I quirk a brow.
“Not like that,” he huffs, though his lips twitch in amusement. “You need to relax.”
“Why does every phrase you utter sound like something you’d say in the bedroom?”
He tucks me in, then props a hip on the bed, slipping his large hands to my feet and kneading them through the sheets.
A sense of calm instantly washes over me. “Thank you.” Sighing, I rest my head against the paper-thin pillow.
“For what?”
“For staying.”
The transfusion is uneventful and over in a couple of hours, though the doctor wants to keep me overnight to make sure I don’t have an adverse reaction.
Between the transfusion and delicious hospital food—no, seriously, it’s amazing—I feel significantly better.
Despite the way the chair pulls out to a bed, Ezra has to twist his body unnaturally to fit. I’m tempted to once again suggest he go home, but there’s no point. He won’t go. Plus, I really don’t want to be here alone.
His phone dings, and he smilesat the screen.
“What’s with the goofy face?”
“Huh?” He peers at me over the device. “My face isn’t goofy.”
Grinning, I huff a laugh.Yeah right.
“Look.” He turns his phone around, but he’s too far away for me to see clearly.
I pat the bed and scoot over. He obliges without fussing, his right hip flush against my left on the single mattress.
He holds the phone out again, showing me a picture of Bea with a giant bubble of snot coming out of her nose.
Laughing, I zoom in to see her adorable little dimples. “How do you have a picture of my niece?”
“Asher sent it,” he says, tapping the screen.
“My brother Asher?” Dumbfounded, I sputter, “B-but how do you have his number?”
“He called your phone when you were out of it earlier, and I gave him my number. We’ve been texting.”
My chest tightens. Did Ezra tell him about our scheming? Shit. “You’ve been texting? What have you been chatting about?”
“I’ve been keeping him updated. Your parents too. We got on the topic of parenting, and I told him about Kane. Asher seems like a cool dude. I don’t know how he’s raising a kid all on his own. He said he’s happy to give advice any time I need it.”
I suck in my bottom lip. What the hell? He’s asking my brother for parenting advice? We’re supposed to be faking this whole marriage thing, yet suddenly, it all feels a little too real.
“I should call my parents.”
“I already did. They said to call when you wake up, but it’s three a.m. in New York. It’s only midnight in LA, and Joey said she would wait up. Why don’t we call her first?”
We? Before I can agree, Ezra has tapped the FaceTime icon, and the room is filled with the request tone.
Joey answers quickly, her eyes wide. “Amelia Ruth Greer, you gave me a fright.”
“A fright?” I laugh weakly, ignoring the way my whole body aches. “Easy, Hallie Parker.”
“Hallie? I thought Annie said it.”
