She acted like no one ever did kind things for her, or she couldn’t imagine him doing something kind for her, and that made him feel a bit angry.
He remembered what she’d said to him about how she’d been bullied when she was younger.
Cash hated that. He wanted to track down every one of those bastards and make sure they paid.
Hmm, that wasn’t a bad idea.
He just had to get her to give him all those names.
“This is amazing,” she told him in a voice that was barely there. “Thank you.”
He nodded stiffly and took a step back. “Let me know if you need anything else.” Cash forced himself to walk away, even though he felt the urge to turn back to go to her.
The nightmare came again.
It was the same as the last one. People surrounding her, jeering at her, taunting her, first the men at the airport.
Then those kids from years ago.
When she woke up, she saw it was only around midnight. She’d barely had any sleep at all. Sighing, she lay back down.
Go back to sleep.
But even though she tossed and turned and tried to get back to sleep, she simply couldn’t. It didn’t help that her stomach was clenching painfully with cramps.
Getting up, she grabbed the hoodie that Cash had bought her. It was the one she’d seen at LittleLand with the squishy bits in the cuffs. That she had regretted not buying.
It was a pale, buttery yellow that she really loved. He’d also bought her some soft, yellow, fluffy socks, a couple offace masks, some vanilla-scented bubble bath and a block of chocolate.
Everything a girl might need.
Grabbing Snaggles and using her hands to play with the squishies sewn into the hoodie, she made her way back outside and onto the same chair she’d sat in in the early hours of yesterday morning.
At least Cash wouldn’t be out running at this time of night, so there was no one to catch her out here.
It was chilly out, and she soon found herself shivering, so she drew her legs up against her chest. She swallowed with a wince. The cold air probably wasn’t doing anything good for her throat.
Dinner had been another quiet affair. She’d eaten the same soup from lunch and her tummy was now kind of grumbling.
“It’s cold out here.”
She startled at the sound of someone behind her and let out a gasp that quickly turned into a cough.
“Jesus, fuck, sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you,” Cash said as he walked around her with a blanket, which he tucked over her. “I’ll go get you a drink. Wait here.”
Okay. She hadn’t really been planning on going anywhere, although maybe she should retreat into her bedroom. Because spending time with him was painful.
Was this what unrequited love felt like? Not that she loved him, but unrequited lust, desire, need?
She didn’t know. No matter what it was, it was painful.
When he returned, he held a bottle of water and a mug.
“It’s a hot honey drink,” he told her. “I read that it was good for your throat. It’s not too hot either, so it shouldn’t burn you. I checked the temperature first.”
Wow, that was really thoughtful of him.
“Wasn’t trying to overstep or anything. Just didn’t want to burn you.”
