I admire his pile thoughtfully. “Okay, fine. I want this, and you takethis.” I take some ginger candies—which, in hindsight, were probably meant for my nausea anyway—and hand him the pack of twenty questions. “You can be in charge of asking those. A little piece of responsibility.”
“Great.” He smiles.
I walk over to the sink and fetch an empty cup to fill, feeling a little flushed.
“You okay?” Sarah asks.
“Yeah, just getting that my-stomach-is-turning-upside-down feeling.” I turn off the tap and bring the glass to my lips.
“What feeling?” Bo steps nearer, his eyes narrowed on me in concern.
“Nausea,” I say, trying to sip slowly. “It can come out of nowhere sometimes.” Clammy skin, rushing blood, quickening heartbeat. Everything begins smelling weird all of a sudden, and my tongue feels too big for my mouth. All the usual signs that point toward needing to get to a bathroomquickly. “I’ll be right back. Are you okay?” I ask Bo.
Bo looks taken aback at my question, his head jarring backward. “Yes, of course. I’m fine. Go, I’ll—”
I don’t let him finish before I’m running to the main floor’s powder room, fighting the vomit forcing its way up my throat from escaping too soon.
CHAPTER 12
Asoftknockisdrowned out by the sound of the toilet flushing.
“You okay in there, champ?” Sarah asks from the other side of the door.
I groan, letting my forehead hit the cool tiled wall next to the toilet seat.
“Do you need anything? Water?” she asks.
“Yeah,” I say, reaching for the toilet paper to wipe my mouth, my throat dry. “Water, please.”
“Okay, Bo’s coming in.”
What? No! He can’t see me like—
“Hey,” Bo says, his voice full of sympathy as he opens, then immediately shuts, the door.
I whine internally as I imagine what I must look like, tucked in an upright foetal position against the wall. Sarah’s aversion to anything bloody or gross is turning out to be extremely inconvenient. She could have at least sent Caleb in instead.
“I have water and some of those ginger candies. Sarah said they might help.” He hands me the glass of water, then twists open the paper candy wrapper. “Do you want one?”
I nod, avoiding eye contact, and present my palm to Bo. He drops the golden candy into it, then tosses the wrapper into the garbage next to the toilet.
“So this is an everyday thing, huh?” he asks, opening a drawer under the sink.
“A few times a day lately.”
“Shit, Win. I’m sorry,” he says. I look toward him when I hear the sink turn on. He’s holding a washcloth under the water, letting it soak. Seconds later, he turns off the tap and wrings it out twice before folding it into a neat rectangle.
With a firm grip on the corner of the bathroom’s vanity, Bo supports his weight as he lowers to one knee. “Here,” he says, delicately pushing my hair aside and placing the cool cloth on the back of my neck.
I have to admit, it feels amazing.Though Bo’sfar-too-big body isfartoo near in Sarah’sfar-too-small half bath. I can’t tell if the nausea is residual or a sign of more to come, or if it’s overwhelm due to Bo’s looming proximity.
“Can you open the door?” I ask, letting myself look into his eyes as I take the washcloth from him and bring it to my cheek. They’re such nice eyes. Gentle. “I think I need some… space.”
“Yeah, of course.” He twists to stand with a groan. “Let me know when you’re ready to go. Sarah gathered up all your things, and I’ll be just out there if you need anything else, okay?”
“Yeah, thanks,” I say as he bows his head and shuts the door.
I press the cool cloth to my forehead, letting it also fall against my closed eyelids and the bridge of my nose.Anotherfun symptom. Whenever I throw up, my head starts aching. Eventually, a pressure headache forms behind my eyes, making my vision blurry and every sound all too intense.
