My nostrils flared as someone helped me to sit up. It took me a beat before I realized that it was the sisters, Amanda and Ariel. My head flopped back against a pillow as someone clicked on a light somewhere off in the corner.
I was thankful for the near-darkness still as my eyes continued to adjust.
“Don’t crowd her,” Marla said as I tried to focus. “He must’ve worn her out.”
“Judging by those sounds, he did,” Jasmine said.
I cleared my throat. “Sorry, what?”
The girls paused before Marla climbed into bed and settled next to me. “You need coffee.”
“Drinks,” Amanda commanded.
A mug of coffee was slotted into my hands and the first thing I thought was whether or not I could have caffeine. I stayed away from it, simply because I wasn’t sure how that kind of stuff reacted to my medication. But when I slowly looked around and saw all eyes on me, eagerly, I decided I needed it.
I took a long pull.
“Didja have fun last night?” Jasmine asked with a grin.
“Yeah,” Amanda said as she lounged across the foot of the bed, her head propped up on her hand. “Seemed like you and Doc had a bit of a romantic thing last night.”
My cheeks blushed as I busied my mouth with another chug of coffee.
“Heard some fun things, too,” Ariel said as she waggled her eyebrows.
That made me choke a bit. “Wait, what?”
The girls fell apart in giggles as Marla rubbed my back. “You didn’t think you were being quiet last night, did you?”
Oh boy. “Well, I just?—”
Jasmine flopped down onto the bed with a soda. “God, did you hear him roar? I’ve only been able to make Ghost roar like that once.”
My eyes widened. “You heard him!?”
Amanda threw her head back with laughter. “Honey, the entire town heard him.”
My cheeks blazed with embarrassment as I took another long pull from the coffee. “Hey, I have to keep up with you guys somehow. Can’t hear you guys every night and not want to do something about it.”
“Oooooh, so you like listening, huh?”
“Was it just a one-time thing?”
“Were you out on a date? Was that his version of taking you out since we can’t go out yet?”
“That’s so romantic.”
“I should talk to my guy about that. See what he thinks.”
“Guys,” Marla said as she held up a hand before plucking the empty coffee mug out of mine, “one at a time. Don’t overwhelm her. She literally just woke up.”
They all grumbled out their versions of apologies as I looked over at my best friend. She had a satisfied smile on her face, and I knew that could have only come from one person. I smiled softly at her. I wasn’t sure when Doc sank beneath my skin like that, but I understood now why she preferred spending her time with him. Why she was always with him. Why she always had his back, or wanted to help him with things.
Because already, I wanted to go in search of Doc.
Just to be near him.
Three quick knocks rattled my door before it swung open anyway. Anna leaned against the frame, twirling a knife in her hand, not quite in the room yet. “Well, well, well. Thought he fucked you into a coma, but here you are. Color me impressed.”
