Page 45 of Crossed Lines

I have no idea how long I’ve been asleep before I hear voices in the hallway outside of my room. I barely have time to open my eyes before there’s a gentle knock on my door. I know immediately it’s not Sawyer because he wouldn’t knock. He also wouldn’t try to be quiet.

The door opens, and Jade peeks her head inside before quickly pushing all the way in. Beck follows behind her.

“Sorry if we woke you,” he says softly. Sawyer probably told him about my headache, which actually seems to be mostly gone right now.

“It’s ok. What are you guys doing here?” I ask.

“We wanted to check on you,” Jade says, walking to the side of my bed and putting her chin down right in front of me.

“That’s very sweet of you.” I look behind Beck but don’t see Sawyer there. “How did y’all get in?”

Beck shrugs. “I have a key.” Of course, he would have a key to Sawyer’s house. Sawyer probably has a key to Beck’s house, too. “We brought you some Gatorade and popsicles. We put the popsicles in the freezer.”

He opens the bottle of Gatorade and hands it to me. I sit up a little bit and take a small sip.

“You didn’t have to do that, but thank you. Sorry I couldn’t make it today.”

“Hey, don’t even worry about that. You need to recover, and it’s nice having an extra day with Jade.”

“Daddy took me to get pancakes for breakfast! They had chocolate chips,” she tells me.

“That sounds yummy.”

“It was. But it would’ve been better if you were there.” Gah, this kid is so sweet.

“Before I leave, we’ll have to make sure we go out for pancakes.” I smile at her before I take another sip of Gatorade.

“Are you feeling any better?” Beck asks.

“Yeah, I think so. Haven’t thrown up in a few hours. Hopefully, I can keep this down.”

“Good.”

Beck hands Jade his phone with a game pulled up, walks around to the other side of my bed, and kicks his boots off before climbing in bed with me.

I’m stunned into silence.

Beck Sullivan is in my bed.

But not only that. He slides up behind me and wraps his arm around my waist.

“What are you doing?” I ask quietly.

His breath tickles my ear when he answers. “Lying here with you.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to.”

He presses his body up against me, and I let myself relax into him. Jade pays us no mind as she focuses on her game. I’m painfully aware that I’m only in my underwear and a T-shirt right now, but Beck doesn’t seem to care. His hands don’t wander down my body like I wish they would. If I didn’t feel so weak right now, I would lead him to do just that. Even when I’m sick, I still want him.

I don’t know how long he holds me like this, but eventually I drift back to sleep to the sound of his steady breathing in my ear.

The next time I wake up, I’m alone. For a second, I wonder if I dreamed of cuddling with Beck, but then I hear voices coming from the living room and know he was actually here. Feeling much more energized, I slide out of bed and put on some sweatpants. Crossing the hall, I head to the bathroom and brush my teeth before splashing water on my face.

Once I feel alive again, I walk down the hall to see who’s here. I’m surprised when I see Sawyer sitting at the kitchen table, Jade on the couch watching a movie, and Beck standing at the stove stirring something in a pot.

Beck sees me first and smiles, which causes Sawyer to turn around.