I look at our hands. His wrapped around mine.
Inside, Finn laughs at something. Malcolm's voice rises in protest. Alex says something dry that makes them both go quiet for a second before they start up again.
I close my eyes and listen to the sounds of people who want me here.
I let myself be here.
Rhys's thumb traces the skin on the back of my hand.
I let that happen too.
Chapter 14
Vee
Finn is sick.
I hear him in the bathroom at three in the morning, retching miserably. The sound pulls me from sleep like a hook on a fish. I just lie there in the dark, listening to the flush of the toilet, the running water, his quiet groan of misery.
My body moves before my brain catches up. I'm out of bed and padding down the hall in bare feet, my oversized sleep shirt hanging to my knees.
He's sitting on the bathroom floor when I push the door open, his back against the tub, head tipped back against the porcelain. His face is pale and clammy.
"Hey," I say softly.
He cracks one eye open. "Go back to bed. I'm fine."
"You're sitting on the bathroom floor at three a.m."
"Strategic positioning."
I kneel down next to him and press the back of my hand to his forehead. He’s hot. Too hot.
"Stomach bug," he mutters. "I've only been around you guys, though. No idea where I picked it up."
"Come on." I stand and offer him my hand. "Let's get you back to bed."
He looks at my hand like I'm offering to carry him up a mountain. "Vee, I'm disgusting right now."
"I've dealt with worse." I wiggle my fingers. "Up."
He takes my hand and lets me help him to his feet. He sways a little and I steady him with a hand on his elbow.
"Water," I say. "Then bed. I'll be back in a few minutes."
"You don't have to—"
"I know."
I get him settled and go back to the hallway to find Rhys standing outside his door.
He must have heard from his room. He's in sleep pants and nothing else, arms crossed, looking at Finn's closed door with the expression he gets when something has upset the order of things.
"He's okay," I say. "Stomach bug."
Rhys looks at me.
Then he disappears back into his room.
