I basked in his protectiveness and just as I was about to pout and ask for a kiss to make me feel better, Mike’s phone rang.
He groaned, mimicking my feelings and accepted the call. “Hi, Rino. No, we’re back at the hotel, he’s okay, just hurting.”
I rolled my eyes at that.Justhurting.
“We will and I’ll let him know. I plan on us returning in two days to banish her. Might be a bit longer because both his palms needed stitches. I don’t want him to hold my hand if it pains him.” Mike nodded even if Rino couldn’t see it. “Thank you, bye.”
He looked my way and smiled softly, so I asked, “We still get to kick her to hell?” My tone was hopeful.
He grinned, nodding his head fondly at me. “We do. Rino will let the owner know what happened, and that we plan on returning. The castle is being kept closed for visitors until we deal with her. Marcus offered Rino to go there alone and banish her. With Erik there he should be safe enough. However, once Rino heard Marcus wastheMarcus, he declined and told him to enjoy his free time with Erik.”
“That was nice of him,” I said, thinking about how Erik and Marcus had remained professional. That was at least what it had seemed like to me. I wouldn’t have been able to focus on the case if I hadn’t seen or touched Mike for five years. Marcus had cried when we met up with him and I’d imagined what had been said, but after that I’d only caught Marcus giving soft smiles in the direction I believed Erik to be. It had been cute and heartbreaking all at once to witness.
“It was,” Mike agreed. “He also told us to take our time and return once you were ready. No other mediums want to take the case and the owner had already planned on closing for the entire week anyway.”
“That’s something at least,” I mumbled, hating that I was the reason for our delay. “At least Erik found Marcus, I would hate if we had to wait longer before we could help him.”
“Me too,” he sighed. “But I also hate that I wasn’t prepared.”
“Prepared?”
He nodded. “I thought we would have more time together. I guess I hadn’t truly realized until today how much he means to me.”
“Should I be jealous?” I teased, not knowing what else to do, to make him smile again. It wasn’t as if I could distract him with sex or anything. I only had my wonderful personality to go on right now.
My teasing worked and he shot me a bemused smile. “I think he’s in good hands with Marcus. No need for you to worry about him stealing me away.”
“I know,” I smiled. “And you’re allowed to miss him. You spent months together, always being just a few feet apart. It will take time before you get used to not having him around anymore. I respect itif you feel sad some days. Just be honest and tell me, so I can try and make it better.”
“You already are,” he whispered, then leaned down and gave me a soft kiss. “I have to call your mothers and let them know about your hospital visit. Want me to order some food?”
“Yes, please,” I begged, fluttering my lashes.
“You want pastries again, don’t you?”
“Well, ifyouwant them…”
He just rolled his eyes and turned on the TV, intent on leaving me preoccupied before he left the room to call my mothers. I was truly a lucky man.
“You could’ve bought grey ones, you know,” I grumbled as I carefully stepped into my new black sweatpants. The hospital hadadvised me to wear loose fitting pants until the cuts had healed enough. It would likely be a week with wonderfully comfy pants and I wasn’t complaining at all. Only about the color.
Mike rolled his eyes as he held out my hoodie, which I gratefully accepted. “See, this is grey, why not the pants?”
“You know why,” he sassed, ignoring my scoff completely, checking his phone for the tenth time this past half hour. “He said forty to sixty minutes,” I reminded my adorable boyfriend, who was missing Erik like crazy but trying to hide it.
“I know,” he blushed, pocketing his phone. “I just worry. I wouldn’t like driving in the city.”
“Yeah, that’s the reason why you’re checking it obsessively.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Well, it would be rude to make them wait for longer than necessary.”
“You don’t ever put your phone on silent, sweetheart.”
He ignored that comment. “I also bought you these,” he said, his back to me as he looked through the shopping bags. I’d been left behind in the hotel room yesterday while Mike went into the city to shop. I was only a little miffed that I couldn’t go, but he went tomake my life easier, considering I only brought jeans and most were tightfitting.Sue me for wanting to show off my ass.
Mike spun around, a beaming smile on his face as he showed me a handful of sweets. “I figured you could post it on your blog, unless its considered tacky when you post such beautiful photos from restaurants?”
“Why didn’t you tell me you’d brought candy yesterday?!” I demanded, picturing us both in bed sharing them and testing which ones we enjoyed the best. And those we would absolutely hate, like the one in his right hand that looked like licorice.
