He gave her a smile that threatened to melt her heart. “No thanks needed. I’ll be back soon.”
She nodded timidly and watched him disappear from the room. With a heavy sigh, she got out of bed and winced when her ankle pained from the weight. She groaned as she made her way into the bathroom. Tears threatened to fall from her puffy eyes at the sight of the bubble bath, fresh towels, and a new red pajama set. Gideon had even set out some lotion and bodywash for her. She had never known such thoughtfulness before.
When she eased into the hot bubble bath, she moaned at how good the water felt on her aching body. Her mind relaxed completely, and she stopped thinking about her father’s safety, the wedding, her mother, and Trick. She slipped into a blissful state of oblivion that threatened to rock her to sleep.
After a solid thirty minutes of soaking, she begrudgingly washed her body up. She realized she forgot to unwrap her ankle, so she took the bandages off and carefully washed her aching feet before she drained the water and gingerly stood up.
By the time she was dressed in the new pajamas, she felt a lot better. That feeling heightened when she got back into the bedroom and saw Gideon was back. Without even meaning to, she smiled brightly.
“Hey.”
“Hey,” he said with a lopsided smile. His locs were pulled back, and she noticed he changed as well. He had a black tank on, which allowed her a good look at his various tattoos and muscles, and he had black basketball shorts on.
She tore her eyes away from the beautiful specimen sitting comfortably on the bed and looked at the food spread out over the comforter.
She giggled as her eyes grew wide. “Were you planning on feeding the entire house?”
“I did go a little overboard. You know that little strip over south that has all the food places?” He grabbed at the back of his neck.
She crawled up on the bed and sat next to him. When she tried to tuck her feet under her, she cringed. “You talking about Eat Street?”
“Yeah. That’s where I went. I got a few things from each place over there. I wanted to make sure you were satisfied.” He got off the bed and walked over to the dresser to grab a pill bottle and an ankle brace before he held them up. “Doc left these for you. You can take some of these pain killers with food, and I can help you put this brace on. It should help with the swelling and pain. When we finish eating, I can get you an ice pack to wrap in there too.”
She stared at him for a few seconds. “You really think of everything, don’t you?”
He shrugged. “Guess that comes from growing up having to look out for myself. I had to anticipate my own needs for so long, it kind of spills over to others.”
“I think it’s sweet,” she said as he handed her two pills.
He smirked. “You want strawberry lemonade or water?”
“Is that a question? One thing you should know about yourwifeis she’s a complete sugar fiend.”
“Is that right? Noted,” he said as he handed her the lemonade.
After she took her pills, he sat down and grabbed her foot so he could put the brace on her. She watched him handle her so gently. It was so different from how Trick ever dealt with her. Gideon reminded her of her father.
When he finished, he looked at all the food and asked, “Where you want to start?”
Glimmer hummed. “Pizza. Then tacos. Wait, are those birria tacos?”
“They are,” he said with amusement dancing in his tone as he watched her.
“Aw, yeah. Those first. It might get messy though.”
“It’s all good. I don’t normally eat in bed, but we can make an exception this time. We can change the bedding if we have to.”
She nodded sharply. “I normally don’t eat in bed, either, but I appreciate this. I don’t really feel like being around a bunch of people right now.”
“I don’t blame you. You been through a lot.”
Gideon got comfortable next to her again and reached for the Thai food while she opened the large box of tacos and consommé.
They ate in silence for a second before Glimmer said, “This is so fuckin’ good. Thank you, Gideon. I didn’t realize how hungry I was.”
“Shit, you just took down two tacos in two minutes. I’d say you were past hungry. When’s the last time you ate?”
She shrugged. “I couldn’t even tell you. Probably the night before I ran away from my own wedding.”
