Unbreak My Heart (Fostering Love 1)

“No, you need to go in now.”

“I’m too exhausted. I can’t even get off the bathroom floor.”

I heard her rustling with something, then her voice came through the phone more clearly. “I have to call you back, sis, okay?”

“Yeah,” I replied wearily. “I’ll be here.”

“I’ll call you right back.”

“Okay.”

I hung up as my stomach revolted again, and I didn’t even bother trying to kneel up to reach the toilet. There wasn’t anything in my belly to lose anyway.

By the time I was done, I was sweaty and my abs were on fire, but that didn’t stop me from falling asleep curled into a ball.

* * *

“Katie?” I heard Shane call, pulling me out of the first deep sleep I’d had in days. “Kate!”

Before I could answer him, his body filled the doorway to my bathroom.

“Sorry, I must not have heard the door,” I said inanely as he came to an abrupt stop. “I don’t really feel like company.”

“Katie,” he said softly, taking a step toward me.

“Don’t. I just—don’t. I smell like shit, and I’m all sweaty, and just—give me a few minutes, okay?” I asked tiredly, rising slowly to my knees.

“Don’t move, baby,” he replied gently as he came into the bathroom. “Let’s get you out of here.”

The endearment made my throat feel tight, but I pushed past it. “Where are the kids?”

“I picked Sage up and brought them to the neighbors for a bit.”

“Oh shit!” I tried to rise to my feet, but swayed dizzily and started crying yet again. “I was supposed to get her from school. Oh my God, she must have been so freaked out.”

“Hey,” he called softly, “stop. I talked to Anita, and she told me you were sick. I got Sage right on time. She was fine. Totally fine.”

“God, I’m so sorry. I fell asleep.”

“I can see that. There’s nothing to be sorry for.”

He leaned down to pick me up, and I scrambled to try to move away. “Please don’t, Shane.” I sniffled. “I stink. I need a shower.”

He stared at me, not replying for a long time before he leaned over my body and pushed the shower curtain back.

“What are you doing?”

“You want a shower, right?” he asked as he turned on the water. “So let’s get you in the shower.”

I watched in shock as he slid the curtain closed again and reached back to pull his T-shirt over his head, stepping out of his flip-flops as he did so. Next, he pushed down his khaki shorts and boxer briefs at the same time, leaving him completely naked.

“What in God’s name are you doing?” I asked when my mouth finally started working again.

“Come on, let’s get you up.”

“Are you out of your goddamn mind?”

“If you don’t stop looking at my dick, it’s going to perk up and say hello,” he warned.

“That’s what got me into this shit show in the first place.”

“Right. I’m not going to bang you against the wall. You’re fucking sick, and you need to go to the hospital—so either you let me help you in the shower or I’m taking you like that—smelling like ass and looking like a homeless person.”

“I’m pretty sure any sort of ego I had from sleeping with you has just shriveled up and died.”

“Good, then you won’t care if I see you naked.”

“Oh believe me, I don’t,” I replied tiredly as I let him pull me off the floor. “I already know you don’t want ‘seconds’ so I’m not worried you’ll see something that turns you off.”

“I was a dick.”

“No worries, at least the sex was good,” I answered as he pulled my T-shirt over my sore breasts. “Careful,” I warned.

“I’ll be careful,” he promised as he slid my leggings and underwear down my legs.

“I shouldn’t have said those things to you,” he told me sincerely, holding my hand as we stepped into the shower. “I was so messed up that morning—”

“You think I wasn’t?” I asked as he moved me slowly toward the running water. “God, I fucking threw up. I should have seen that moment for the omen it was.”

“I’m sorry, Katie,” he said, pulling my hands around his torso to stabilize me so he could run his fingers through my hair. “I was such a dick. I knew none of that was your fault, but fuck if I wasn’t pissed anyway.”

“You know that I was drunk, right?”

“It doesn’t—”

“No, it does matter,” I argued before he could finish his sentence, closing my eyes as he worked shampoo into my scalp. “You seem to be under some illusion that I took advantage of you or something. That’s bullshit. We were both drinking, and if I recall things correctly, you fucked me while I was pinned facedown on the bed.”

“Jesus Christ,” he hissed, pausing as I felt his cock twitch against my stomach.

“Not that I was complaining at the time,” I mumbled, making his hands tighten in my hair. “Fuck, my stomach is starting to—”