“Can we snuggle?”
“With you in this condition, the only snuggling going on will be between you and a blanket.” Gunnar walked Bryn to the couch. He got him settled under a thick, woolen throw. “Nap if you want to. I’ll wake you when the food is ready.”
Bryn’s eyelids were already drooping. “’Kay. You have such pretty hair.”
Gunnar shook his head, smiling, then returned to the safety of the kitchen. He messed around tidying up, doing things he didn’t really need to do until it was time to put the garlic bread in to warm. He tossed a side salad in some dressing then took it through to the dining table. Bryn was fast asleep, blanket pulled up to his chin, one slim bare foot dangling over the edge of the couch. Every possessive, protective wolf instinct Gunnar possessed jumped into high gear. Bryn was young and beautiful but so vulnerable. Gunnar gripped the salad bowl a bit too hard. It hadn’t taken Bryn long to get beneath his skin and the thought of him getting hurt was unacceptable.
“Keep it professional, Gunnar, Jesus.”
“Talking to yourself, partner?” Bryn shoved the blanket down to his waist. “I was in bed. How did I get here?”
“Walked there on your own two feet. You were pretty out of it, though.” Gunnar chuckled.
“The doc gave me some meds. My head hurt… When did we get back from the store? Where are my Twinkies?”
“You don’t remember what happened?”
Bryn frowned. “You were at the checkout. I was looking at chips. I could see you were at the front of the line so I came to join you and… Oh fuck. I touched someone. Someone bad.”
“Yeah, then you passed out in the car. Warden had medical personnel waiting. While they were dealing with you, he and I had a debrief on the rest of the day but he’ll want to go through it again with you.”
“Deep joy.”
“You want to talk about it?”
“Nope. I want to gorge myself on mac and cheese. Seriously, Gunnar, it smells amazing.”
“Wait ’til you’ve tasted it. You can have a Twinkie for dessert.”
“You’re teasing me. Did I say anything dumb while I was out of my head?”
“No, nothing. You passed out on the couch. I was surprised you could walk about at all.”
“Sedatives don’t work that well on me. Bit patchy.”
“Good to know. Give me a couple minutes.” Gunnar brought through the hot dishes. He’d barely put them on the table when Bryn took his seat and had a fork in his hand.
“What? I’m starving.”
“So help yourself.”
Gunnar was amazed how much food Bryn put away. “You have a wolf-sized appetite.”
“Always do after”—Bryn wiggled his fingers—“you know, after I’ve done my thing. Especially more than once. Makes me ravenous. Also, this is the best mac and cheese I’ve ever tasted. The garlic bread is good too.”
“You want more salad?”
Bryn wrinkled his nose. “Not so keen on the rabbit food but whatever you put on it made it taste good.” He finally stopped eating after his third helping. “I guess I should do the dishes.”
“You can help me load the dishwasher.”
Bryn yawned. “Sounds like a good deal.”
“Then it’s back to bed for you.”
“Yeah, sorry. I’ll sleep all night then be back to normal in the morning.”
“How about I give you a pass on the dishes this once. Go sleep. And the Twinkies are in the cupboard next to the one with the flatware.” Gunnar watched him go and smiled at the rustling coming from the kitchen. The dishes could wait a while. Once Bryn had gone back to bed, Gunnar made himself a coffee then watched trash TV on the couch for a while. There was so much stuff rolling around in his head about his new job, about Bryn, about the day they’d been through, and what they might be expected to do in the future, shutting that down was a challenge. He massaged his neck.Well nobody said this would be easy. Get a grip and go load the dishwasher or that mac and cheese will have set like concrete.
