Moving closer to me, he wrapped his arm around me and tugged my back into his front. “You know, thinking about it while you’re tired won’t actually solve anything. You’ll create more questions for yourself, get more wound up, and then end up an anxious wreck.” Damn those Levi-smarts of his. “Things always seem better after you’ve had some sleep, and it’s easier to clear the fog so you can see the answers.”
Nodding my head, I tried to follow his advice, but it wasn’t easy to just switch my brain off.
When he realized how much I was still struggling, he sighed and adjusted his position so that his mouth was closer to my ear. “If you ever tell anyone I did this, I’ll deny it and make you drink out-of-date milk,” he warned, making my eyes shoot open and stare blankly at the dark wall in front of me.
What the hell kind of threat was that? And what was he going to do?
I didn’t have to wait long to find out, because he started humming a tune that sounded familiar, and then softly sang Eric Clapton’s Wonderful Tonight. His deep husky voice crooning the words of possibly one of the most beautiful songs ever written? Out-fucking-standing. I wanted to listen to him singing it on repeat for the rest of my life, but unfortunately sleep won.
I don’t know if it was his singing, the fact I felt safe with him, or how exhausted I was, but I didn’t even dream.I jerked awake, hearing the sound of the shower running from the adjoining bathroom. I didn’t even need to swallow to know how much worse my throat felt than it had last night. The only way to describe it was like a python trying to strangle me while a porcupine did the Charleston inside – fucking ow!
“Water off,” Levi’s deep voice ordered, making me smile.
I had no idea there were voice activated showers nowadays, but I guess it made sense. I wonder what would happen if you answered a call during it and said the word cool? The amount of fun you could have while someone was in there, tampering with the temperature was insane… unless you were the one in there. Which made me wonder how many times one of the brothers had done that to Levi. I’d be too paranoid to use that shower if I was him.
The bed dipped behind me and a droplet of water landed on my cheek, making me wrinkle my nose. “Morning, baby,” he said softly, moving my hair off my neck and groaning. “Shit, that looks bad. Tate’s gone to fill your prescriptions, but I’ve got the shit the doctor gave us last night. I’ll go get it for you.”
Know what’s weird? People having a conversation at you rather than with you. I didn’t even have to shake or nod my head, he just acted like I had. It wasn’t irritating – although I was sure at some point it would be – it was just strange.
Getting up, I sat with my back against the headboard, wincing at the new aches and pains in my body. Apparently sleeping had brought them all out, even in the areas I didn’t know would hurt. My neck and head were no surprise, but I actually ached all the way down to my hips, most likely from where I’d tensed my muscles trying to get away from him or trying to breathe. Basically, I feel like shit - I think that about sums it up.
Hearing Levi walking back down the hallway, I slowly turned my head, stopping at roughly the two inch mark. After that, it was a case of moving my shoulders instead, and doing it at a pace that would make a snail look like Speedy Gonzales.
Walking in, he noticed how stiffly I was moving and frowned. “That bad?”
Did he actually expect me to answer that question?
Leaning over, he passed me a syringe with whatever the doctor gave us last night in it. I should have been more aware of what was going on at the time, but Luna had been telling me what she went through with her father, so I’d been slightly distracted. Her story was far, far worse than mine, but I got the feeling she was making sure I knew I wasn’t alone.
Swallowing it carefully, I leaned back against the headboard and frowned. What was I meant to do with my time? From education to work, I’d never sat down idly. I didn’t have any hobbies, I didn’t really even have any interests. Hell, I think that much was obvious by the fact that I couldn’t even come up with my own bucket list items and had to rely on internet searches for ideas. When I looked at it like that, the state my life was in was kind of depressing.