“Bite your tongue! I love it. It’s the absolute best.”
“You think it’s lame. You think anybody who participates or watches it is…” He shook his head, and the crimp of confusion between his eyes was nothing short of adorable.
“‘Reality shows are for people with lame personal reality.’” She giggled.
He jabbed his finger at her. “That. That’s what you used to say.”
“Well, seventeen-year-old Kelsey was a reality snob.”
Trevor laughed, a loud surprised burst, then clapped a hand over his mouth and looked across the dim room to Maggie’s recliner. For a long moment, he and Kelsey sat frozen, staring at Maggie’s still form.
“Maggie?” Kelsey whispered. “Did we wake you up?”
“Don’t worry about it.” Maggie’s voice held a smile.
Trevor jumped to his feet and crossed the room. “Sorry, Mags. How are you feeling? Need anything?”
“A lot better. I think we finally got ahead of it again.”
Kelsey set the laptop aside. “If you can, we should walk a lap. Are you hungry? Trevor and I had dinner.”
“Oh, I guess I am.” Maggie’s legs moved under the blanket. “Yeah, could we walk for a minute?”
“I’ve got the walking,” Trevor said, “if you’ll warm up dinner.”
Oh… Emotion surged into her throat. She didn’t have to take care of both things. She didn’t have to prioritize which ought to be done first. She had someone else.
She had Trevor.
She warmed up Lucy’s teriyaki chicken casserole, and by the time she brought it out, Trevor was assisting Maggie back into her recliner. They sat with her and chatted while she ate, and Kelsey gave her the next dose of meds since her alarm was about to go off in six minutes anyway. Then Trevor walked beside her to bed, helped her into a comfortable position, and tucked her in.
“Thanks, kids,” Maggie said as her eyes closed.
Back in the living room, Kelsey said, “I guess you’ll want to head out. It’s later than I thought.”
“Or you could introduce me to this amazing show of yours.”
“Itisamazing.” She plopped onto the couch and gave a bounce. “It’s twenty-six-year-old Kelsey’s favorite.”
They snuggled close, each with one ear bud, and spent the next several hours watching various teams of two gallivant around the world, trying to win both physical and mental challenges to stay ahead of the other teams and elimination. She had chosen one of her favorite seasons, one in which her favorite team actually did win.
“You know what?” she said after three episodes. “We could totally win a race like this.”
“Well, if I were allowed to compete, yeah.”
Shoot. Not that she’d forgotten, but maybe she shouldn’t have mentioned it. “It sucks. It isn’t fair.”
“Of course it’s fair.” Trevor stretched out his legs and draped one arm behind her across the back of the couch. “If wolves raced against humans, no human would ever win again. Hollow victory for any honest wolf.”
“Well, then there should be a show for wolf teams. Like you and Ezra. Or Aaron and Malachi.”
He grinned. “Nowthatwould be amazing. And I’d totally do it. Might even be able to convince Ezra.”
“You boys would kick butt.”
His smile faded, and his face grew pensive instead. “Maybe we would.”
He didn’t show up daily for the rest of the week because Kelsey and Maggie needed him. They did, and he was glad to help, but helping wasn’t the reason he showed up.
