He turns around and walks the short distance to me. He peers at me, a line of worry on his forehead. “I was the one who ordered the drink, Tessa.” He runs a hand through his unruly, dark hair. “Your first thought wasn’t that I drugged you to create some kind of chaos within the team to overtake it in the end?”
I flinch backward and repeat what he says in my head.
A month ago, I probably would’ve jumped to that conclusion right away and threatened his life. Today, the thought didn’t even occur to me.
I don’t know what that says about me, or us, but it means something.
“N…no,” I stammer. “The thought didn’t cross my mind once.”
Rome stares at me for so long my heart rate rises again. He glances to the monitor and then back to me before making his way around the bed to sit in the chair. With his legs out wide, he leans back with his arms crossed against his chest, seemingly lost in his head.
My eyelids grow heavy, and I think I fall asleep for a short time before springing awake. Concern is still etched onto Rome’s face.
“Don’t tell my brothers someone drugged me,” I mutter.
His shoulders fall. “Tess.”
“No.” I shake my head slowly. “They’ll tell my parents, and my dad will worry. The stress is too hard on his heart. It was probably a mistake anyway. The medication is for anxiety, someone probably had it mixed in their drink, and it was given to me by accident.”
Rome swallows slowly. “And if it wasn’t?”
I shrug. “I guess they’ll have to try harder next time.”
He glares at me, and I sink back onto the bed with a half-smile and drowsiness.
“What do you want me to tell them?” he asks a short while later.
I curl up on my side and face him, my eyelids too heavy to keep open for long. “I trust you to figure it out,” I say.
His eyebrow flicks upward. “So you trust me now, Princess?”
It’s too hard to hide a smile, so I don’t. “Well, you did stop in the middle of a race to make sure I was okay…so yeah, I guess I do.”
Seconds stretch into minutes, and I think I fall asleep, until something soft strokes against my cheek. I’m pretty sure it’s Rome’s thumb.
Chapter Thirty-Six
ROME
Beck has changedthe group name.
Salmonella–or Salmontessa
I glance at him from the other seat in the hospital room and shake my head. He’s typing away on his phone with a shit-eating grin on his face.
For the record, I didn’t say anything about Tessa having Salmonella poisoning. Just that she had a virus the night prior and was dehydrated, causing her blood pressure to drop.
My phone goes off again, and I glance up to make sure Tessa is still asleep. Every time I lay eyes on her, my heartrate slows, like she’s my calm in the raging chaos.
Beck
Don’t worry, fellas. Tess is fine.
Noah
Food poisoning? What did she eat?
Graham
