I lost every single bit of my breath as I stared into his face.
“You good?” he asked. His voice shattered the silence around me.
My legs still felt weird, weak and restless, but I was steady again. My hands were starting to tremble, so instead of getting water and spilling it all over myself, I moved past him and dropped into a chair.
“Forest,” he said.
Right. I should probably answer him with words and stuff. “I’m okay.”
He scoffed and walked over, dropping into the seat across from me. “Wanna try that again?”
“No.” He lifted a brow, and I rolled my eyes. “You’re notmycommander, Top.”
His lips twitched. “You’re cute when you’re being sassy. Now, one more time. Want to try that again?”
With a groan, I lifted my hands to cover my face, but the tremors were too strong, and I dropped them back down again. I wasn’t brave enough to look at him, but I could feel the weight of his stare.
“I made an appointment with a neurologist.”
He let out a loud rush of breath. “Yeah?”
I nodded, biting my lip as I finally glanced at him. He still looked tired. No, it was more than that. Something was wrong. “They were able to fit me in after I told them about the whole…maybe seizure thing. And the tremors.And…and some other stuff I haven’t really talked to you about.”
“Other stuff,” he echoed.He hummed low in the back of his throat and nodded. His gaze was a little far off, but it didn’t last long. He was back to looking at me with laser focus. “I’m going to drive you. Let me know what day so I can make sure I have the time off.”
“Nash, that’s not?—”
He held up a hand. “You gonna tell your brother? Ask him to take you? Because your ass ain’t drivin’ again after what happened.”
I felt sick to my stomach even though I knew he was right. I wasn’t going to take the risk of hurting myself, let alone someone else. “I can take a Lyft or something.”
“Waste of money. If you’re not going to tell Creek, then I’m taking the time. Heard?”
“Yes, Drill Sergeant,” I said stiffly.
He pinned me with his stare.“Again, cute and sassy, but I’m being serious, Forest.I’m not trying to be a dick, okay?I’m trying to help, and I need to know that you understand that.”
I grimaced but gave a stiff nod. It wasn’t worth fighting with him over. He was more stubborn than I was. With his former and current careers, I suppose he had to be.
It was hard to be mad at Nash about it though. I knew he was just looking out for me.
“So,” he said, the tension between us easing, “why are you up?”
I shrugged, fighting back a yawn. “Stress insomnia. I made the mistake of asking Dr. Google what was wrong with me, and it turns out I have nine rare diseases, a brain tumor, and four minutes to live.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “You kids and your goddamn internet. You’re rotting your brain.”
“Isn’t that what your parents said about TV?” I challenged.
He grinned and shrugged. “And what their parents said about rock ’n’ roll, and whattheirparents said about books.” He slapped his hands down on the table, then pushed to stand before offering me a hand up. “Come on. Let’s go sit on the couch if we’re gonna be up all night.”
“We?” I pressed.
He rolled his eyes and shook his hand at me until I grabbed it.“Good job.”
I shivered for a second.His praise was casual and unthinking, but it hit me in all the right ways.Or maybe all the wrong ones.I took a deep breath as I stepped away from the table and tested my strength.
My feet didn’t want to get started, and once they were going again, they didn’t seem to want to stop, but it was easier with my hand in Nash’s, and I used his firm grip on me to keep from crashing into the couch.
