He felt Aaren’s forehead with the back of his hand, then brushed his fingers through Aaren’s hair. Aaren leaned into his touch.
“Everything hurts,” Aaren mumbled.
“Damn it. I think it might be time for your next pill. Here.” He helped Aaren sit up, handing him a glass of water and more halved pills. When those were swallowed, he took back the water glass and kissed Aaren on the cheek. “I’ll make you that honey tea. Is there anything else you need?”
Aaren shook his head. “Tea sounds good.”
“Give me a minute.” Hades climbed out of bed and disappeared from the bedroom.
Aaren was still in Hades’ half of the bed; Hades had not moved him while he slept. But now Hades’ recently vacated spot smelled more like him—faintly, through Aaren’s stuffed nose—so he shuffled back into his original spot. It felt nice here, a cozy dip where Hades had been sitting.
Hades huffed when he came back with a mug. “Back in your spot?”
“This one smells more like you now.”
Hades smiled and sat next to him. “Here, honey lemon tea.”
It was sweet and sour, lighting up Aaren’s mouth. He sipped on it and purred when Hades wrapped an arm around him.
“More soup?” Hades asked.
“Maybe later,” Aaren said.
“Sure.” Hades kissed his ear and went back to work on his laptop, but he kept his arm around Aaren the whole time.
The days progressed slowly.Aaren slept and took the pills that Hades gave him, drinking everything that Hades handed him in a mug. Sometimes Hades had to go to his office to use his drafting table or big computer screen; sometimes he cooked or worked out, taking Aaren along with him to sit in the kitchen or home gym.
It was all starting to get really comfortable, even if Aaren was now a horrific snot monster. Hades had set up trash cans on either side of the bed, so Aaren would have somewhere to put his tissues no matter which side of the bed he picked.
On the third day, Ballus called.
“Where the hell have you been?” he blustered down the line.
“Sick,” Aaren said. “I’ve been staying over with my—my friend.”
He’d come really close to sayingmy alpha,and that made his heart pound.
“Your friend?” Ballus said disbelievingly. “You didn’t cook for me today. The stir-fry was crap.”
Aaren rolled his eyes. “There’s some boxed mixes in the pantry if you need food. Or I can come over and cough into everything I make.”
“Or you can wear one of those masks when you cook,” Ballus said.
Aaren lifted the phone away from his ear and stared at it, wondering if Ballus even heard what he was saying. “Ugh. It’snot like you wore a mask to bed. I bet it’s your germs that made me sick.”
“Yeah, well, you didn’t wear a mask to bed either, so it’s not my fault if you breathed in the germs.”
There were so many things wrong with Ballus that Aaren would start a list, except Ballus just wasn’t worth the effort.
Except his phone buzzed while he was staring at it.
It was an email from his lawyer, the one who was making sure he obeyed Gran’s contract rules.
Ugh,Aaren thought.Everything sucks.
He put his phone back against his ear. “I think I’m gonna throw up again. If you want some puke in your food, I can come over and puke in it. Bye.”
He ended the call with a sullen jab, only for Hades to snort.
