After You (Because of You 2)

Bending down in front of the couch, I pat him on the arm. I don’t want to startle him awake and cause him to hurt himself, but I need to get him in to the bed.

His eyes open and he looks at me, confused.

“Hey,” I say softly. “Time for bed.”

He’s the cutest half-asleep person ever. I try to help him sit up, but he grimaces so much I’m not sure if I’m helping or hurting. He makes it to his feet stiffly, then walks to the bedroom at a snail’s pace. I meant to help him into comfier clothes earlier, but I got busy and forgot, so he’s still wearing jeans.

“Here, let me take these off,” I tell him, unbuttoning and unzipping for him.

“This is mildly embarrassing,” he mutters as I drop down to strip his pants off.

I smile up at him. “It is not. Your vulnerability is adorable. I’d blow you while I’m down here, but I don’t want to cause you pain.”

“See? This is the worst.”

I grin mischievously and pop back up. “Want me to help you get sleep shorts on?”

“No, I want to sleep.” He eases into the bed and I hit the light, stripping down to my bra and panties and climbing under the covers. He keeps his air conditioning at the perfect temperature; even though it’s a muggy night outside, his soft bedding is cool to the touch when I climb in.

“Cold bedding is heaven,” I inform him.

“It really is,” he agrees, sliding his arm under my body and pulling me against him.

“Can I snuggle you without hurting you?” I inquire.

“Of course. Just don’t make me laugh or sit up. Both of those things hurt like hell.”

“I was going to tell bedtime jokes, but I guess I won’t now.”

Smiling faintly, he tugs me close and kisses the top of my head. “Thanks again for coming to take care of me.”

“It didn’t occur to me there was anyone else around to do it,” I admit. “I threw my back out last winter loading groceries into my car, and I just had to suffer through it on my own. It wasn’t fun, but at least I didn’t have a kid. I figured you would need help with Cassidy.”

“Alex wouldn’t help you?”

“I didn’t tell him. What, you want me to make a point to call him and tell him I’m injured? That would be weird. I just remember lying in bed, starving, but not willing to go to the stove to make anything. Wasn’t worth the pain. In my mind, that’s what you were experiencing, not… you know, your charmed Derek life where people care about your well-being.”

Smirking, he tells me, “That’s not living a charmed life, Nikki. That’s just living a normal life.”

“For you, maybe.”

His arm tightens around me. “Well, you should have reached out to me. Sent me a message on social media or something like ‘my back hurts, come feed me, asshole.’”

Grinning, I tip my head back to look at him. “Would that have worked?”

“Hell yeah, it would have. Then I’d have been harassing you half a year sooner. I made sure I was easily findable on every social media platform. I even made most of my shit public in case you ever cared to look for me.”

“You should probably change that now. Someone might kidnap you and try to convince you that you’ve been married to them for six years and you have a child together.”

He nods his head. “Good note. Lot of psychos out there. I’ll do it tomorrow.”

Chapter Twenty Three

Tomorrow brings with it a whole new set of distractions.

Some inconsiderate asshole decided to get high and crash into a telephone poll up the road, and Derek’s house is on that power grid. So, when we wake up the house is muggy, I can’t access the internet from my laptop, and I can’t make breakfast. Depending on how long the power is out, all the groceries I bought yesterday might have to be tossed.

Cassidy is not a fan of the heat. She’s sweaty and miserable, asking every ten minutes to go to the pool. Since Derek’s back hurts, I really don’t want to drag him out of the house. That means I have to find some other way to entertain her/cool her down, so I end up in Derek’s shed digging out summer water toys, and then trying to hook this shit up to his hose.