“Fine. So we can just say that you came over to drop off treats for Bash and not make a big deal out of it.”
I reach for her, curving my palm along her hip and pulling her to me until she’s in my arms. “Nah, I came here to take care of you, but we can call it whatever you want.”
She smells so fucking good, like vanilla and honey. And after a week of not having her in my arms, not touching her or tasting her lips, this is what I needed.
Just this.
“Well, no fun stuff because…” She trails off. “I told you this is not a good night to hang out.”
“Maisie. I haven’t seen you in a week, and I just want to be here with you. I don’t give a shit about anything else. I just want to be here. With you. Alright?”
I haven’t seen her since the night at Jack’s and the diner afterward.
“Okay,” she finally murmurs, giving me a soft smile. “You can rot with me if you insist. But I get to pick the movie.”
As she says it, a low chuckle tumbles out of me until her face crumples slightly, and she reaches down, clutching at her abdomen.
“You okay?”
She nods. “I’m just cramping. I need to lay down with the heating pad again.”
“Go lay down, and I’ll be there in a second.”
I unload some items from the bags I brought into her fridge and freezer for later and grab several things that she might want now.
The fucking cat follows me from the kitchen, all the way to Maisie’s bedroom, and then hops up onto her bed and settles into a ball on the other side of her.
She’s bundled beneath the covers that are so poofy I can hardly see her face as she lies on her side, but she sits up against the headboard when I walk through the door.
“Got you a few things,” I say, setting down one of the bags onto the bed beside her. It’s overflowing, which I realize now is probably a bit overboard, but fuck, it was complicated. Even with Cam’s help.
When I start pulling it all out of the bag, Maisie’s eyes widen like saucers, and her hand shoots out, closing around my wrist. “Wilder.”
Her eyes glide between the stuff and me, and then to the stuff, and back to me.
“You… You got…” She drops my hand and starts picking it up, one at a time. “Tampons? And medicine?” The pills shake in the bottle as she sets it back down and moves on to the other things. “And bubble bath? Candy? How’d you even know that?”
I shrug, wondering why the fuck my shirt suddenly feels so tight. I reach up, tugging around the collar. Too damn tight. “You told me, and I remembered. When we were texting that day, you sent me a photo of you eating them.”
Her throat works, and her eyes are shining. “I didn’t think you’d even remember that. I… I don’t know what to say, and I’m really trying not to cry, but this is the most sweet, thoughtful thing I think someone’s ever done for me, and now I’m crying, and I’m sorry I?—”
I cut her off by sinking down beside her on the bed and pulling her into my arms. “Don’t cry, Sunshine. It’s just some shit I picked up at the store. Wanted to make you feel better if I could.”
I feel her sigh as she buries her head against my chest.
I’ve never been a cuddling kind of guy. I’ve never cuddled anything in my life untilher, but lately, I find myself wanting to come here not even to hook up with her, but just to do this.
It brings me a sense of peace I’ve never really felt before now.
“Well, it worked. Thank you… I— Just thank you, Wilder.” The words come out muffled from her face in my shirt, and I press my lips to her head in a kiss.
“Welcome.”
She sighs and pulls back to look at me. “Sorry my period kind of ruined tonight. I had big plans for lots of orgasms, but obviously, she had other ideas. You totally don’t have to hang around while I’m not very much fun.”
I take her chin between my fingers. “Don’t care, Sunshine. Let’s just chill and order some takeout. You can lay on your heating pad and force me to watch another one of those cheesy-ass movies you love so much.”
That makes her smile, a wide, bright one that splits her face. My favorite kind.
