“But this throws your balance all off. Trust me, I’ve watched you walk to the bathroom.”
“I’ll be fine,” she said, shifting to the edge of the bed. “Besides, my ass is going numb from being in bed for so long.”
Grabbing her arm, I did the only thing I could think of to keep her here. “You know, when I was about fifteen, one of my brothers was climbing a tree and fell.”
“Yeah?”
“Broke his arm,” I chuckled.
“And you find that funny?”
“If you had seen him fall, you would have laughed, too.”
“Speaking for the disabled, I do not find that funny.”
Grinning, I gave her a lay of the land. “He was stupid. Climbed all the way up there, and then thought he’d make it outon this thin branch that wouldn’t have held much more than a cat. We all told him not to do it, but he insisted he’d be fine. He slid across it, and that was it. The branch snapped, and he crashed to the ground.”
She laid back in bed, smiling at me. “You’re very mean to your brothers.”
“No more than they were to me.”
“Weren’t you the oldest?”
“What’s your point?”
Shaking her head, she stared up at the ceiling. “I always wondered what it would be like to have siblings.”
“Your parents didn’t want more than one kid?”
“They stopped at perfection,” she grinned.
“Sure,” I rolled my eyes.
“What was it like?”
“Having brothers and a sister?” I thought back to my childhood. Aside from the depressing times, we mostly kept to ourselves. Yeah, we had friends, but nothing came between us. Things had changed a lot since we were kids.
“After my mom died… I guess we clung to each other. And of course, we had to take care of Blake—make sure she didn’t get herself into too much trouble.”
“Well, considering she threw a kid through my shop window, I’d say she can take care of herself just fine.”
“Maybe a little too well. She didn’t really get that feminine guidance a mother can provide.”
“I’m sure you were all more than enough,” she whispered, squeezing my hand. “She was lucky to have all of you.”
She looked back at the ceiling. “Just think, if I had siblings, I wouldn’t have needed you with me. I could have just had a sibling sleepover, and you would have gone on your merry way.”
“That’s highly unlikely.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because I like to fuck you too much.”
But just as I tried to kiss her, she rolled to the edge of the bed and sat up. “Thank you for telling me about your family. It was a nice effort. Really. I’m impressed you went to such great lengths to keep me in bed, but the day calls, and I have things to do.”
I glowered at her, but she just stuck out her tongue at me, refusing to give in. I didn’t like the idea of her going anywhere, but I had been ignoring Deke’s messages for a week, and if I did that for too much longer, he was going to leave.
“Fine, I’ll take you to the shop, but only for a few hours.”
