Chapter 22

Brandon

A ndrew was here.

When had he gotten here? And why was he not dressed?

It was all too many questions for my head, which was pounding. The tequila had been a huge mistake, and I thought I would stop after just a few drinks, but the longer I sat and stewed about things…

Oh shit.

The pillow lifted from my head. Andrew didn’t appear to be judging me. He seemed more concerned than anything. As much as I wanted to keep looking at him, the dim light from the lamp on the other side of my room was about to split my head open.

“Water?” He motioned to the glass on my nightstand, and I was a little impressed that I hadn’t knocked it off in my quest for the phone.

I sat up and grabbed the cup. Andrew handed me two white pills, and I swallowed them down with my cool beverage. He was always taking care of me, but this was a situation where he shouldn’t have been. It didn’t matter if I had some sort of freak out that he wasn’t answering my messages right away.

“I picked up a couple of extra hours at work last night.” The bed dipped next to me, the rocking of the mattress making my stomach roll just the tiniest bit. Although, now I felt even more guilty for sending him so many messages while he was so busy.

“You’re mad at me.” The words flew unbidden from my mouth. Apparently, a hangover meant I was more than a little willing to talk about my feelings.

Andrew chuckled, wrapping an arm around me and pulling me into his side. I wished then that I wasn’t still wearing my clothes from yesterday. Even if I wasn’t feeling the greatest, I wanted his warm skin against mine.

“I’m not mad. I was a little annoyed by all the messages, but mad is the furthest thing.”

I sighed. “I’m not talking about the messages.”

Andrew was quiet for a long moment, like he was trying to formulate his answer. “Again, I’m annoyed, but we’ll tell people when you’re ready.”

That something slimy that I felt when I saw him with the girl at work settled in my gut again. I had no right to force him back into a metaphorical closet. Andrew shouldn’t ever have to hide who he was with. That was all on me.

Another alarm went off on my phone, reminding me I needed to get up and get ready for work, which was the last thing I wanted to do. Andrew, being the magic mind reader that he was, handed the phone over to me after turning off the alarm, already open to my mom’s contact.

“I’m off today. Call. Get some rest and I’ll take care of you.”

I called my mom, and she didn’t even flinch when I told her I was staying home. She basically insisted on it, saying that I spent too much time at the store, anyway. It made me think of what Andrew had said about picking up extra hours at work, which made me sad for him. I knew he’d been struggling with getting enough work.

My blankets were warm as I slid out of my shorts and t-shirt, pulling them up around me. Andrew had gone to the kitchen to cook some breakfast, and I could smell the bacon grease from my bed. My stomach grumbled, not sure if the prospect of food excited it or not. At least the headache was lifting.

Andrew came into the room ten minutes later with a plate and a steaming cup of coffee. He set them on the nightstand and I sat up to eat. His eyes were glued to my body as the blankets dropped, and I fought the urge to cover myself up.

Andrew had a gorgeous body. He was lean and cut, with the barest hint of ab muscles. Not to mention the addition of those tattoos. He was absolutely mouth-watering. Then there was me. I was pale, skinny, with absolutely no definition—the epitome of a nerdy bookworm.

I adjusted my glasses on my face, giving Andrew a thankful smile for the breakfast before picking up the cup of coffee and taking a tentative sip. It scorched my tongue, being much too hot to drink still. When I grimaced, Andrew laughed as I set the cup back down.

“Take it easy. It’ll all still be there in a minute.” He climbed onto the bed behind me, legs on either side of my hips. His chin rested on my shoulder as his arms snaked around my waist. There was that skin-on-skin feeling I’d been craving earlier, and I sank back into him while waiting for my food to cool down.

“I’m feeling a little better now.”

“Yeah?”

I chuckled a little, turning my head a bit to see his handsome face. “Why do you always take care of me like this?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” He kissed my cheek, moving lower to kiss at my neck. It sent goosebumps scattering across my skin.

My hands rested on top of his as I soaked in his little kisses. “I should be taking care of you.”

When Andrew’s lips left my skin, a small whine escaped me, but he only stopped long enough to speak. “Why do I need to be taken care of?”

Our fingers linked as he resumed sucking and biting at my neck. My cock twitched, and it was then that I realized our one week of waiting was up. Not that I was currently in the mood for anything.

“I feel bad about how things have been with work for you. Like I should be able to do more to ease your burden. Instead, I send half a dozen text messages and get drunk when you don’t reply. ”

The puff of air as he laughed stirred the hair on the side of my head. “Yeah, maybe don’t send so many next time. Leave that for actual emergencies.”

My heart did that weird shuddery thing again. It had felt like an emergency when he didn’t answer, which was stupid. Andrew always answered me and the fear that he was so upset he ignored me had triggered my panic.

The next moment, Andrew was disentangling himself from me. That feeling of abandonment snuck up once more. Like he was going to get up and walk out the door, never to return.

“Why don’t you lie down and rest for a bit after you eat?”

My stomach growled as I looked at the food that was no longer steaming on the nightstand. I reluctantly picked up a piece of bacon and bit into it. The saltiness burst over my tongue and Andrew watched as I slowly chewed my bite and swallowed. It was pathetic that I had reached a point where he needed to babysit me like a child while he ate, but if he hadn’t been here, I would’ve crawled back under the covers without touching it at all.

Once half the food was gone, Andrew leaned in and kissed the top of my head. Warm tingles zipped through me at the contact. I’d done something right and made him happy, but it still felt wrong to watch his retreating back leave my room.

My eyes were heavy, despite the coffee. The hangover was still sitting heavy, and Andrew was right that a little more rest would do me some good.

I woke to the smell of eucalyptus, lavender, peppermint, and lemon filling the air. A grin spread across my face that Andrew had paid attention to all those times that I’d tried to teach him something about my oils. The combination was perfect for curing a hangover and when I sat up in bed again, I already felt a lot better.

There was a small diffuser sitting in the corner of my room puffing a steady stream of steam. I took another deep breath before I climbed out of bed and stretched. The apartment was quiet, but that didn’t mean that Andrew wasn’t poking around somewhere.

After going to the bathroom, I wandered into the living room to find him dozing on the couch. There was a book draped across his bare chest and I smiled, realizing it was the cute romance novel he’d bought for me. I carefully lifted it, closing it before setting it on the table. He didn’t stir, but I didn’t want to disturb him. I couldn’t imagine what type of stress he’d been in with me last night. How could I have been so inconsiderate?

The kitchen was clean, showing no signs of the breakfast he’d made for me earlier. It was almost noon, so I dug through the fridge to find us something to eat. There was a package of organic cheese and a loaf of bread that I knew was about to go bad, so I grabbed the butter and started making us a couple of grilled cheese sandwiches.

“What are you doing?”

Andrew’s voice above the sizzle in the pan made me jump. He was sitting up and looking over the back of the couch, his dark hair a ruffled mess. He was so damn gorgeous that I wanted to turn off the stove and jump him. Instead, I cleared my throat, fighting the urge to cover myself again. I hadn’t bothered to get dressed after my nap. “Taking care of you. You made me breakfast, so I’m making lunch.”

The smile that spread across his face was so damn sweet. I didn’t deserve someone like him. “You didn’t have to do that.”

I shrugged. “I didn’t, but I wanted to.”