybe...kissed him?”
Miya looks contemplative as Pepper bounces up and down like an excited puppy, trying to keep her thoughts inside.
“But was it effective?” Miya finally asks. She leans toward the phone, like she’s asking a colleague about an important medical finding.
“That’s your question?” Pepper looks deeply offended now.
“What else is there to ask?” Miya shoots back.
“I don’t know...everything? Like, was it just a little peck? Did you make out? Did he kiss you back? Did you have sex? Was it as good as you remember it? Is he the best kisser, and everyone else will forever be subpar, or was it a total letdown?”
“I defer.” Miya sits back, cupping her tea to warm herhands. Mimi almost always runs cold. “Those are much more important questions.”
“Ugh, you guys. You’re supposed to tell me that this was a terrible mistake, and I shouldn’t have kissed him.”
“Fuck that.” Miya grins.
“Traitor,” I mumble. “Like I said, I didn’t know what I was doing, but he clearly needed something to happen. He was on the ground, so I just sort of climbed into his lap and kissed him.” Pepper bites back a squeal. Miya’s one eyebrow raises in surprise. “It worked. He started breathing again and tried to kiss me back.”
“What do you mean, tried?” Pepper tips forward, nearly falling out of her seat.
“I panicked and bit his lip.”
“Oh my God!” Miya snorts. “Of course you did.”
I hide my face in a pillow, wishing I could end this conversation and pretend none of this happened. “He ended up sleeping through his alarms. Mercer sent Brooks over to see if he was okay.”
“How didyousleep through his alarms?” Miya looks like she can’t quite believe it.
“I barely slept all night. I was exhausted.”
“Did Brooks catch you?” Pepper interjects.
“No, he didn’t see me. Don’t think he suspected anything either. But that’s not all, this morning, he came downstairs all fresh from the shower, with wet curls and his deputy uniform on and then?—”
“There’s more?” Pepper squeaks.
I lean in to whisper conspiratorially, “He had the audacity to put a cowboy hat on.”
